Learn Hardcore Swahili: Uwazi wa serikali na kuheshimu haki za kila mtu hutusaidia kujenga jamii yenye amani. - Government transparency and respecting everyone’s rights help us build a peaceful society.

It comes from the adjective wazi = open.
The prefix u- turns the adjective into an abstract noun:
- wazi → uwazi = openness, transparency
- Similarly: safi → usafi (clean → cleanliness), bora → ubora (good → quality).
Uwazi belongs to the U- class (sometimes grouped with N-):
- Singular: uwazi
- It doesn’t really take a plural in normal use.

So Uwazi wa serikali = Openness/transparency of the government.

Why is it wa serikali and not ya serikali after uwazi?

The choice between wa and ya depends on the noun class and agreement.

Serikali is a noun in the N-class (it stays the same in singular and plural).
But we’re not agreeing with serikali here; we’re agreeing with uwazi.
Uwazi is in the U- class, which often uses wa for “of”:
- uwazi wa serikali – openness of the government
- uzuri wa nyumba – beauty of the house

So:

Agreement is with the head noun (uwazi), not the following noun (serikali).
Therefore wa is correct: uwazi wa serikali, not uwazi ya serikali.

Why do we say “Uwazi wa serikali na kuheshimu haki…” instead of putting ku- on both verbs (e.g. kuwazi wa serikali na kuheshimu haki)?

Uwazi in this sentence is not a verb; it’s a noun meaning openness/transparency.

The structure is:

Uwazi wa serikali = government transparency / openness of government (noun phrase)
na = and
kuheshimu haki za kila mtu = respecting the rights of every person (a verbal noun/infinitive phrase)

So we are joining:

one noun (uwazi)
with one verb-like infinitive (kuheshimu)

Both act together as the subject of the sentence:

(Government transparency) and (respecting everyone’s rights) help us build a peaceful society.

Putting ku- on wazi (→ kuwazi) would try to turn it into a verb, which isn’t the intended meaning here.

What exactly is kuheshimu doing here? Is it an infinitive, a gerund, or something like “to respect”?

Kuheshimu is the infinitive form of the verb heshimu = to respect.

In Swahili, the infinitive ku- + verb can function like:

English “to respect”:
- Ninataka kuheshimu haki zao. – I want to respect their rights.
or English “-ing” (a verbal noun/gerund):
- Kuheshimu haki za kila mtu ni muhimu. – Respecting everyone’s rights is important.

In the sentence:

Uwazi wa serikali na kuheshimu haki za kila mtu…

kuheshimu functions like a noun-like action:

respecting the rights of every person

Together with uwazi, it forms a compound subject:

(Government transparency) and (respecting everyone’s rights) help us…

Why is it haki za kila mtu and not haki ya kila mtu?

The choice za vs ya here is about number (plural vs singular) and noun class.

Haki (right/rights) is an N-class noun that often has the same form in singular and plural.
In context, “rights of every person” refers to multiple rights, not just one right.
For N-class nouns:
- Singular “of” is often ya
- Plural “of” is often za

So:

haki ya mtu – the right (singular) of a person
haki za watu – the rights (plural) of people
haki za kila mtu – the rights (plural) of each/every person

That’s why za is used instead of ya here.

What does kila do in kila mtu, and why is it paired with a singular noun?

Kila means every / each.

In Swahili:

kila is always followed by a singular noun:
- kila mtu – every person
- kila mwanafunzi – every student
- kila siku – every day

Even though the meaning is collective (it refers to many individuals), the grammar stays singular after kila.

So kila mtu literally looks like “each person”, which matches the singular noun mtu.

What does the prefix hu- in hutusaidia mean? Why not inatusaidia or husaidia sisi?

Hu- in hutusaidia shows habitual / general action.

Swahili uses hu- to indicate something that generally happens or is a habit or regular truth:

Mwalimu hufika mapema. – The teacher usually/typically arrives early.
Watu hula saa saba. – People generally eat at one o’clock.

