Learn Hardcore Swahili: Uwazi ni muhimu katika mawasiliano yetu. - Transparency is important in our communication.

wazi = open, clear
- mlango uko wazi – the door is open
- useme wazi – speak openly/clearly
uwazi = openness, transparency (the quality of being wazi)
- uwazi ni muhimu – openness/transparency is important
- anaonyesha uwazi – he/she shows openness

So you can think of wazi → uwazi roughly like open → openness or clear → clarity in English.

Is uwazi countable? Can I say “an openness” or use a plural?

In Swahili, uwazi is treated as an abstract, uncountable noun (noun class 14).

Normally there is no plural form.
You don’t say “mauwazi” or “uwazis”.

Examples:

Tunahitaji uwazi zaidi. – We need more transparency/openness.
Hakukuwa na uwazi katika maelezo yake. – There was no openness/clarity in his explanation.

If you really needed to count different “types” or “instances” of openness, you’d usually rephrase the whole sentence rather than make uwazi plural.

What’s the difference between uwazi and wazi? When do I use each?

wazi is an adjective meaning open, clear, obvious.
- Mlango uko wazi. – The door is open.
- Ni jambo wazi. – It’s an obvious thing.
uwazi is a noun meaning openness, transparency, clarity (the quality of being wazi).
- Tunahitaji uwazi zaidi kazini. – We need more transparency at work.

So:

Use wazi to describe something: an open door, a clear rule, an obvious fact.
Use uwazi when talking about the concept or quality of openness/transparency itself.

Why do we use ni in Uwazi ni muhimu instead of the verb kuwa?

In this type of sentence, ni functions as the copula “to be”:

Uwazi ni muhimu. – Transparency is important.

You could think of it as the present tense of kuwa (“to be”) when linking two nouns/adjectives:

Mimi ni mwalimu. – I am a teacher.
Chakula ni tamu. – The food is tasty.

You don’t normally say “uwazi kuwa muhimu” in this structure. If you use kuwa, it creates a different kind of phrase, like:

Ni muhimu kuwa wazi. – It is important to be open.

So:

uwazi ni muhimu = “transparency is important” (subject + ni
- adjective)
ni muhimu kuwa wazi = “it is important to be open” (impersonal ni muhimu
- infinitive kuwa wazi)

What kind of word is muhimu, and does it change for gender or number?

Muhimu is an adjective meaning important.

Key things:

It is invariable: it doesn’t change for gender, number, or noun class.
You can use muhimu with almost any noun:
- Kazi ni muhimu. – Work is important.
- Mambo haya ni muhimu. – These matters are important.
- Lishe bora ni muhimu kwa afya. – Good nutrition is important for health.

So you don’t need to learn different forms like in some languages (no equivalent of important/important(s); it stays muhimu).

What does katika mean, and when do I use it instead of kwa or kwenye?

Katika generally means “in / within / inside” and often sounds slightly more formal or neutral than kwenye.

katika mawasiliano yetu – in our communication
katika kazi yako – in your work
katika maisha – in life

Rough nuances:

katika – in, within (often used in writing, neutral/formal)
kwenye – in, at, on (very common in speech, often more casual)
kwa – has many uses (by, with, for, to, because of), and only sometimes overlaps with “in”.

In many contexts, katika and kwenye are interchangeable:

katika mawasiliano yetu ≈ kwenye mawasiliano yetu

But kwa mawasiliano yetu sounds more like “by means of our communication / through our communication”, so it has a different nuance.

What exactly does mawasiliano mean, and how is it formed?

Mawasiliano means communication, communications, contact (usually in the sense of exchanging information).

Morphologically:

The verb -wasiliana = to communicate with each other, to be in contact
From this, mawasiliano is formed as a verbal noun:
- ma- (class 6 prefix) + -wasiliana- (verb stem) + -o (nominal ending)
  → mawasiliano = the act/process/state of communicating

Examples:

Mawasiliano ya simu – phone communication
Kuna tatizo la mawasiliano. – there is a communication problem.
Mawasiliano mazuri ni muhimu. – good communication is important.

