Learn Hardcore Swahili: Katika shule yetu, mwalimu anafundisha huduma ya kwanza darasani. - In our school, the teacher teaches first aid in the classroom.

You can’t usually just say shule yetu without katika/kwenye if you want the meaning “in/at our school” at the beginning of the sentence. Instead, you could use the locative form:

Shuleni kwetu, mwalimu anafundisha huduma ya kwanza darasani.

Why is yetu after shule and not before it, like in English “our school”?

In Swahili, possessive words like yetu (“our”) normally come after the noun:

shule yetu = our school
rafiki yangu = my friend
kitabu chao = their book

So the pattern is noun + possessive instead of English possessive + noun.

Could I say mwalimu wetu instead of katika shule yetu, mwalimu… to mean “our teacher”?

Yes, but it changes the focus slightly.

Katika shule yetu, mwalimu anafundisha…
Focus: At our school, the teacher teaches… (any teacher at that school).
Katika shule yetu, mwalimu wetu anafundisha…
Focus: At our school, *our teacher teaches…* (specifically “our teacher”).

Both are grammatically correct; choose based on whether you want to emphasise “our school” or “our teacher.”

What exactly does anafundisha mean? Is it “teaches” or “is teaching”?

Anafundisha is made of:

a- = he / she (subject prefix)
-na- = present tense marker
fundisha = to teach

It usually covers both English meanings “teaches” and “is teaching”.
Context decides whether it sounds more habitual (generally teaches) or ongoing (is now teaching).

Why not use hufundisha for “teaches (generally)”?

You can use hufundisha, but it’s a bit more formal or strongly habitual:

Mwalimu hufundisha huduma ya kwanza darasani.
= The teacher usually / habitually teaches first aid in class.

Anafundisha can mean both “is teaching” and “teaches” in everyday speech, so it’s more common in general statements.

Is mwalimu gendered? How do I know whether it means “he” or “she”?

Mwalimu itself is not gendered; it just means “teacher.”

Gender is not marked in the noun, and the subject prefix a- in anafundisha also means either he or she.
To specify, you’d have to add a word like mwalimu mwanamke (female teacher) or mwalimu mwanaume (male teacher), or rely on context.

What does the phrase huduma ya kwanza literally mean, and what is ya doing there?

Literally,

huduma = service, assistance
ya kwanza = of first / first (as an adjective phrase)

So huduma ya kwanza literally is “service of first”, but idiomatically it means “first aid.”

The ya is a possessive/connecting word that agrees with the noun class of huduma (class 9/10), so we use ya (not wa, la, etc.).

Why is it huduma ya kwanza, not huduma kwanza?

When you use ordinal numbers like kwanza (first), pili (second), etc. as adjectives, they often appear in a “of + number” structure:

siku ya kwanza = the first day
darasa la pili = the second class/grade
huduma ya kwanza = first aid

Just saying huduma kwanza would sound incomplete or unnatural in standard Swahili.

What is the difference between darasa and darasani?

darasa = class / classroom (the noun itself).
darasani = in the class / in the classroom.

The ending -ni is a locative suffix that often means “in / at / on”.
So darasani tells you the location, like English “in class.”

If katika shule yetu already means “in our school,” why do we also say darasani? Isn’t that redundant?

They refer to different levels of location:

Katika shule yetu = At/within our school (general place).
darasani = in the classroom (specific place inside the school).

So the sentence is like: “At our school, the teacher teaches first aid in the classroom.”
Both locations add information rather than repeating the same thing.

Why is there a comma after Katika shule yetu?

The comma separates the introductory prepositional phrase from the main clause, just as in English:

Katika shule yetu, mwalimu anafundisha…
= In our school, the teacher teaches…

In everyday writing, some native speakers might omit the comma, but using it is standard and helps readability.

Why doesn’t Swahili use a separate pronoun like “he” or “she” before anafundisha?

Swahili usually does not use independent subject pronouns (like yeye, “he/she”) in simple statements, because the subject prefix on the verb already shows the subject:

mwalimu anafundisha = the teacher he/she-teaches (so “the teacher teaches”).

You only add yeye for emphasis or contrast:

Yeye anafundisha huduma ya kwanza, si mimi.
= He/She is the one who teaches first aid, not me.