In your sentence:

… hutusaidia kujenga jamii yenye amani.

hutusaidia = hu- (habitual marker) + -tu- (object “us”) + saidia (verb root “help”)

Meaning:

helps us / tends to help us / generally helps us

You could say inatusaidia (with i- as a subject marker agreeing with a class-9/10 subject), but that would sound more like a specific or current situation. Hu- highlights it as a general principle or universal truth.

How is hutusaidia broken down morphologically?

hutusaidia can be split as:

hu- – habitual marker (general/usually)
-tu- – object marker = us
saidia – verb root = help

So literally:

hu-tu-saidia = (generally) helps us

No explicit subject marker appears here because hu- itself is acting in that slot for this kind of general/habitual statement. The subject is understood from context (uwazi wa serikali na kuheshimu haki za kila mtu).

Why is it kujenga jamii and not just jenga jamii?

Kujenga is the infinitive form “to build”. It is needed here because hutusaidia is followed by another verb as a complement:

hutusaidia kujenga… – helps us to build…

Parallel in English:

“helps us build a peaceful society”
The verb after “help” appears in the infinitive-like form in English; in Swahili, it is clearly the infinitive (ku- + jenga).

If you said hutusaidia jenga jamii, that would be ungrammatical, because after kusaidia in this structure, the next verb normally appears in the ku- infinitive form.

What does jamii mean here, and what noun class does it belong to?

Jamii means society, community, or group of people.

Grammatically:

jamii is an N-class noun.
It keeps the same form in singular and plural.
Agreement with jamii uses the typical N-class patterns, for example in adjectives and verb agreement.

In the sentence:

kujenga jamii yenye amani

jamii is the object of kujenga = to build society / a community.

What does yenye mean in jamii yenye amani, and how is it different from ambayo ina amani?

Yenye is a relative adjective meaning roughly “having” or “with”.

So:

jamii yenye amani ≈ a society that has peace / a peaceful society / a society with peace.

Compared to:

jamii ambayo ina amani – literally “a society which has peace”

Differences:

yenye is shorter and more compact, often used like an attributive adjective.
ambayo ina feels a bit more explicit and heavier (a full relative clause).

Both are correct, but jamii yenye amani is more elegant and natural as an attribute: “a peaceful society”.

Why is the form yenye (and not wenye / yenyeo / etc.) used with jamii?

The form of -enye depends on the noun class of the noun it describes.

Jamii is in the N-class.
The N-class relative adjective form is yenye (for both singular and plural).

Some examples:

mtu mwenye busara – a wise person (M/Wa class → mwenye / wenye)
kiti chenye miguu minne – a chair that has four legs (Ki/Vi class → chenye / vyenye)
jamii yenye amani – a society with peace (N class → yenye)

So yenye agrees correctly with jamii’s noun class.

Is amani an adjective meaning “peaceful”? Why doesn’t it change form to agree with jamii?

Amani is actually a noun meaning peace. It is not an adjective.

In jamii yenye amani:

jamii – society
yenye – having / that has
amani – peace (noun)

Literally: “society having peace” → a peaceful society.

Because amani is a noun, it doesn’t change its form to agree with jamii; it just remains amani, like other N-class nouns. The agreement is handled by yenye, which is the part that changes according to the noun class of jamii.

What is the overall structure of the sentence in Swahili grammar terms?

The sentence can be broken down like this:

Subject (complex, two parts joined by na)
- Uwazi wa serikali – government transparency (noun phrase)
- (na) kuheshimu haki za kila mtu – and respecting the rights of every person (infinitive/verbal noun phrase)
Verb
- hutusaidia – (generally) helps us
Object/complement
- kujenga jamii yenye amani – to build a society that has peace / a peaceful society

So the pattern is:

[Subject phrase 1] + na + [Subject phrase 2] + [habitual verb] + [infinitive complement]

In English structure:

(Government transparency) and (respecting everyone’s rights) generally help us to build a peaceful society.