Daktari anasema nina maumivu katika pafu langu.

The doctor says I have pain in my lung.

Breakdown of Daktari anasema nina maumivu katika pafu langu.

• mimi: I
• kuwa na: to have
• katika: in
• kusema: to say
• daktari: the doctor
• langu: my
• maumivu: the pain
• pafu: the lung

Questions & Answers about Daktari anasema nina maumivu katika pafu langu.

What does anasema tell me about the tense, and why isn’t it translated as “said”?

In daktari anasema, the verb anasema is:

• a- = subject prefix for he/she/it (here: the doctor)
• -na- = present tense marker
• -sema = verb root “to say”

So anasema means “(he/she) says / is saying” in the present.

Swahili present tense with -na- usually covers both English simple present and present continuous:

• Daktari anasema… = “The doctor says / is saying…”
• Daktari alisema… = “The doctor said…” (past: a-li-sema)

So the sentence is about what the doctor is saying now (or generally says), not what the doctor said in the past.

Why is it nina maumivu and not something like naumwa or ninaumwa?

All of these are possible, but they’re not identical in meaning or tone.

• nina maumivu

  • Literally: “I have pain(s)”
  • ni- (I) + na (have) → nina (“I have”)
  • maumivu is a noun meaning pain / pains.
  • This sounds a bit more formal/medical and specific: I have pain in X part of the body.

• naumwa

  • From the verb kuumwa = “to be sick / to be in pain / to be hurting”.
  • naumwa ≈ “I’m in pain / I’m (feeling) sick.”
  • More general and common in everyday speech, not tied to one body part unless you add it:
    
    • Ninaumwa kichwa. / Kichwa kinaniuma. = I have a headache / my head hurts.

So:

• Daktari anasema nina maumivu katika pafu langu.
  sounds like a clinical way to report a doctor’s statement.

You could also say, for example:

• Daktari anasema ninaumwa pafu. (colloquial: “The doctor says my lung hurts.”)
  but the original is more neutral/medical.

What exactly does maumivu mean, and why does it start with ma-?

Maumivu is a noun meaning “pain” (often used like a mass noun in English).

Grammatically:

• It belongs to noun class 6 (ma- class).
• The ma- prefix here makes it a plural-like or collective form.
• Historically it’s related to the verb -uma (“to hurt / bite”), with a nominal pattern forming -umivu → maumivu.

In practice:

• You normally just use maumivu for “pain”, even though it looks plural.
• There is a corresponding singular form uumivu, but it is rare and not needed in normal speech.

So think of maumivu simply as the standard word for “pain”, especially in medical or formal contexts:

• Maumivu makali = severe pain
• Maumivu ya kichwa = headache (literally “pains of [the] head”)

Why is the preposition katika used here, and could I use ndani ya or kwenye instead?

In maumivu katika pafu langu, the word katika roughly means “in / inside / within”.

You can usually replace katika with ndani ya or kwenye, but there are small differences in feel:

• katika pafu langu

  • Neutral, slightly formal, common in written / medical language.

• ndani ya pafu langu

  • Literally “inside my lung”.
  • Emphasizes inside-ness more strongly and can sound a bit more concrete/physical.

• kwenye pafu langu

  • Very common in everyday speech.
  • Often interchangeable with katika in many contexts.

All of these would be understandable:

• Nina maumivu katika pafu langu.
• Nina maumivu ndani ya pafu langu.
• Nina maumivu kwenye pafu langu.

The original sentence chooses katika, which fits the somewhat formal/medical tone.

Why is it pafu langu and not pafu yangu?

This comes from possessive agreement with Swahili noun classes.

• pafu (“lung”) is class 5 (the ji-/ma- class in the singular).

• Class 5 uses the possessive prefix l- for “my/your/his…”:

  • gari langu = my car
  • jina lako = your name
  • tunda lake = his/her fruit
  • tumbo letu = our stomach

So:

• pafu langu = “my lung” (one lung, class 5 singular).

The form yangu is not correct here because yangu is the agreement form for some other classes (like class 6 plural ma-: mapafu yangu, majina yangu, etc.), not for class 5 singular.

How would I say “in my lungs” (plural) instead of “in my lung” (singular)?

The plural of pafu (lung) is mapafu (lungs), which is class 6 (ma- class).

So:

• pafu langu = my lung (singular, class 5 → possessive -langu)
• mapafu yangu = my lungs (plural, class 6 → possessive -yangu)

Therefore, to say “I have pain in my lungs”, you would say:

• Nina maumivu katika mapafu yangu.

Why is there no word like “that” after anasema? Can I add kwamba?

Swahili often leaves out a word equivalent to English “that” in reported speech.

• Daktari anasema nina maumivu…
  = “The doctor says (that) I have pain…”

You can insert kwamba (or kuwa, more formal) as a conjunction meaning roughly “that”:

• Daktari anasema kwamba nina maumivu katika pafu langu.
• Daktari anasema kuwa nina maumivu katika pafu langu.

All of these are grammatical. The differences:

• With kwamba/kuwa: slightly more formal / explicit, often in writing or careful speech.
• Without them: perfectly natural in everyday speech, just a bit more direct.

So kwamba is optional here, just like English can often drop “that” (“He says (that) I’m tired.”).

Do I need to say mimi (“I”) anywhere, or does nina already include “I”?

You do not need mimi here; nina already includes “I”:

• ni- = “I” (first person singular subject marker)
• na = “have” (from kuwa na = to have)

So nina literally means “I-have” or just “I have”.

The full sentence:

• Daktari anasema nina maumivu katika pafu langu.
  already clearly means “The doctor says I have pain in my lung.”

You would only add mimi for emphasis or contrast:

• Daktari anasema mimi nina maumivu katika pafu langu, si wewe.
  = “The doctor says I have pain in my lung, not you.”

How would this sentence look in direct speech (what the doctor actually says to me)?

Your original sentence is reported speech (indirect):

• Daktari anasema nina maumivu katika pafu langu.
  = The doctor says I have pain in my lung.

If we switch to direct speech, the doctor is talking to you, so they’ll use you (2nd person):

• Daktari anasema: “Una maumivu katika pafu lako.”
  = The doctor says: “You have pain in your lung.”

Changes:

• nina (“I have”) → una (“you have”).
• pafu langu (“my lung”) → pafu lako (“your lung”).

So the indirect and direct versions use different persons (I/my vs you/your), just like in English.

Is daktari always a medical doctor, or can it also mean someone with a PhD?

In everyday Swahili:

• daktari most commonly means a medical doctor (physician, dentist, etc.).

It can also be used for someone with a doctoral degree (PhD), usually with extra information:

• daktari wa falsafa = Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
• daktari wa sheria = Doctor of Law, etc.

In this sentence, because we’re talking about lungs and pain, daktari will naturally be understood as a medical doctor.

How would I say “The doctor says I don’t have pain in my lung”?

You need to negate “have” (nina → sina).

• si- is the negative of ni- (“I am / I have” → “I am not / I don’t have”)
• si- + na → sina = “I don’t have”

So:

• Daktari anasema sina maumivu katika pafu langu.
  = “The doctor says I don’t have pain in my lung.”

Structure:

• Daktari (the doctor)
• ana-sema (says)
• si-na maumivu (I don’t have pain)
• katika pafu langu (in my lung).