Breakdown of Kocha wa timu ya wasichana anafundisha mazoezi ya mpira kwa uvumilivu mkubwa.
Questions & Answers about Kocha wa timu ya wasichana anafundisha mazoezi ya mpira kwa uvumilivu mkubwa.
Wa is the possessive connector meaning “of”.
In Swahili, this connector agrees with the thing possessed (the possessee), not the possessor.
- kocha wa timu = the coach of the team
- kocha = coach (class 1, a person) → possessive for class 1 is wa
- timu = team (the possessor)
So we say kocha wa timu (coach-of team), not kocha ya timu, because wa agrees with kocha, not with timu.
Again, the possessive connector agrees with the thing possessed:
- timu ya wasichana = team of girls
- timu = team (noun class 9)
- Possessive for class 9 is ya
So:
- timu ya wasichana = team (class 9) ya girls → ya is correct.
- wa would be for a class 1/2 noun (people like mtu, kocha, mwalimu), not for timu.
It’s a nested “of” structure:
- kocha wa timu = coach of the team
- timu ya wasichana = team of girls
Putting them together:
- kocha wa timu ya wasichana
= coach of (the team of girls)
= the girls’ team coach / the coach of the girls’ team.
The order is always from the main noun outward: [coach] of [team] of [girls].
Anafundisha is in the present tense with the -na- marker, which is often called the “present progressive” or “continuous” in Swahili.
Breakdown:
- a- = he/she (3rd person singular subject)
- -na- = present tense / ongoing action
- fundisha = teach
Literal meaning: “he/she is teaching”, but it can also be translated as “he/she teaches” (present habitual) depending on context.
Here, Kocha … anafundisha … can be understood as:
- The coach is teaching ball exercises…
or - The coach teaches ball exercises… (as something done regularly).
The verb must agree with the subject of the sentence:
- Subject: Kocha wa timu ya wasichana = The coach of the girls’ team → This is one person.
- Third person singular subject marker in Swahili: a-
- Third person plural (they) would be wa-, as in wanafundisha.
So:
- Kocha … anafundisha = The coach teaches / is teaching (correct)
- Kocha … wanafundisha would wrongly treat the coach as plural.
Mazoezi ya mpira literally means “exercises/practice of ball”.
- zoezi = an exercise
- mazoezi = exercises, practice (class 6 plural, often used as a mass noun: “practice/training”)
- mpira = ball; in many contexts also “football” (the sport)
Depending on context, mazoezi ya mpira can be translated as:
- ball exercises
- ball practice
- football practice
- ball-sport training
In sports context, most people would understand it as something like “football training/practice”.
Again, ya agrees with the thing possessed:
- mazoezi ya mpira = exercises/practice of ball
- mazoezi = exercises (class 6, ma- class)
- Possessive for class 6 is ya
So:
- zoezi la mpira = a ball exercise (singular; class 5 → la)
- mazoezi ya mpira = ball exercises / ball practice (plural; class 6 → ya)
Kwa here introduces manner – it shows how the action is done.
- kwa uvumilivu mkubwa = with great patience / patiently
This kwa + noun pattern is very common to express manner:
- kwa haraka = quickly / with speed
- kwa makini = carefully
- kwa furaha = happily / with joy
So anafundisha … kwa uvumilivu mkubwa =
He teaches … with great patience.
Yes, literally it’s “big/great patience”:
- uvumilivu = patience, endurance
- mkubwa = big, great, important
In Swahili it’s completely natural to say uvumilivu mkubwa to mean “a lot of patience”, “great patience”, or “very strong patience”.
Rough English equivalents:
- a lot of patience
- great patience
- a high level of patience
So the sentence says the coach teaches very patiently, emphasizing how much patience he/she has.
Adjectives in Swahili agree with the noun class of the noun they describe.
- uvumilivu is an abstract noun with u-, often grouped with class 11/14.
- For these classes, many common adjectives (like -kubwa, -dogo) take the prefix m- → mkubwa, mdogo, etc.
So:
- uvumilivu mkubwa = great/big patience
- But: timu kubwa (not mtimu kubwa), because timu is class 9, whose adjective form is just kubwa.
In the example it comes at the end:
- Kocha … anafundisha mazoezi ya mpira kwa uvumilivu mkubwa.
This is very natural: verb + object + manner phrase.
You can move it, usually without changing the meaning much, for example:
- Kocha wa timu ya wasichana, kwa uvumilivu mkubwa, anafundisha mazoezi ya mpira.
This sounds slightly more emphatic or literary, but it’s still correct.
Typical, neutral word order keeps kwa uvumilivu mkubwa at the end.
You can say kocha wa wasichana, but it’s slightly different in meaning:
kocha wa wasichana
- literally: coach of the girls
- Suggests “the girls’ coach” in a more direct way (he works with some girls).
kocha wa timu ya wasichana
- literally: coach of the team of girls
- More specific: he is the coach of a girls’ team (an organized team whose members are girls).
Both are grammatical; the original sentence highlights that this is a team sport context.
You would pluralize the relevant nouns and adjust the verb agreement:
- kocha → makocha (coaches, class 6)
- timu can already be plural; often form doesn’t change, context shows plurality.
- Verb subject marker must match makocha (class 6 / they): wa-
One natural plural version would be:
- Makocha wa timu za wasichana wanafundisha mazoezi ya mpira kwa uvumilivu mkubwa.
- Makocha = the coaches
- wa agrees with makocha (coaches of…)
- timu za wasichana = girls’ teams (possessive za for plural class 10 timu)
- wanafundisha = they teach / are teaching (subject wa- for “they”)
So the verb and some possessive markers change when you make things plural.