Dada yangu anapenda kuvaa koti jeusi lenye mifuko mingi.

My sister likes to wear a black coat that has many pockets.

Breakdown of Dada yangu anapenda kuvaa koti jeusi lenye mifuko mingi.

• kupenda: to like
• yangu: my
• kuvaa: to wear
• dada: the sister
• mingi: many
• lenye: that has
• koti: the coat
• jeusi: black
• mfuko: the pocket

Questions & Answers about Dada yangu anapenda kuvaa koti jeusi lenye mifuko mingi.

In dada yangu, which part means my, and why does it come after dada instead of before like in English?

The whole phrase dada yangu means my sister.

• dada = sister
• yangu = my

In Swahili, possessives usually follow the noun they belong to:

• kitabu changu = my book
• rafiki yako = your friend
• dada yangu = my sister

So the order is typically noun + possessive, the opposite of English my sister.

Why is it yangu and not wangu in dada yangu?

The form of “my” changes depending on the noun class of the thing possessed.

The basic possessive root is -angu, and it takes a prefix linked to the noun class:

• Class 1 (people, like mtu) → wangu (e.g. mtu wangu = my person)
• Class 9 (many nouns with no visible prefix, like dada, rafiki, nguo) → yangu (e.g. dada yangu, rafiki yangu, nguo yangu)

dada belongs to noun class 9, so the correct possessive is yangu.

You may notice a mix in agreement with people: with dada, the verb behaves like a person (takes a- in anapenda), but the possessive behaves like a class‑9 noun (yangu). This is normal in Swahili for some human nouns such as dada, kaka, rafiki, etc.

How is the idea of “likes to wear / likes wearing” expressed in anapenda kuvaa?

anapenda kuvaa can mean both likes to wear and likes wearing. Swahili does not distinguish those two English patterns here.

Breakdown:

• a- = he/she (3rd person singular subject prefix)
• -na- = present/habitual tense marker (“does / is doing / usually does”)
• -penda = like, love
• kuvaa = to wear / wearing

So anapenda kuvaa literally is something like she likes wearing / she likes to wear. English needs two forms (“to wear” vs “wearing”), but Swahili just uses the infinitive kuvaa after anapenda.

What is the function of ku- in kuvaa?

The ku- at the beginning of kuvaa marks the verb as an infinitive, similar to English to in to wear.

• vaa = the bare verb stem “wear / put on”
• kuvaa = to wear / wearing (infinitive / verbal noun)

After verbs like kupenda (to like), kujaribu (to try), kuanza (to start), you normally use ku- plus the verb:

• anapenda kuimba = she likes to sing / likes singing
• ameanza kusoma = he has started to read / reading

So anapenda kuvaa is the normal, standard pattern. You may hear the ku- dropped in rapid speech in some patterns, but for learners it’s safer to keep it.

Does anapenda kuvaa mean “she likes in general” or “she is liking right now”?

anapenda kuvaa is typically understood as a general or habitual statement:

• My sister likes (in general) to wear…
• My sister enjoys wearing…

If you want to emphasize that she is wearing the coat right now, you would usually use anavaa instead:

• Dada yangu anavaa koti jeusi. = My sister is wearing a black coat (right now).

So:

• anapenda kuvaa… → general preference/habit
• anavaa… → current ongoing action

What exactly does kuvaa mean? Is it “to wear” or “to put on”?

kuvaa covers both English ideas to wear and to put on, depending on context:

• Ninavaa koti.
  = I am putting on a coat / I am wearing a coat (context decides)
• Anapenda kuvaa nguo nyeupe.
  = She likes to wear white clothes.

Swahili doesn’t strictly separate “wear” vs “put on” as English does; kuvaa can express both. There is also kuvalia, which can mean “to wear something in/for a certain way or purpose”, but kuvaa is the basic everyday verb you need here.

Why is it koti jeusi and not koti nyeusi for “black coat”?

