Mimi ninapenda kujibu maswali ya biolojia kuliko maswali ya hesabu.

I like answering biology questions more than math questions.

Breakdown of Mimi ninapenda kujibu maswali ya biolojia kuliko maswali ya hesabu.

• mimi: I
• kupenda: to like
• ya: of
• kuliko: than
• kujibu: to answer
• swali: the question
• hesabu: the math
• biolojia: the biology

Questions & Answers about Mimi ninapenda kujibu maswali ya biolojia kuliko maswali ya hesabu.

Why do we have Mimi if ninapenda already means “I like”? Can I just say Ninapenda kujibu maswali ya biolojia…?

In Swahili, the subject is already built into the verb, so ninapenda literally has:

• ni- = I (subject marker)
• -na- = present tense
• -penda = like

So ninapenda already means I like.

Mimi means I / me as an independent pronoun. It’s used:

• for emphasis:
  
  • Mimi ninapenda… = I like… (implying “as for me / unlike others”)
• or for clarity in longer/complex sentences.

All of these are grammatically correct, but with slightly different feel:

• Mimi ninapenda kujibu maswali ya biolojia… – I (emphatic) like answering biology questions…
• Ninapenda kujibu maswali ya biolojia… – I like answering biology questions…
• Napenda kujibu maswali ya biolojia… – same meaning in casual speech (the ni is often dropped in fast, informal speech).

For normal, neutral speech, Ninapenda… is enough.

What exactly is inside the verb ninapenda? How does this pattern work in Swahili?

Swahili verbs are built from several pieces stuck together. Ninapenda can be broken down like this:

• ni- = subject prefix for “I”
• -na- = tense marker for present/habitual
• penda = verb root “like / love”

So the basic pattern is:

Subject prefix + Tense marker + Verb root

Some common combinations:

• Ninapenda – I like / I love
• Unapenda – You (sg) like
• Anapenda – He/she likes
• Tunapenda – We like
• Mnapenda – You (pl) like
• Wanapenda – They like

Other tenses change the middle part:

• Nilipenda – I liked (past)
  (ni-
  • -li-
    • penda)
• Nitapenda – I will like (future)
  (ni-
  • -ta-
    • penda)

So once you recognize ni-…-na-…, you can see immediately that ninapenda means “I (present) like”.

What is kujibu doing here? Is it an infinitive like “to answer”?

Yes. Kujibu is the infinitive form of the verb -jibu (to answer).

• ku- = infinitive marker (“to”)
• -jibu = answer, respond

In Swahili, infinitives are formed with ku- + verb root:

• kusoma – to read / study
• kuandika – to write
• kuuliza – to ask (a question)
• kujibu – to answer / reply

After verbs like kupenda (to like), kutaka (to want), kujaribu (to try), you just put the infinitive:

• Napenda kusoma. – I like to read / I like reading.
• Nataka kula. – I want to eat.
• Ninajaribu kujibu. – I am trying to answer.

So ninapenda kujibu = I like to answer / I like answering.

Why is it maswali ya biolojia and not something like maswali yaa biolojia or maswali wa biolojia?

The key word is ya.

Maswali (questions) is the plural of swali and belongs to noun class 6 (plural of class 5). The possessive/“of” agreement for class 6 is ya.

So:

• maswali ya biolojia = questions of biology / biology questions

Some noun class + “of” (possessive) forms:

• Class 1 (mtoto) → wa : mtoto wa mwalimu – the teacher’s child
• Class 3 (mti) → wa : mti wa embe – a mango tree
• Class 5/6 (swali/maswali) → la / ya :
  
  • swali la biolojia – a biology question
  • maswali ya biolojia – biology questions
• Class 7/8 (kitabu/vitabu) → cha / vya :
  
  • kitabu cha biolojia – a biology book
  • vitabu vya biolojia – biology books

So maswali ya… is exactly the correct agreement; waa, yaa etc. don’t exist as separate words, and wa would be wrong for this noun class.

What does kuliko mean, and how does the comparison work here?

Kuliko is used to express comparison, similar to than in English.

Basic pattern:

[Thing A] kuliko [Thing B]
= [Thing A] is more … than [Thing B]

In this sentence:

• Mimi ninapenda kujibu maswali ya biolojia – I like answering biology questions
• kuliko – more than
• maswali ya hesabu – (answering) math questions

So the whole thing means:

I like answering biology questions more than math questions.

Other examples:

• Ninapenda chai kuliko kahawa. – I like tea more than coffee.
• Yeye ni mrefu kuliko mimi. – She/he is taller than me.
• Leo ni baridi kuliko jana. – Today is colder than yesterday.

