Learn Hardcore Swahili: Juma anamsamehe rafiki yake akikosea. - Juma forgives his friend when he makes a mistake.

With both object marker and full noun (as in the sentence):
- Juma anamsamehe rafiki yake.
  This is very natural in Swahili. The object marker (m) shows that the object is specific/known, and rafiki yake names who that person is. This kind of “doubling” is normal, especially with people.
With the noun but without the object marker:
- Juma anasamehe rafiki yake.
  This is grammatical and understandable. It can sometimes sound a bit less specific/emphatic about that particular friend, depending on context.
With the object marker only (no noun):
- Juma anamsamehe.
  This works if it is already clear from context who him/her is.

So you can drop rafiki yake if the person is already known, or you can drop m- if you’re simply mentioning the friend once. Using both together, as in the original, is very common and feels natural.

How is rafiki yake formed, and why is it yake and not wake?

Rafiki yake = his/her friend.

Breakdown:

rafiki = friend
ya- = agreement part for noun class 9/10 (the class rafiki belongs to)
-ke = his/her

So ya- + -ke → yake.

Why not wake?

wake is used with class 1 nouns like mtu wake (his person), mtoto wake (his child).
yake is used with class 9/10 nouns like rafiki yake, ndugu yake, safari yake.

Even though rafiki refers to a person, grammatically it belongs to noun class 9, so it takes yake.

What is the ki in akikosea, and how is akikosea different from anakosea?

Akikosea breaks down as:

a- = subject prefix he/she
-ki- = when/if/whenever marker
kosea = to make a mistake / be wrong

So akikosea means something like “when he makes a mistake / if he makes a mistake / whenever he makes a mistake.”

Compare:

anakosea = he is making a mistake / he makes a mistake (simple present)
akikosea = when/if he makes a mistake (introduces a condition or time clause)

In the sentence, akikosea introduces the situation under which Juma forgives him.

Does akikosea mean “if he makes a mistake” or “when he makes a mistake”? What is the nuance?

Akikosea sits in a gray area between if and when. It can mean:

if he makes a mistake
when he makes a mistake
whenever he makes a mistake

Which English word fits best depends on context. In this sentence:

Juma anamsamehe rafiki yake akikosea.

the idea is habitual: it happens regularly whenever the condition is met. So in natural English you might translate it as:

“Juma forgives his friend whenever he makes a mistake.”

Using akikosea (rather than atakosea, for example) gives a more general, repetitive feel, not just a single future event.

Who is making the mistake in akikosea — Juma or the friend? How do we know?

Grammatically, akikosea just means “he/she makes a mistake.” The verb only tells us it’s a singular human subject; it doesn’t say which person.

We figure it out from context and sentence structure:

Juma anamsamehe rafiki yake akikosea.

The most natural reading is:

Juma forgives his friend
when the friend makes a mistake.

Why?

The main clause already sets up a typical situation: someone forgives someone else. It’s more natural in real life that the person being forgiven is the one who made the mistake.
The closest preceding singular human noun phrase is rafiki yake, so it’s the most likely “he” for akikosea to refer back to.

If you wanted to make it absolutely explicit, you could say:

Juma anamsamehe rafiki yake, rafiki yake akikosea.
(Juma forgives his friend when his friend makes a mistake.)

Or, if you actually meant that Juma is the one making the mistake:

Juma akifanya makosa, rafiki yake anamsamehe.
(When Juma makes mistakes, his friend forgives him.)

Is this sentence talking about a general habit, or about something happening right now?

It describes a general habit.

Two things create that reading:

-na- in anamsamehe can be present or habitual, and here it fits a habitual meaning well.
akikosea also has a “whenever/if” flavour, which naturally suggests a repeated situation.

So the sentence means something like:

“Juma (generally) forgives his friend whenever he makes a mistake.”

Not just in one specific situation right now.

Can we move akikosea to the beginning, like Rafiki yake akikosea, Juma anamsamehe? Is that still correct?

Yes, that is both grammatical and very natural:

Rafiki yake akikosea, Juma anamsamehe.

This is actually a common pattern in Swahili: put the condition/time clause first, then the main clause.

Meaning is the same; the difference is just focus:

Rafiki yake akikosea, Juma anamsamehe.
→ Focuses first on the condition: Whenever his friend makes a mistake…
Juma anamsamehe rafiki yake akikosea.
→ Starts by telling you what Juma does, then adds when he does it.

Both are fine and natural.

How would you say “Juma doesn’t forgive his friend when he makes a mistake” using the same structure?

You negate the main verb anamsamehe:

Juma hamsemi rafiki yake akikosea.
Wait, that's wrong; correct form: Juma hamsamehe rafiki yake akikosea.

Breakdown of hamsamehe:

ha- = negative marker for 3rd person singular
-m- = object marker (him/her)
samehe = forgive
In the negative present, the -a ending normally changes to -i, but here samehe already ends in -e, so it stays samehe.

So:

Juma hamsamehe rafiki yake akikosea.
= Juma does not forgive his friend when/whenever he makes a mistake.

How would you say the same idea in the past: “Juma forgave his friend when he made a mistake”?

You change the main verb to the past tense -li-, and usually keep akikosea as is (it can refer to a general situation in the past as well):

Juma alimsamehe rafiki yake alipokosea. (one specific time)
or
Juma alimsamehe rafiki yake akikosea. (whenever he made mistakes in the past)

Two patterns:

Specific one-time event:
- alimsamehe = a- (he) + -li- (past) + -m- (him) + samehe (forgive)
- alipokosea = a- (he) + -li- (past) + -po- (when/where point in time) + kosea
  → Juma forgave his friend when he made a mistake (that time).
Repeated past behaviour:
- alimsamehe … akikosea
  → Juma used to forgive his friend whenever he made mistakes.