Learn Hardcore Swahili: Ninakushauri uandike orodha ya maswali kabla hujamwona mwalimu. - I advise you to write a list of questions before you see the teacher.

ni- = I (1st person singular subject marker)
-na- = present tense marker (general/ongoing, like “am/are …ing” or “(usually) do”)
-ku- = you (2nd person singular object marker)
-shauri = verb stem “advise”

So ni-na-ku-shauri literally means: “I am advising you” or more smoothly, “I advise you”.

In spoken Swahili, ninakushauri is often shortened to nakushauri with no change in meaning.

Why is it uandike and not unaandika or kuandika after Ninakushauri?

Uandike is in the subjunctive mood, which is commonly used in Swahili after verbs that express:

advice
requests
wishes
commands / suggestions

So:

Ninakushauri uandike…
= I advise you (that) you write…

If you used:

unaandika (you are writing / you write – normal present tense), it would sound like a simple statement of fact, not a suggestion:
- Ninakushauri unaandika orodha… → feels wrong / unnatural in Swahili.
kuandika is the infinitive (to write):
- Ninakushauri kuandika orodha… = I advise (you) to write a list…
  This is grammatically possible, but it’s less precise about who is doing the writing and is less natural here than using the subjunctive uandike.

So the most natural way to say “I advise you to write…” is Ninakushauri uandike…, with uandike (2nd person subjunctive).

How is the form uandike built, and what does the u- and -e mean?

Uandike is the 2nd person singular subjunctive form of kuandika (to write):

u- = you (2nd person singular subject marker)
-andik- = verb stem “write”
-e = subjunctive ending

Compare:

Present tense: unaandika = you are writing / you write
Subjunctive: uandike = that you (should) write / you write (as a suggestion/command)

Other subjunctive examples:

niandike = that I write
tuandike = that we write
aandike = that he/she write

So uandike orodha ya maswali is literally: “(that) you write a list of questions.”

Why is it orodha ya maswali and not something like orodha ya maswali ya something else? What does ya agree with?

The phrase is:

orodha ya maswali = “a list of questions”

Here’s the structure:

orodha = “list” (noun class 9/10)
maswali = “questions” (plural of swali, noun class 6 in the plural)
ya = “of”, agreeing with the head noun, which is orodha

In Swahili, the connector for “of” (called the associatives or possessives) agrees with the first noun (the “main” noun), not the second one:

Noun class 9/10 (like orodha) → associative is ya

So:

orodha ya maswali
- “list” (class 9) ya “questions”
- literally: “list-of questions”

The ya is correct because it matches orodha, not maswali.

What does kabla do in this sentence, and what is the pattern kabla hujamwona?

Kabla means “before”.

There are two common patterns with kabla:

kabla ya + infinitive
- kabla ya kumwona mwalimu
- before seeing the teacher / before you see the teacher
kabla + (negative perfect form)
- kabla hujamwona mwalimu
- literally: before you have not-yet-seen the teacher
- effectively: “before you have seen the teacher” → before you see the teacher

In your sentence:

kabla hujamwona mwalimu
uses pattern (2), where hujamwona is a negative perfect verb (“you have not yet seen him/her”).

So kabla hujamwona mwalimu = “before you have (yet) seen the teacher” → natural English: before you see the teacher.

How is hujamwona built, and what does each part mean?

Hujamwona breaks down as:

hu- = you (2nd person singular negative subject marker in the perfect)
-ja- = perfect negative marker (“have not”)
-mw- = object marker for him/her (class 1 person, matching mwalimu)
-ona = verb stem “see”

So:

hu-ja-mw-ona
→ “you-have-not-him/her-see”
→ “you have not seen him/her”

In the sentence, the mw- refers back to mwalimu. Swahili often uses an object marker in the verb even when the object noun is present:

hujamwona mwalimu
= you have not seen (him) the teacher

And combined with kabla, it expresses “before you have seen the teacher”.

Why is the object marker mw- in hujamwona, and not just m-?

The object marker for a singular person (class 1), like mwalimu, is underlyingly m-.

However, in front of some vowels, this m- changes for ease of pronunciation:

Before vowels a, i, u: usually stays m-
Before vowels o, u: often becomes mw-

The verb stem here is -ona (see), which begins with o, so:

m- + ona → mw-ona
hujamwona = you have not seen him/her

The mw- is the same object marker m-, just changed to mw- because of the following o.

In English we’d say “before you see the teacher,” but Swahili has “before you have not seen the teacher” (hujamwona). Why does Swahili use a negative perfect here?

Swahili commonly uses a negative perfect form with kabla to express “before doing X.” The logic is:

At that time, the action has not yet happened.
So they use a form that literally means “you have not yet done X.”

Thus:

kabla hujamwona mwalimu
literally: “before you have not-yet-seen the teacher”
functionally: “before you (have) seen the teacher” → before you see the teacher

This is a normal idiomatic pattern in Swahili. English uses a simple present (“before you see”), but Swahili prefers this negative perfect construction or kabla ya + infinitive:

kabla hujaona = before you have not-yet-seen → before you see
kabla ya kuona = before seeing

Both are acceptable; your sentence uses the first pattern.

Could you also say kabla ya kumwona mwalimu instead of kabla hujamwona mwalimu? Is there a difference?

Yes, you can say:

kabla ya kumwona mwalimu
literally: “before to-see-him the teacher”
→ “before seeing the teacher / before you see the teacher”

This is also correct and common.

Nuance:

kabla hujamwona mwalimu
- uses a finite verb (hujamwona)
- emphasizes the state “you have not yet seen the teacher (up to that point)”
kabla ya kumwona mwalimu
- uses an infinitive (kumwona)
- is a bit more neutral, “before seeing the teacher”

In everyday speech, both are fine; many speakers would use either without a strong difference in meaning.

Why isn’t the pronoun wewe used? How do we know it means “you”?

Swahili usually does not need separate subject pronouns like wewe (you), mimi (I), yeye (he/she), because:

The subject is built into the verb through subject markers.

In your sentence:

Ninakushauri
- ni- = I
- -ku- = you (object)
uandike
- u- = you (subject)

So the “you” is already encoded twice: once as the object of shauri and once as the subject of andika.

Wewe is normally added only for emphasis or contrast:

Mimi ninakushauri wewe uandike orodha ya maswali…
= I advise you (specifically) to write a list of questions…

Without that emphasis, omitting wewe is more natural.

Is it necessary to have ku- (the “you” object marker) in Ninakushauri if the next clause already has uandike (“you write”)?

No, it’s not strictly necessary; it’s mostly a matter of style and clarity.

Ninakushauri uandike orodha ya maswali…
- most natural: “I advise you to write a list of questions…”

The ku- in Ninakushauri makes the object explicit: “I advise you.”
You could technically say:

Ninashauri uandike orodha ya maswali…

This would still be understandable (I advise that you write…), but it’s less common; most speakers naturally include the object marker ku- when the person being advised is clear and specific.

So Ninakushauri uandike… feels more complete and idiomatic than Ninashauri uandike….

Can Ninakushauri be shortened, and is there any difference in meaning if I say Nakushauri?

Yes, Ninakushauri is commonly shortened in speech to Nakushauri:

Ninakushauri → full form
Nakushauri → everyday spoken form

There is no change in meaning:

Both mean “I advise you” / “I am advising you.”

The same happens with many verbs:

ninapenda → napenda (I like)
ninakula → nakula (I eat / I am eating)

In careful writing or very formal speech ninakushauri may be preferred, but in normal conversation nakushauri is perfectly standard.