Watoto wanateremka mteremko polepole.

The children are going down the slope slowly.

Breakdown of Watoto wanateremka mteremko polepole.

• mtoto: the child
• polepole: slowly
• mteremko: the slope
• kuteremka: to go down

Questions & Answers about Watoto wanateremka mteremko polepole.

What does each word in Watoto wanateremka mteremko polepole literally correspond to in English?

Very literally:

• Watoto – children (plural of mtoto – child)
• wa- (in wanateremka) – subject prefix for they (for people/animals, noun class 1/2)
• -na- – present tense marker (“are / do”)
• -teremka – verb root meaning to go down / descend
• mteremko – slope, incline, downhill
• polepole – slowly

So the structure is roughly:
Children they-are-descending slope slowly.

Why is it watoto and not just toto for “children”? How is the plural formed?

Mtoto (child) belongs to noun class 1 (singular) / 2 (plural):

• mtoto – child (singular, class 1, prefix m-)
• watoto – children (plural, class 2, prefix wa-)

Pattern:

• Class 1 singular: m- / mw- (e.g. mtu – person)
• Class 2 plural: wa- (e.g. watu – people)

So:

• mtoto → watoto
• msichana → wasichana (girl → girls)
• mwalimu → walimu (teacher → teachers)

The plural is created by changing the noun-class prefix from m- to wa-.

How is wanateremka built up? What are its parts?

Wanateremka has three main parts:

• wa- – subject prefix = they (for class 2, like watoto)
• -na- – present tense marker (general present / present continuous)
• teremka – verb stem meaning to go down / descend

So:

• wanateremka ≈ they are descending / they are going down.

Other subjects change the first part:

• Ninateremka – I am going down
• Unateremka – You (sg.) are going down
• Anateremka – He/She is going down
• Tunateremka – We are going down
• Mnanteremka – You (pl.) are going down

Only the subject prefix changes; -na- and teremka stay the same in this tense.

What exactly does the -na- in wanateremka mean? Is it “are” like in English?

-na- is the present tense marker. It usually refers to:

• General present (things happening now), or
• Habitual present (things that happen regularly), depending on context.

It doesn’t literally mean are by itself; Swahili doesn’t split “are going” into two words. Instead:

• wa-
  • -na-
    • teremka = wanateremka (they are going down / they go down).

Compare:

• Waliteremka – they went down (wali- = past)
• Watateremka – they will go down (wata- = future)
• Huwateremka is not correct; you’d say hutaremka for habitual with a different pattern.

So -na- is a tense marker, not a separate verb like to be.

If wanateremka already means “are going down”, why is there no separate word for “down” like chini?

In Swahili, many verbs already contain direction in their meaning:

• kuteremka – to go down / descend
• kupanda – to go up / climb
• kuingia – to go in / enter
• kutoka – to go out / come from

So wanateremka already includes the idea of “down”. You don’t need an extra word like down.

You can use chini (down, below) if you want to say something like:

• Watoto wanashuka chini ya mti. – The children are coming down from under the tree.
• Mpira umeanguka chini. – The ball has fallen down.

But in Wanateremka mteremko, the sense of down is built into teremka.

What’s the relationship between teremka (verb) and mteremko (noun)?

They are closely related:

• teremka – verb stem: to go down / descend
• m-teremk-o → mteremko – noun formed from that stem: a slope / incline / descent

Common pattern:

• ku-
  • verb stem = infinitive verb (kuteremka – to go down)
• m- + stem + -o = a related noun (mteremko – slope)

Other examples:

• kufika (to arrive) → mfiko (arrival – less common, more formal)
• kupita (to pass) → mpito (a passage, route)

So wanateremka mteremko is literally they-are-descending (a) descent / slope.

Why is mteremko singular when the subject watoto is plural?

The number of the subject and the number of the object/place are independent.

• Watoto – children (plural subject)
• mteremko – a slope (singular object/location)

English is the same in this respect:

• The children are going down *the hill.* (hill is singular)
• The children are going down *the hills.* (hills plural)

If there were many slopes, you’d pluralize the noun:

• miteremko – slopes (plural of mteremko)

So both are possible:

• Watoto wanateremka mteremko. – The children are descending a slope.
• Watoto wanateremka miteremko. – The children are descending slopes (if context requires).

Why is there no word like “on” or “along” before mteremko? Should it be kwenye mteremko?

Both are possible, with a slight difference in feel:

1. Watoto wanateremka mteremko polepole.
   – Very natural. The verb teremka already implies movement along/down something, so the noun can come directly after the verb.

2. Watoto wanateremka kwenye mteremko polepole.
   – Also correct; kwenye means in / on / at. This can sound a bit more explicit: on the slope.

In many movement verbs, Swahili allows:

• verb + place-noun directly: Anaenda shule. – He/She is going (to) school.
• or verb + kwenye
  • place-noun: Anaenda kwenye shule.

Direct noun after the verb is the more typical, shorter way.

What does polepole exactly mean, and can it move in the sentence?

Polepole is an adverb meaning slowly, gently, carefully. It’s commonly placed at the end of the sentence:

• Watoto wanateremka mteremko polepole.

It can sometimes move, but end position is most natural:

• Watoto wanateremka polepole mteremko. – Understandable but less natural.
• Watoto wanateremka polepole. – Also fine if the slope is already known from context.

You might also see:

• Taratiibu – also slowly / gently.
• Polepole sana – very slowly.

You do not usually need a preposition like kwa before polepole. Just use polepole on its own.

Why don’t we say kwa polepole the way some other adverbs use kwa (like kwa haraka)?

Both patterns exist in Swahili, but they behave differently:

1. Some adverbs are standalone words:

   • polepole – slowly
   • taratibu – gently
   • haraka – quickly (also a noun)

2. Some adverbial expressions are formed with kwa + noun:

   • kwa haraka – quickly / in a hurry
   • kwa nguvu – with force
   • kwa uangalifu – carefully

Polepole is already an adverb, so it does not need kwa:

• Watoto wanateremka polepole. – natural
• Watoto wanateremka kwa polepole. – sounds wrong/unnatural.

With haraka, both forms can appear, but kwa haraka is very common:

• Watoto wanateremka haraka. – ok
• Watoto wanateremka kwa haraka. – very natural

So: use polepole by itself.

Is the word order fixed? Could I say Watoto polepole wanateremka mteremko?

The basic, most natural word order for this sentence is:

• Subject – Verb – (Object/Place) – Adverb
  → Watoto wanateremka mteremko polepole.

Other orders like:

• Watoto polepole wanateremka mteremko.
• Polepole watoto wanateremka mteremko.

are possible in fluent, expressive Swahili (to emphasize polepole), but they are marked and can sound poetic, narrative, or stylistic.

For everyday learner Swahili, stick to:

• Watoto wanateremka mteremko polepole.

Could I replace wanateremka with wanashuka? Is there a difference between kuteremka and kushuka?

Yes, you can say:

• Watoto wanashuka mteremko polepole.

Both kuteremka and kushuka involve going down, but there are nuance differences:

• kuteremka – to go down along a slope, hill, stairs, an incline; emphasizes a downward movement along something.
• kushuka – to come down / get off / descend from a higher position (bus, tree, stairs, bed, etc.).

Examples:

• Ninateremka mlima. – I am going down the mountain (walking down the slope).
• Ninashuka kwenye basi. – I am getting off the bus.

In your sentence, wanateremka mteremko feels slightly more specific to walking down a slope, while wanashuka mteremko is also understandable and acceptable.