Mama atabadilishia mtoto shati nyumbani.

Mother will change the child's shirt at home.

Breakdown of Mama atabadilishia mtoto shati nyumbani.

• mtoto: the child
• mama: the mother
• shati: the shirt
• nyumbani: at home
• kubadilishia: to change

Questions & Answers about Mama atabadilishia mtoto shati nyumbani.

What does atabadilishia break down into, part by part?

Atabadilishia is made of several pieces stuck together:

• a- = subject marker for he / she (3rd person singular)
• -ta- = future tense marker (will)
• -badilish- = verb root meaning change
• -i- (part of -ia) = applicative suffix, often meaning for / to (someone)
• -a = final vowel that many Swahili verbs end with

So a-ta-badilish-ia = he/she will change (something) for/to (someone). In the sentence, Mama is the subject, so: Mama atabadilishia … = Mother will change (something) for the child…

What is the difference between atabadilisha and atabadilishia?

• atabadilisha = he/she will change (something)
• atabadilishia = he/she will change (something) *for someone / on someone*

The -ia ending (the applicative) adds the idea of a beneficiary, recipient, or location:

• Mama atabadilisha shati.
  Mom will change the shirt. (just the shirt, no explicit beneficiary)

• Mama atabadilishia mtoto shati.
  Mom will change the shirt *for the child / Mom will change the child’s shirt.*

So the form with -ia makes it clear that the action is done for the child (or on the child).

Is the child (mtoto) a direct object or an indirect object in this sentence?

Grammatically, Swahili can treat this as a double-object construction:

• mtoto = the beneficiary/indirect object (for the child)
• shati = the thing being changed, the direct object

So in meaning, mtoto is like an indirect object:

• for whom? → for the child (mtoto)
• what is being changed? → the shirt (shati)

But Swahili is quite flexible here. Verbs with -ia very naturally take two noun phrases after them without any preposition.

Why is there no object marker on the verb for mtoto? Can we say Mama atambadilishia shati nyumbani?

Yes, you can say:

• Mama atambadilishia shati nyumbani.

Here the verb has an object marker -m- for mtoto:

• a- (she)
• -ta- (will)
• -m- (him/her – referring to mtoto)
• -badilish-ia (change for/on)

So atambadilishia literally: she will change (something) for him/her.

Why is there no -m- in the original sentence?

• Swahili does not have to use the object marker when the object noun (mtoto) is stated clearly.
• Mama atabadilishia mtoto shati nyumbani. is completely natural and common.
• Adding -m- (atambadilishia) is also correct and just slightly more explicit, often used when the person is already known/obvious from context.

Both are grammatical; the version without the object marker is simpler and very typical in everyday speech.

Why is nyumbani used instead of nyumba? What does the -ni mean?

Nyumba by itself means house.

When you add -ni to many nouns, it creates a locative form: a place where something happens.

So:

• nyumba = house
• nyumbani = at home / in the house

In the sentence:

• … nyumbani. = … at home.

Other examples of the locative suffix:

• shuleni (from shule) = at school / in school
• kanisani (from kanisa) = at church / in church

So nyumbani is saying where the action will happen: Mom will change the child’s shirt *at home.*

Can the word order be Mama atabadilishia shati mtoto nyumbani? Is that correct?

The neutral, most natural order is:

• Mama atabadilishia mtoto shati nyumbani.

Changing it to:

• Mama atabadilishia shati mtoto nyumbani.

is understandable but sounds less natural to many speakers. With verbs like -badilishia, the person (beneficiary) normally comes before the thing:

• atabadilishia mtoto shati (will change a shirt for the child)

So for learners, it’s best to stick to:

• [Subject] [Verb] [Beneficiary] [Thing] [Place]
  → Mama atabadilishia mtoto shati nyumbani.

What tense is ata- in atabadilishia?

The -ta- in atabadilishia is the simple future tense marker:

• a- = he/she
• -ta- = will (future)
• badilishia = change (for someone)

So atabadilishia = he/she will change (for someone).

Contrast with other tenses:

• anabadilisha = he/she is changing / he/she changes (present)
• amebadilishia = he/she has changed (for someone) (present perfect)
• alibadilishia = he/she changed (for someone) (simple past)

In our sentence, we are talking about an action that has not happened yet but will happen, so the future marker -ta- is used.

How do I show whose shirt it is? Is Mama atabadilishia mtoto shati the child’s shirt or someone else’s?

The sentence Mama atabadilishia mtoto shati nyumbani is usually understood as:

• Mom will change the child’s shirt at home.

It strongly implies the shirt belongs to / is on the child, because of the verb -badilishia.

If you want to make it even clearer, you can use possessives:

• Mama atabadilishia mtoto shati lake nyumbani.
  Mom will change *his/her shirt for the child at home.*

or explicitly:

• Mama atabadilishia mtoto shati la mtoto nyumbani.
  Mom will change the child’s shirt for the child at home.

But in normal conversation, the shorter original sentence is usually enough; context tells you whose shirt it is.

What noun classes are used in this sentence (mama, mtoto, shati, nyumbani)?

• mama

  • Noun class: usually class 1/2 (people)
  • Singular → mama, plural → mama (form doesn’t change, but agreement shows plural)

• mtoto (child)

  • Class 1/2 (M-WA class)
  • Singular: mtoto, plural: watoto

• shati (shirt)

  • N/N class (often same form singular and plural)
  • Singular: shati, plural: shati or mashati (both heard; mashati is common)

• nyumbani (at home)

  • From nyumba (house, N/N class)
  • nyumbani is the locative form (place), created by adding -ni

Understanding that mtoto is class 1 helps explain the verb subject agreement in other sentences (e.g., mtoto atakula, watoto watakula). Here Mama is the subject, so the subject marker is a- (she).

Could I say Mama atabadilisha shati la mtoto nyumbani instead? Does it mean the same thing?

You can say:

• Mama atabadilisha shati la mtoto nyumbani.

This means:

• Mom will change the child’s shirt at home.

The difference:

• atabadilishia mtoto shati → emphasizes doing it for the child, or on the child (beneficiary).
• atabadilisha shati la mtoto → focuses on the shirt that belongs to the child, without highlighting the idea of for him/her as strongly.

In many contexts, they will be understood almost the same, but atabadilishia mtoto shati sounds more like dressing / changing the child, whereas atabadilisha shati la mtoto is more about the shirt itself.