Learn Hardcore Swahili: Sherehe itafanyika ukumbini kesho jioni. - The celebration will take place in the hall tomorrow evening.

i- = subject prefix agreeing with sherehe (a class 9 noun)
-ta- = future tense marker (will)
-fanyika = verb stem, meaning something like be done / take place / be held

So itafanyika literally means “it will be done / it will take place”, and in natural English we usually translate the whole sentence as “The party will take place…” or “The party will be held…”

Why is it ita-fanyika and not ata-fanyika or ktafanyika or something else?

The piece ita- is not one unit; it is i- + -ta-:

i- is the subject prefix for class 9 nouns (often nouns starting with consonants, like sherehe, nyumba, safari).
-ta- is the future tense marker (will).

So: sherehe (class 9) → i- for “it” → i + ta + fanyika → itafanyika.

a- is the subject prefix for class 1 (people, like mtu, mtoto), meaning he/she. So:

Sherehe itafanyika… = The party will take place…
Mtoto atafika… = The child will arrive…

Using atafanyika for sherehe would be wrong, because a- would suggest a person (he/she) instead of a class‑9 thing or event.

What is the difference between “Sherehe itafanyika ukumbini” and “Sherehe itakuwa ukumbini”?

Both are understandable, but they sound slightly different:

Sherehe itafanyika ukumbini
- Very natural, standard way to talk about where an event will take place.
- Equivalent to: The party will take place / will be held in the hall.
Sherehe itakuwa ukumbini
- Literally: The party will be in the hall.
- Grammatically fine, but for events, Swahili speakers typically prefer kufanyika (“to take place, to be held”) rather than just kuwa (“to be”).

So, itafanyika is the more idiomatic choice for scheduled events like meetings, ceremonies, exams, etc.

What does ukumbini mean, and why does it end in -ni?

The base noun is ukumbi = hall (a meeting hall, auditorium, large room).

Adding -ni to many nouns creates a locative form, meaning roughly “in / at / on [that place]”. So:

ukumbi → ukumbini = in the hall / at the hall
nyumba → nyumbani = at home / in the house
shule → shuleni = at school

In this sentence, ukumbini already contains the idea of “in the hall”, so you don’t need a separate word for “in” before it.

Could I also say katika ukumbi instead of ukumbini?

Yes, you could say:

Sherehe itafanyika katika ukumbi kesho jioni.

This is grammatically fine and might sound a bit more formal or written. However, ukumbini is:

shorter,
very natural in everyday speech, and
the most common way to express “in the hall” in this kind of sentence.

So both are correct, but ukumbini is usually preferred in normal conversation.

Can the word order change, for example: Kesho jioni sherehe itafanyika ukumbini?

Yes, Swahili word order is flexible, especially with time expressions. All of these are possible:

Sherehe itafanyika ukumbini kesho jioni.
Kesho jioni sherehe itafanyika ukumbini.
Sherehe kesho jioni itafanyika ukumbini. (less common, but still understandable)

Common patterns:

[Time] + [subject] + [verb] + [place]
[Subject] + [verb] + [place] + [time]

Placing kesho jioni at the beginning often adds emphasis to the time: As for tomorrow evening, the party will be in the hall.

Does kesho jioni mean literally “tomorrow evening” or “tomorrow in the evening”? Can I say jioni kesho?

Kesho jioni is the standard way to say “tomorrow evening.”

kesho = tomorrow
jioni = evening

Together, kesho jioni is understood as “tomorrow evening”, not two separate times.

You could say jioni kesho, and people will understand you, but it’s less common and can sound slightly awkward. Learners are safest sticking to:

leo jioni = this evening
kesho asubuhi = tomorrow morning
kesho jioni = tomorrow evening

How would I say “The party will not take place in the hall tomorrow evening”?

To negate the future, you wrap the verb with a negative prefix and still use -ta-:

Positive: itafanyika = it will take place
Negative: haitafanyika = it will not take place

So the full sentence is:

Sherehe haitafanyika ukumbini kesho jioni.
= The party will not take place in the hall tomorrow evening.

Structure of haitafanyika:

ha- = negative marker for “it” (class 9)
i- = class 9 subject (same as in itafanyika)
-ta- = future
-fanyika = take place

In speech, this contracts to one word: haitafanyika.

Which noun class is sherehe, and how does that affect the sentence?

Sherehe belongs to class 9/10 (often called the N-class).

Characteristics:

Singular and plural usually look the same:
- sherehe (one party) / sherehe (parties)
Subject prefixes:
- Present: i- (e.g. Sherehe inafanyika… = The party is taking place…)
- Future: i-
  - -ta- → itafanyika
- Negative future: ha- + i- + -ta- → haitafanyika

So the class of sherehe is why we say itafanyika and not atafanyika or zitafanyika in the given sentence.

How can I tell if sherehe is singular or plural, since it looks the same?

You have to rely on context and agreement with other words:

Sherehe itafanyika ukumbini kesho jioni.
- Verb has i- (class 9 singular), so this strongly suggests one party.

If we clearly wanted to talk about many parties, the verb and other agreement parts might change, for example:

Sherehe zitafanyika ukumbini kesho jioni.
- zi- is the subject prefix for class 10 (plural).
- → The parties will take place in the hall tomorrow evening.

So in your original sentence, itafanyika matches singular, so it’s one party.

What is the difference between kufanyika and kutokea when talking about events?

Both can be used with events, but they have different main senses:

kufanyika
- core idea: to be done, to take place, to be held
- common with planned events: sherehe, mkutano, mtihani, mazishi
- Sherehe itafanyika ukumbini. = The party will take place in the hall.
kutokea
- core idea: to happen, to occur, to appear
- often used for things that happen (sometimes unexpectedly): accidents, incidents, problems, etc.
- Ajali imetokea barabarani. = An accident has happened on the road.

You can sometimes use kutokea for events (“the event happened”), but for a planned party, kufanyika is more natural and precise.