The adjective “black” in Swahili has a base form -eusi. It changes its beginning depending on the noun class of the noun it describes.

For koti, which is a class‑5 noun, the correct agreeing form is jeusi:

• Class 5 (e.g. gari, tunda, koti) → jeusi / jeupe
  
  • koti jeusi = black coat
  • gari jeusi = black car
  • tunda jeusi = black fruit

You probably already know nyeusi (also “black”). nyeusi is the form used with class‑9/10 nouns such as:

• nguo nyeusi = black clothes / a black garment
• nyumba nyeusi = a black house/building

So:

• koti jeusi (class 5)
• nguo nyeusi (class 9/10)

Same pattern happens with -eupe (white): koti jeupe, nguo nyeupe.

What does lenye mean in koti jeusi lenye mifuko mingi?

lenye comes from the relative adjective -enye, which means having / that has / with.

It agrees with the noun class of the thing that “has” something. Here that thing is koti (class 5), so the correct form is lenye:

• koti jeusi lenye mifuko mingi
  = a black coat having many pockets
  ≈ a black coat with many pockets

Other examples with -enye in different classes:

• Class 1 (person): mtu mwenye pesa = a person who has money
• Class 6: magari yenye rangi nyekundu = cars with red color
• Class 9: nyumba yenye dirisha kubwa = a house with a big window

You could also express “with many pockets” using kuwa na:

• koti jeusi lenye mifuko mingi
• koti jeusi lenalo mifuko mingi (more formal/relative clause)
• koti jeusi lina mifuko mingi = the black coat has many pockets

But lenye mifuko mingi is very natural and compact.

What is going on in mifuko mingi? How does it mean “many pockets”?

mifuko mingi is many pockets.

Breakdown:

• mfuko = pocket / bag (singular, class 3)
• mifuko = pockets / bags (plural, class 4)
• -ingi = adjective root meaning many / a lot of

The adjective -ingi changes shape according to noun class. For class 4 (mifuko), it becomes mingi:

• mti mwingi (class 3, singular) = a lot of tree/wood
• miti mingi (class 4, plural) = many trees
• mfuko mwingi (rare in practice, but grammatically class‑3)
• mifuko mingi (class 4, plural) = many pockets

So:

• noun plural: mifuko
• agreeing adjective: mingi
  → mifuko mingi = many pockets

Why are the describing words (like colors and “many”) placed after the nouns instead of before, as in English?

Swahili normally places adjectives and most descriptive elements after the noun:

• koti jeusi = black coat
• mtoto mdogo = small child
• nguo mpya = new clothes
• mifuko mingi = many pockets

So in the sentence:

• koti (coat)
• jeusi (black)
• lenye mifuko mingi (that has many pockets)

The natural order is noun → color → relative phrase: koti jeusi lenye mifuko mingi

Putting the color first, like jeusi koti, would sound wrong or very marked in Swahili.

How would I say “My sisters like to wear black coats with many pockets” instead of just “My sister …”? What changes?

To make everything plural, several words must change to agree properly:

• dada yangu anapenda kuvaa koti jeusi lenye mifuko mingi.
  = My sister likes to wear a black coat with many pockets.

Plural version:

• dada zangu wanapenda kuvaa makoti meusi yenye mifuko mingi.
  = My sisters like to wear black coats with many pockets.

Changes explained:

1. dada yangu → dada zangu

   • yangu (my, class 9 singular) → zangu (my, class 10 plural)
   • dada itself does not change form, but the possessive shows the plural.

2. anapenda → wanapenda

   • a- (she) → wa- (they – for people)

3. koti → makoti

   • singular coat (class 5) → plural coats (class 6)

4. jeusi → meusi

   • adjective “black” changes to agree with class 6 plural (makoti meusi).

5. lenye → yenye

   • lenye (having, for class 5) → yenye (having, for class 6 plural).

mifuko mingi remains the same, because it is already plural.