Breakdown of Je, gharama ni kiasi gani sokoni leo?
Questions & Answers about Je, gharama ni kiasi gani sokoni leo?
Je is a general question marker in Swahili. It doesn’t have a direct English translation like what or how, but it signals: “What follows is a question.”
In Je, gharama ni kiasi gani sokoni leo? it just marks the whole sentence as a question, similar to rising intonation or starting with “So, …?” in English.
You could think of it loosely as: “So, what is the cost at the market today?”
Yes. You can also say:
- Gharama ni kiasi gani sokoni leo?
This is still a perfectly correct question. In everyday speech, many speakers drop Je, especially when there is another clear question element like kiasi gani (how much / what amount).
Je is more common in:
- Writing (e.g. newspapers, exams)
- More formal speech
- Very clear or polite questions
Spoken, informal Swahili often just uses question intonation and/or a question word like nani, nini, wapi, lini, kiasi gani, etc., without Je.
Both relate to cost/price, but they feel a bit different:
bei = price (the specific price of something)
- Bei ya maziwa ni shilingi elfu moja.
The price of milk is one thousand shillings.
- Bei ya maziwa ni shilingi elfu moja.
gharama = cost/expense (often more general or total cost)
- Gharama ya kusoma chuo kikuu ni kubwa.
The cost of attending university is high.
- Gharama ya kusoma chuo kikuu ni kubwa.
In a market context, people often use bei for asking the price of items:
- Bei ni kiasi gani sokoni leo?
What is the price at the market today?
Your sentence with gharama is still correct and understandable, but bei might sound a bit more natural for everyday prices of goods.
ni here is the copula, like the English verb to be (is/are) when linking two nouns or a noun and a descriptive phrase.
In gharama ni kiasi gani, we can map it like:
- gharama = the cost
- ni = is
- kiasi gani = what amount / how much
So structurally:
gharama ni kiasi gani → the cost is what amount?
Yes, kiasi gani functions together to mean how much or what amount.
- kiasi = amount, quantity
- gani = which / what kind / what (as an adjective)
So literally: kiasi gani = which amount / what amount?
In practice, you use it like English how much?
Examples:
- Unahitaji kiasi gani cha sukari?
How much sugar do you need? - Kodi ni kiasi gani kwa mwezi?
How much is the rent per month?
Both can relate to quantity, but they’re used differently:
ngapi = how many, used with countable nouns, and it has to agree with the noun class
- Vitabu vingapi? – How many books?
- Siku ngapi? – How many days?
kiasi gani = what amount / how much, more general, often used for:
- Money
- Uncountable nouns (sugar, water, etc.)
- General amounts
In a money/cost context:
- Gharama ni kiasi gani? – What is the cost / how much is the cost?
- Ni shilingi ngapi? – How many shillings is it?
Both are common, but kiasi gani sounds a bit more neutral/formal; shilingi ngapi? is very common in everyday buying and selling.
soko means market (the place itself).
sokoni is soko + the locative suffix -ni, which often means in/at/on.
So:
- sokoni = at the market / in the market
- niko sokoni = I am at the market
- atakaenda sokoni kesho = She/He will go to the market tomorrow
In your sentence, sokoni tells you the location of the price:
… sokoni leo → at the market today
Yes, Swahili word order is fairly flexible with time and place expressions. These are all acceptable, with slightly different emphasis:
- Je, gharama ni kiasi gani sokoni leo?
(neutral: what is the cost at the market today?) - Je, gharama ni kiasi gani leo sokoni?
(emphasizes today a bit more) - Leo gharama ni kiasi gani sokoni?
(starts with today: “Today, what is the cost at the market?”)
The core structure that tends to stay together is:
- gharama ni kiasi gani (what is the cost / the cost is how much?)
In this sentence there is no main lexical verb like cost, become, costs; the only linking element is ni, the copula “to be” used in equational sentences (X = Y):
- gharama ni kiasi gani
subject → gharama
copula → ni
complement → kiasi gani
Because ni is a special copula form (not a normal tense-aspect verb with subject prefixes), you don’t see things like inakuwa, itakuwa, etc.
If you wanted a full verb with agreement, you could say:
- Gharama inakuwa kiasi gani sokoni leo?
How much does it (the cost) become at the market today?
That sounds a bit more like “What does the cost come to / end up being?”, and is slightly more formal or specific in meaning.
Typical short answers would give a specific amount and the currency:
- Ni shilingi elfu moja.
It is one thousand shillings.
You can also repeat the structure:
- Gharama ni shilingi elfu moja sokoni leo.
The cost is one thousand shillings at the market today.
Or, if it’s free / no cost:
- Hakuna gharama.
There is no cost / It’s free.
You can extend the pattern like this:
- Je, nyanya hizi gharama yake ni kiasi gani sokoni leo?
What is the cost of these tomatoes at the market today?
More natural, shorter versions that people commonly use:
- Je, nyanya hizi ni shilingi ngapi sokoni leo?
- Nyanya hizi ni shilingi ngapi leo? (dropping Je and sokoni if it’s obvious you’re at the market)
Patterns to notice:
- nyanya hizi = these tomatoes
- ni shilingi ngapi = how many shillings / how much (in money)
Je, gharama ni kiasi gani sokoni leo? leans slightly formal or neutral, because of:
- Use of Je (more common in writing and in polite/formal contexts)
- Use of gharama instead of the very everyday bei
- Use of kiasi gani, which feels a bit more formal than ngapi in “street” transactions
In a casual market conversation, you might more often hear:
- Bei ni kiasi gani leo?
- Ni shilingi ngapi leo?
- Hii ni shilingi ngapi? (How much is this?)
But your original sentence is completely correct and polite; it would work well in a formal conversation, in a classroom, or in writing.