You can also compare actions:

• Napenda kusoma kuliko kuandika. – I prefer reading to writing / I like reading more than writing.

Why do we repeat maswali: kuliko maswali ya hesabu? Can we just say kuliko ya hesabu?

Repeating maswali is completely natural and clear:

• …maswali ya biolojia kuliko maswali ya hesabu.
  = …biology questions more than math questions.

However, in normal speech (and writing), Swahili speakers often drop the repeated noun if the meaning is clear. Then you rely on the agreement word:

• …maswali ya biolojia kuliko ya hesabu.

Here, ya still matches maswali (class 6), so listeners understand:

• ya hesabu = (those) of math → “math ones / math questions”.

So:

• Long / full: maswali ya biolojia kuliko maswali ya hesabu
• Short / natural: maswali ya biolojia kuliko ya hesabu

Both are correct; the shorter version is common in context.

There’s no “the” or “a” anywhere. How would I say “the biology questions” specifically?

Swahili normally doesn’t use separate words for a/an/the. Nouns like maswali ya biolojia can mean:

• biology questions
• the biology questions
• some biology questions

Context usually makes it clear.

To make it more specific (closer to “the”), you can add demonstratives or other determiners:

• maswali ya biolojia hayo – those biology questions
• maswali ya biolojia yale ya jana – those biology questions from yesterday
• maswali haya ya biolojia – these biology questions
• maswali yote ya biolojia – all the biology questions

So the basic phrase maswali ya biolojia is flexible; you add extra words if you need to be very precise, like English the.

What exactly does hesabu mean? Is it just “math”?

Hesabu is a fairly broad word. Its meanings include:

• counting, calculation
• arithmetic / mathematics as a school subject
• a calculation / a sum / a bill (context-dependent)

In a school or academic context, hesabu is usually understood as math (especially arithmetic/basic mathematics). So:

• maswali ya hesabu – math questions / arithmetic questions
• kufanya hesabu – to do calculations / to do math
• mwalimu wa hesabu – math teacher

In other contexts, hesabu can also mean:

• Hesabu ya jumla ni shilingi elfu kumi.
  – The total bill is 10,000 shillings.
• Alifanya hesabu vibaya.
  – He/she calculated it wrongly.

In this sentence, the school-subject meaning (“math”) fits naturally.

Could I say Ninapendelea kujibu maswali ya biolojia kuliko maswali ya hesabu instead? Is there a difference between kupenda and kupendelea?

Yes, you could say that, and it slightly changes the nuance.

• kupenda – to like / to love
• kupendelea – to prefer

So:

• Ninapenda kujibu maswali ya biolojia kuliko maswali ya hesabu.
  – I like answering biology questions more than math questions.
  (emphasizes liking both, but biology more)

• Ninapendelea kujibu maswali ya biolojia kuliko maswali ya hesabu.
  – I prefer answering biology questions to math questions.
  (more directly “prefer”, not necessarily saying you like math at all)

Both are correct; kupenda … kuliko … is already a perfectly natural way to express preference, even without -pendelea.

Is the word order in this sentence fixed, or could I move things around?

The basic word order in neutral Swahili clauses is:

Subject – Verb – (Object / other elements)

In this sentence:

• Mimi – subject pronoun
• ninapenda – verb
• kujibu maswali ya biolojia kuliko maswali ya hesabu – “what I like” (infinitive phrase + objects + comparison)

You can:

1. Drop Mimi (subject is still in the verb):

   • Ninapenda kujibu maswali ya biolojia kuliko maswali ya hesabu.

2. Emphasize the activity by fronting it, but then you must adjust grammar:

   • Kujibu maswali ya biolojia ninapenda kuliko maswali ya hesabu.
     (sounds marked/emphatic, not the neutral way)

3. You cannot normally split kujibu from maswali ya biolojia in unnatural ways, like:

   • ✗ Mimi ninapenda maswali ya biolojia kujibu kuliko maswali ya hesabu. (wrong)

So the original word order is the most natural:

(Mimi) ninapenda [kujibu maswali ya biolojia] kuliko [maswali ya hesabu].

How would I say “I like answering biology questions more than asking them” using what’s in this sentence?

You can reuse most of the structure and just change the second activity:

• kuuliza – to ask (a question)
• kujibu – to answer

A natural sentence would be:

• Ninapenda kujibu maswali ya biolojia kuliko kuuliza.
  – I like answering biology questions more than asking (them).

If you want to be very explicit:

• Ninapenda kujibu maswali ya biolojia kuliko kuyauliza.
  (ku-ya-uliza = to ask them, where ya refers back to maswali)

Both are correct; the shorter kuliko kuuliza is usually enough in context.