Mazoezi ya viungo yatafanyika kila Ijumaa asubuhi kwenye uwanja wa shule.

Physical exercises will take place every Friday morning on the school field.

Breakdown of Mazoezi ya viungo yatafanyika kila Ijumaa asubuhi kwenye uwanja wa shule.

• asubuhi: the morning
• kila: every
• shule: the school
• wa: of
• kwenye: on
• uwanja: the field
• Ijumaa: Friday
• kufanyika: to take place
• mazoezi ya viungo: the physical exercise

Questions & Answers about Mazoezi ya viungo yatafanyika kila Ijumaa asubuhi kwenye uwanja wa shule.

What exactly does mazoezi ya viungo mean, and why do we need ya viungo after mazoezi?

Mazoezi means exercises or practice. On its own, it is quite general.

Viungo literally means joints / limbs / body parts (and in other contexts, ingredients).

So mazoezi ya viungo is literally exercises of the body parts, i.e. physical exercises.

The ya is the “of” connector (associative) that links two nouns:

• mazoezi (class 6, ma- plural) → its associative is ya
• viungo (class 8, vi- plural)

So the structure is:
mazoezi (exercises) + ya (of, for class 6) + viungo (body parts) → physical exercises.

Why is the verb yatafanyika and not something like itafanyika?

Swahili verbs agree with the noun class of the subject.
The subject here is mazoezi (class 6, ma- plural).

Class 6 takes the subject prefix ya- in the present/future:

• (ma)zoezi → ya- (they…)
• Future marker is -ta-
• Verb root is -fanyika (to take place, to be done)

So:

• ya- + -ta- + -fanyika → yatafanyika
  mazoezi ya viungo yatafanyika = the exercises will take place.

If the subject were class 9/10 (like shule), the agreement would be different, e.g. shule itafanyika (it will take place – just as a grammar example).

What is the function of kila in kila Ijumaa asubuhi?

Kila means every.

• Ijumaa = Friday
• kila Ijumaa = every Friday
• asubuhi = morning

So kila Ijumaa asubuhi = every Friday morning.

Note that kila is invariable:
You do not change the noun for plural or add anything to kila.
You say kila siku, kila Ijumaa, kila mwanafunzi etc.

Why is Ijumaa not changed for plural, even though it means “every Friday”?

Days of the week in Swahili (e.g. Jumatatu, Jumanne, Ijumaa) usually do not change form for plural in this kind of expression.

Plurality or repetition is expressed by kila, not by changing the noun:

• Ijumaa = Friday
• kila Ijumaa = every Friday (not kila Ijumazi or anything like that)

So the word Ijumaa itself stays the same; kila tells you that it’s recurring.

Why is there no word like “in” before asubuhi? Why not katika asubuhi or something similar?

With parts of the day, Swahili typically does not use a preposition:

• asubuhi = in the morning
• mchana = in the afternoon / daytime
• jioni = in the evening
• usiku = at night

So kila Ijumaa asubuhi naturally means every Friday in the morning, without needing katika or kwenye.

You could add asubuhi at the start or end, and it would still sound natural:

• Asubuhi, mazoezi ya viungo yatafanyika…
• Mazoezi ya viungo yatafanyika… asubuhi.

What is the difference between kwenye and katika in kwenye uwanja wa shule?

Both kwenye and katika can often be translated as in / at / on.

• kwenye uwanja wa shule
• katika uwanja wa shule

Both are acceptable and would usually be understood as on the school field / at the school field.

Very roughly:

• kwenye is slightly more colloquial and very widely used in everyday speech.
• katika is often a bit more formal or written, but still very common.

In many contexts they are interchangeable, especially with places like uwanja wa shule.

Why is it uwanja wa shule and not uwanja la shule?

The connector wa / la / ya / cha, etc., depends on the noun class of the first noun in the pair.

Here, the first noun is uwanja (field, ground).
Uwanja is in a class that uses wa as the associative:

• uwanja wa shule = field of (the) school → school field

If the head noun were of a different class, the connector would change, e.g.:

• meza ya shule = table of the school (class 9 meza → ya)
• darasa la kwanza = first class/grade (class 5 darasa → la)

So wa agrees with uwanja, not with shule.

Could we say shuleni or uwanjani instead of kwenye uwanja wa shule?

Yes, you can change the location phrase, depending on what you want to emphasize:

• shuleni = at school (general location, using the -ni locative suffix)
• uwanjani = on the field / in the field

Possible variants:

• Mazoezi ya viungo yatafanyika kila Ijumaa asubuhi shuleni.
  → Exercises will take place at school.

• Mazoezi ya viungo yatafanyika kila Ijumaa asubuhi uwanjani.
  → Exercises will take place on the field.

• Mazoezi ya viungo yatafanyika kila Ijumaa asubuhi kwenye uwanja wa shule.
  → More specifically, on the school field.

The original sentence is simply more explicit about which field it is.

Can the time expression kila Ijumaa asubuhi be moved to another position in the sentence?

Yes. Time expressions in Swahili are quite flexible. All of these are natural:

• Kila Ijumaa asubuhi, mazoezi ya viungo yatafanyika kwenye uwanja wa shule.
• Mazoezi ya viungo yatafanyika kila Ijumaa asubuhi kwenye uwanja wa shule.
• Mazoezi ya viungo yatafanyika kwenye uwanja wa shule kila Ijumaa asubuhi.

Putting kila Ijumaa asubuhi at the beginning often emphasizes the time slightly more, but the basic meaning does not change.

Is there any difference between mazoezi ya viungo and mazoezi ya mwili?

Both can refer to physical exercises, but the nuance is slightly different:

• viungo = joints, limbs, body parts → mazoezi ya viungo = exercises of the joints/body parts.
• mwili = body → mazoezi ya mwili = body exercises / physical exercises.

In practice, both will commonly be understood as physical exercises, and the difference is subtle. Different speakers or regions may prefer one phrase over the other.

Why is future tense (yatafanyika) used instead of present tense (hufanyika or hufanyika kila Ijumaa asubuhi) for a regular event?

There are two slightly different ideas:

1. yatafanyika (will take place)

   • Often used when talking about future plans or announcements, even if the event is regular.
   • E.g. a notice from the school: the exercises will take place every Friday morning.

2. hufanyika (usually take place / are held)

   • Uses hu-, which expresses habitual or regular action.
   • Mazoezi ya viungo hufanyika kila Ijumaa asubuhi.
     → Physical exercises are held (as a rule) every Friday morning.

So:

• yatafanyika → describing what will be done (maybe from now on, or for a certain period).
• hufanyika → describing what normally happens as a habit or established routine.