Uzee ni muhimu kwa jamii.

Old age is important for the community.

Breakdown of Uzee ni muhimu kwa jamii.

• ni: to be
• kwa: for
• muhimu: important
• jamii: the community
• uzee: the old age

Questions & Answers about Uzee ni muhimu kwa jamii.

What does uzee mean exactly, and how is it related to mzee?

Uzee means old age (the state or condition of being old).

It is built from the word mzee (an old person, elder) plus the prefix u-, which often turns adjectives or nouns into abstract nouns:

• mzee → uzee (old person → old age)
• mzuri (good) → uzuri (goodness, beauty)

So uzee is not “an old person”; it is the abstract concept of being old.

Why is uzee used instead of mzee in this sentence?

The sentence talks about the condition or stage of life, not individual people:

• Uzee ni muhimu kwa jamii.
  Old age is important for society.

If you said Mzee ni muhimu kwa jamii, it would mean The old person is important for society, referring to a particular person or category of people, not the abstract idea of old age itself.

What noun class is uzee, and how can I tell?

Uzee is in noun class 14 (often called the U- class for abstract nouns). Signs:

• It usually starts with u- and refers to an abstract quality or state: uzee (old age), uzuri (beauty), ubaya (badness), ubinadamu (humanity).
• These nouns typically behave like singular, mass/abstract nouns and often don’t have a regular everyday plural.

So when you see u- plus a root that you recognize (like zee from mzee), it’s often class 14.

Does uzee have a plural form?

In normal use, uzee is treated as an uncountable, abstract noun and doesn’t take a regular plural. You don’t usually talk about “old ages” in Swahili, just like in English you normally don’t say “two old ages.”

If you need to talk about different kinds of old age, you would phrase it differently, for example:

• Aina mbalimbali za uzee – different types of old age
• Vipindi vya uzee – periods of old age

What is the function of ni in this sentence?

Ni is the copula, equivalent to English is / are in equational sentences:

• Uzee ni muhimu. – Old age is important.
• Hii ni nyumba. – This is a house.

Key points about ni:

• It doesn’t change with person or number: mimi ni, wewe ni, sisi ni, etc.
• It doesn’t carry tense; tense is usually shown with kuwa or with verb infixes, not with ni.
  
  • Uzee ulikuwa muhimu. – Old age was important.
  • Uzee utakuwa muhimu. – Old age will be important.

Could ni be left out here?

For learners, you should keep ni in sentences like this:

• Uzee ni muhimu kwa jamii.

In some casual speech, people may drop ni in certain patterns (especially in very short, familiar expressions or headlines), but this is not the safest model for learners.

Written standard Swahili and clear spoken Swahili usually keep ni in this type of sentence.

Is muhimu an adjective, and why doesn’t it change form?

Yes, muhimu is an adjective meaning important.

Unlike many Swahili adjectives that change to agree with the noun (e.g. mtu mzuri, kitu kizuri), muhimu is one of several adjectives that are invariable: they keep the same form regardless of noun class:

• uzee muhimu – important old age
• jamii muhimu – important society
• maamuzi muhimu – important decisions

So you never say umuhimu as an adjective. (Umuhimu exists, but it is the noun meaning importance.)

What is the difference between muhimu and umuhimu?

• muhimu – an adjective: important

  • Uzee ni muhimu. – Old age is important.

• umuhimu – a noun: importance

  • Umuhimu wa uzee ni mkubwa. – The importance of old age is great.

So in your sentence, we use the adjective muhimu, not the noun umuhimu.

What does kwa mean here, and could another preposition be used?

Kwa is a very flexible preposition; here it means roughly for (in the sense of being beneficial to):

• Uzee ni muhimu kwa jamii. – Old age is important for society.

Other common meanings of kwa include by, to, at, with depending on context.

You could also see:

• Uzee ni muhimu katika jamii. – Old age is important in society.

Kwa jamii emphasizes benefit or relevance to society.
Katika jamii emphasizes the setting or context (within society).

What does jamii mean precisely? Is it singular or plural?

Jamii means society, community, or sometimes group (often in a social or anthropological sense).

It belongs to noun class 9/10, where many nouns have the same form for singular and plural. Context tells you which is intended.

In your sentence:

• Uzee ni muhimu kwa jamii.
  The most natural reading is singular: for society (in general).
  But depending on context it could also be understood as for communities in general.

What is the basic word order in this sentence, and is it normal Swahili order?

The order is:

• Subject (noun) – Uzee
• Copula – ni
• Predicate (adjective) – muhimu
• Prepositional phrase – kwa jamii

So: Uzee ni muhimu kwa jamii.

This is a normal Swahili word order for an equational sentence (X is Y) plus an extra phrase:

• [Noun] ni [adjective] [prepositional phrase].
  
  • Chakula ni muhimu kwa afya. – Food is important for health.
  • Elimu ni muhimu kwa watoto. – Education is important for children.

Could I say the same idea in another Swahili way?

Yes, here are a few natural variants with slightly different nuances:

• Wazee ni muhimu kwa jamii. – Old people / elders are important for society.
• Uzee una umuhimu mkubwa kwa jamii. – Old age has great importance for society.
• Uzee ni jambo muhimu katika jamii. – Old age is an important matter in society.

Your original sentence is simple and very natural, especially when focusing on old age as a stage of life rather than on individuals.