Learn Hardcore Swahili: Ripoti uliyoiandika jana ni nzuri. - The report that you wrote yesterday is good.

u- = subject prefix for you (singular)
-li- = past tense marker
-yo- = relative marker agreeing with ripoti (class 9) – this is the “that/which” part
-i- = object marker for class 9 (it, referring to ripoti)
andika = verb root “write”

So u-li-yo-i-andika literally means:
you–PAST–RELATIVE–it–write → “that you wrote it”.

What exactly makes this a relative clause? Where is “that/which” in Swahili?

The relative idea (“that/which”) is inside the verb in the part -yo-.

In English: the report that you wrote yesterday
In Swahili: ripoti u-li-yo-i-andika jana

The -yo- is the relative marker matching the noun class of ripoti. It turns uliandika (“you wrote”) into uliyoiandika (“that you wrote it”).

So, there is no separate word for “that/which” here; it’s built into the verb.

Why is the relative marker -yo- and not something like -cho- or -lo-?

The form of the relative marker depends on the noun class of the noun it refers to.

Ripoti belongs to noun class 9/10 (same class as nguo, habari, nyumba, etc.).
The class 9/10 relative marker is -yo-.

Some common ones:

Class 1/2 (mtu, watu) → -ye- / -o- (e.g. aliyekuja “who came”)
Class 3/4 (mti, miti) → -o-
Class 5/6 (tunda, matunda) → -lo- / -yo- (depends on form)
Class 7/8 (kitu, vitu) → -cho- / -vyo-
Class 9/10 (ripoti, barua, habari) → -yo-

So we get u-li-yo-… because the head noun ripoti is class 9/10.

What is the purpose of the -i- in uliyoiandika?

The -i- is an object marker meaning “it”, agreeing with ripoti (class 9).

Breakdown:

u- → you (subject)
-li- → past
-yo- → relative (for ripoti)
-i- → “it” (object marker, also referring to ripoti)
andika → write

Inside the relative clause, ripoti is actually the object of the verb “write”:

“you wrote the report” → you (subject) wrote it (object)

Swahili often puts an object marker in the verb when:

the object is already known, or
it is the thing being relativized (as here).

So uliyoiandika basically means “that you wrote it”.

Can I leave out the -i- and just say Ripoti uliyoandika jana ni nzuri?

Yes, you can say:

Ripoti uliyoandika jana ni nzuri.

That is grammatically acceptable and commonly heard.

Difference in feel:

Ripoti uliyoiandika jana… – a bit more explicit: “the report that you wrote it yesterday”
Ripoti uliyoandika jana… – “the report that you wrote yesterday”

In careful / traditional grammar, when the head noun is the object inside the relative clause, adding the object marker (-i-) is preferred.
In everyday speech, many people drop it, and both versions are understood the same way in context.

Why is it uliyoiandika and not just uliandika?

Uliandika means simply “you wrote” (past tense), with no relative meaning:

Uliandika ripoti jana. – “You wrote the report yesterday.”

To make a relative clause “that you wrote”, Swahili adds the relative marker -yo-:

uliandika → uli
- yo
  - iandika → uliyoiandika
    (with the object marker -i- also added)

So:

uliandika = “you wrote”
uliyoiandika = “(that) you wrote it”

Without -yo-, you don’t get the “that/which” meaning.

Why is it nzuri and not mzuri after ripoti?

The adjective -zuri (“good, nice”) changes its prefix to agree with the noun class of the noun it describes.

Class 1 (mtu) → mtu mzuri (“a good person”)
Class 2 (watu) → watu wazuri (“good people”)
Class 9/10 (ripoti) → ripoti nzuri

Ripoti is a class 9 noun. In class 9/10, many adjectives take n- (written as nzuri) regardless of singular or plural:

ripoti nzuri – good report
ripoti nzuri – good reports (same form)

So we say ripoti nzuri, not ripoti mzuri.

What is the role of ni in ni nzuri? Could we omit it?

Ni is the copula (linking verb) meaning roughly “is/are”.

Ripoti … ni nzuri. → “The report … is good.”

You generally cannot omit ni here in standard Swahili:

Ripoti uliyoiandika jana nzuri. ✗ (ungrammatical in standard Swahili)
Ripoti uliyoiandika jana ni nzuri. ✓

You could sometimes replace ni with another verb like kuwa in a different tense (e.g. ilikuwa nzuri – “was good”), but some kind of link is needed between the subject (ripoti) and the adjective (nzuri).

Do we really need both the past tense -li- and the word jana? Isn’t one of them enough?

They do different jobs:

-li- (in uliyoiandika) tells you the action is in the past.
Without it, u
- -na-
  - andika would be present: unaiandika (“you are writing it”).
jana specifies when in the past – yesterday.

Could you drop jana?

Yes: Ripoti uliyoiandika ni nzuri. – “The report that you wrote is good.” (past, but time not specified)

Could you drop -li- and keep jana?

No: Ripoti unaiandika jana ni nzuri. ✗
The tense inside the verb must still be correct; “you are writing it yesterday” is wrong in Swahili just as it is in English.

So -li- = past; jana = a specific time in the past.

Can I move jana somewhere else, or does it have to follow uliyoiandika?

You have some flexibility, but you must keep the meaning clear.

Common and natural positions:

After the relative verb:
- Ripoti uliyoiandika jana ni nzuri.
  → “The report that you wrote yesterday is good.” (our original)
At the very beginning of the whole sentence:
- Jana uliandika ripoti. Ripoti uliyoiandika ni nzuri.
- Or → Jana, ripoti uliyoiandika ni nzuri. (context-dependent)

Be careful putting jana at the very end:

Ripoti uliyoiandika ni nzuri jana.
This tends to sound like “The report that you wrote is good today / was good yesterday” depending on context, and can be confusing. It can sound like jana is modifying “good” rather than “wrote”.

So the safest in this structure is exactly what you have:
Ripoti uliyoiandika jana ni nzuri.

Is there a simpler way to say the same idea without using a relative clause?

Yes, you can express the same idea using two sentences or a different structure. For example:

Two sentences:
- Uliandika ripoti jana. Ripoti hiyo ni nzuri.
  → “You wrote a report yesterday. That report is good.”
Using ile:
- Ile ripoti uliyoiandika jana ni nzuri.
  → “That report you wrote yesterday is good.”

These avoid the more complex-looking relative + object-marker cluster for a beginner, while keeping essentially the same meaning.