In your sentence, katika mawasiliano yetu = in our communication.

Why do we use yetu with mawasiliano and not zetu or wetu?

This is about noun class agreement.

Mawasiliano is in noun class 6 (the ma- class). Possessive adjectives agree with the noun class:

Class 6 uses the ya- pattern for possessives:
- yangu (my)
- yetu (our)
- yake (his/her/its)
- etc.

So:

mawasiliano yetu = our communication
mawasiliano yake = his/her communication

Zetu is for class 10 (e.g. nguo zetu – our clothes), and wetu is for classes that take wa- (e.g. walimu wetu – our teachers). They do not match mawasiliano, so mawasiliano zetu/wetu is incorrect.

Is mawasiliano singular or plural? How does that affect verbs and adjectives?

Grammatically, mawasiliano behaves like a class 6 plural (class 5/6 pair l-/ji- ↔ ma-), but in meaning it is often mass/uncountable, like communication in English.

Agreement:

Class 6 subject prefix: ya-
Adjectives and possessives take -a/ya- type agreements.

Examples:

Mawasiliano yetu ni mazuri. – Our communication is good.
- ni mazuri (class 6 adjective agreement)
Mawasiliano ya simu yameharibika. – Phone communications are down/broken.
- yameharibika (class 6 subject agreement)

So it looks plural in grammar, but often you translate it as singular communication in English.

Can I change the word order and say Katika mawasiliano yetu, uwazi ni muhimu?

Yes, that is perfectly natural.

Both are correct:

Uwazi ni muhimu katika mawasiliano yetu.
Katika mawasiliano yetu, uwazi ni muhimu.

The meaning is essentially the same. The version starting with katika mawasiliano yetu puts extra emphasis on the context (“In our communication…”), which is similar to English word order for emphasis.

How would I say “Being open is important in our communication” in Swahili? Is that different in meaning?

A natural way to say that is:

Ni muhimu kuwa wazi katika mawasiliano yetu.

Breakdown:

ni muhimu – it is important
kuwa wazi – to be open
katika mawasiliano yetu – in our communication

Nuance:

Uwazi ni muhimu katika mawasiliano yetu.
Focuses on “transparency/openness (as a concept) is important in our communication.”
Ni muhimu kuwa wazi katika mawasiliano yetu.
Focuses more on our behavior, i.e. “it is important that we be open.”

They are very close in meaning in practice, but the second one sounds a bit more like advice/instruction about what we should do.

Are there other common phrases that use uwazi, like “government transparency”?

Yes, uwazi is commonly used in contexts of honesty, accountability, and clarity. Some examples:

uwazi wa serikali – government transparency
uwazi na uwajibikaji – transparency and accountability
kuongeza uwazi – to increase transparency
kuwa na uwazi katika biashara – to have openness/transparency in business
uwazi katika uongozi – openness/transparency in leadership

Your sentence Uwazi ni muhimu katika mawasiliano yetu fits well in professional, personal, or organizational contexts where honest, clear communication is valued.

How do you pronounce Uwazi ni muhimu katika mawasiliano yetu correctly?

Swahili pronunciation is quite regular. Break it into syllables:

U-wa-zi
ni
mu-hi-mu
ka-ti-ka
ma-wa-si-li-a-no
ye-tu

Tips:

Each vowel is pronounced clearly:
- u like oo in food (shorter)
- a like a in father
- i like ee in see
- e like e in bet
- o like o in more (not a diphthong)
Stress is usually on the second-to-last syllable:
- u-WA-zi
- mu-HI-mu
- ka-TI-ka
- ma-wa-si-li-A-no
- YE-tu

Said smoothly:
U-WA-zi ni mu-HI-mu ka-TI-ka ma-wa-si-li-A-no YE-tu.