Learn Hardcore Swahili: Mwanafunzi wetu anasoma uandishi wa habari, kwa sababu anataka kuwa mwandishi wa habari huru kwenye mtandao wa kijamii. - Our student is studying journalism, because she wants to be an independent journalist on social media.

The possessive (my, your, our, etc.) usually comes after the noun it describes.
- mwanafunzi wetu = student our
This is the normal order: [noun] + [possessive]
- kitabu changu = my book
- rafiki yako = your friend

So the word order is different from English, but consistent in Swahili: noun first, then the possessive form.

Why is it wetu and not yetu in mwanafunzi wetu?

The first letter of the possessive (w-, y-, ch-, etc.) depends on the noun class of the thing possessed.

mwanafunzi (student) is in noun class 1 (people, singular).
Class 1 uses w- in possessives:
- wangu (my)
- wako (your)
- wetu (our)

So:

mwanafunzi wetu = our student
If it were a class 7 noun like kitabu (book), you’d use ch-:
- kitabu chetu = our book

That’s why it’s wetu, not yetu, here.

What exactly does anasoma mean here? Is it “is studying” or “studies”?

Anasoma can mean both “is studying” and “studies”, depending on context.

ana- = present tense marker for he/she
-soma = read / study

Swahili doesn’t usually distinguish between:

He is studying journalism
He studies journalism

Both are normally expressed as anasoma uandishi wa habari.
If you need to be very explicit about “right now”, you can add a time word:

Sasa anasoma = Right now, he/she is studying.

What is uandishi wa habari exactly? Why not just habari?

Uandishi wa habari = journalism, literally “the writing of news”.

uandishi: a noun meaning writing, created from the verb kuandika (to write).
wa: “of” (genitive marker).
habari: news, information.

So:

uandishi wa habari = writing of news = journalism (the field of study/profession).
habari alone just means news or information, not specifically journalism as a subject or field.

What is the difference between uandishi wa habari and mwandishi wa habari?

uandishi wa habari = journalism (the field, the activity of writing news).
mwandishi wa habari = journalist (the person who writes news).

Structure:

uandishi = writing
mwandishi = writer
wa habari = of news

So the sentence uses both:

anasoma uandishi wa habari = he/she is studying journalism
kuwa mwandishi wa habari = to be a journalist

What does kwa sababu mean, and can I just say sababu by itself?

Kwa sababu means because.

sababu = reason
kwa sababu = “for [this] reason” → used as because in normal speech and writing.

Examples:

Sitoki nje kwa sababu kuna mvua. = I’m not going out because it’s raining.

You do sometimes see sababu alone in more casual or shortened speech, but the standard, clear conjunction is kwa sababu. Other alternatives meaning “because” include:

kwa kuwa
maana (more like “since / because / the reason is that”)

Why is it anataka kuwa and not something like anataka niwe or another form?

Anataka kuwa literally means “he/she wants to be”.

anataka = he/she wants
kuwa = to be (infinitive of kuwa)

This pattern ([verb of desire] + ku-verb) is very common:

nataka kula = I want to eat
anapenda kusoma = he/she likes to read

You could say something like anataka awe mwandishi wa habari (he/she wants that he/she be a journalist), but:

anataka kuwa mwandishi wa habari is the most straightforward and common way to say “wants to be a journalist” here.

Why is the adjective huru (independent) placed after mwandishi wa habari? Could it come before?

In Swahili, adjectives normally come after the noun phrase they describe.

mwandishi wa habari huru = an independent journalist
- literally: journalist of news independent

You generally don’t put the adjective before the noun like in English.
Word order:

[noun + its modifiers] + [adjective]
- mtu mzuri = good person
- kitabu kipya = new book

Here, huru modifies the whole noun phrase mwandishi wa habari, so it appears at the end: mwandishi wa habari huru.

Does mwandishi wa habari huru mean “independent journalist” or “journalist of free news”? Where does huru attach?

In normal interpretation, mwandishi wa habari huru is understood as “an independent journalist”.

mwandishi wa habari = journalist
huru at the end = describing mwandishi (the person), not habari (the news).

If you wanted to emphasize “free news” more explicitly (e.g., free/independent news), you might rephrase or give more context, but in common usage, mwandishi wa habari huru refers to the journalist being independent (not employed by a big media house, etc.).

What does kwenye mean in kwenye mtandao wa kijamii? Is it “on”, “in”, or “at”? How is it different from katika?

Kwenye is a general preposition meaning roughly “in / on / at”, depending on context.

kwenye mtandao wa kijamii → on / in social media.

Compared to katika:

kwenye is more colloquial and very common in spoken Swahili.
katika can feel slightly more formal/literary, but also means “in / within / inside”.

In this sentence, you could also say:

…kuwa mwandishi wa habari huru katika mtandao wa kijamii.

The meaning would basically be the same.

What does mtandao wa kijamii literally mean?

Mtandao wa kijamii literally means “social network”.

Breakdown:

mtandao
- from the verb kutandaa (to spread out, to be laid out)
- meaning: network, web, net, also “internet”.
wa kijamii
- wa = of
- kijamii = social, relating to society (from jamii = society/community)

So:

mtandao wa kijamii = network of social → social network
In everyday modern usage, it’s understood as social media.

Why is it mtandao wa kijamii and not mtandao ya kijamii?

The connecting word (wa/ya/cha, etc.) depends on the noun class of the first noun in the pair.

mtandao is noun class 3 (m-/mi-).
Class 3 uses wa for “of” in the singular.

So:

mtandao wa kijamii = social network (singular)
If you make it plural: mitandao ya kijamii (class 4 uses ya)

Examples:

mti wa embe = mango tree (tree of mango)
miti ya embe = mango trees (trees of mango)

Why isn’t there a separate word for “he” or “she” in the sentence? How do we know it’s “he/she wants” in anataka?

Swahili normally drops independent subject pronouns (I, you, he, she, etc.) because the subject is already shown in the verb prefix.

anasoma
- a- = he/she (subject prefix for class 1/human singular)
- -nasoma = present tense of “study/read”

So:

anasoma = he/she is studying / studies
You only add yeye (he/she) for emphasis or contrast:
- Yeye anasoma, lakini mimi sifanyi kazi.
  = He/She is studying, but I’m not working.

In your sentence, mwanafunzi wetu is the subject, and a- on anasoma and anataka agrees with that noun.

How would the sentence change if we talked about our students (plural) instead of our student (singular)?

Singular (original idea):

Mwanafunzi wetu anasoma uandishi wa habari, kwa sababu anataka kuwa mwandishi wa habari huru kwenye mtandao wa kijamii.

Plural:

Wanafunzi wetu wanasoma uandishi wa habari, kwa sababu wanataka kuwa waandishi wa habari huru kwenye mitandao ya kijamii.

Changes:

mwanafunzi → wanafunzi (student → students)
wetu stays the same (our).
anasoma → wanasoma (he/she studies → they study).
anataka → wanataka (he/she wants → they want).
mwandishi → waandishi (journalist → journalists).
mtandao → mitandao (network → networks).
wa kijamii → ya kijamii (because mitandao is plural class 4, which takes ya).

Does habari always mean “news”? What else can it mean?

Habari is a flexible word. It can mean:

News
- Habari za leo? = Today’s news? / How are things today?
Information / matter / issue
- Habari za kazi? = How is work going? (literally: news of work)
In greetings, it basically means “how is…?”
- Habari? (short) = How are you? / What’s up?

In uandishi wa habari and mwandishi wa habari, habari specifically carries the sense of news (journalistic content).