Watoto wanakumbatia bibi baada ya sherehe.

The children are hugging grandmother after the celebration.

Breakdown of Watoto wanakumbatia bibi baada ya sherehe.

• mtoto: the child
• sherehe: the celebration
• baada ya: after
• bibi: grandmother
• kukumbatia: to hug

Questions & Answers about Watoto wanakumbatia bibi baada ya sherehe.

What does each word in Watoto wanakumbatia bibi baada ya sherehe literally mean?

Word by word, it breaks down like this:

• watoto – children (plural of mtoto = child)
• wana- – they (subject prefix for “they” on the verb)
• -kumbatia – to hug / to embrace
  • wanakumbatia together = they are hugging / they hug
• bibi – grandmother / older lady (here: grandmother)
• baada – after
• ya – of (linking word “of” that goes with baada)
• sherehe – party / celebration / ceremony

So a very literal gloss is:
children they-hug grandmother after of party → “The children are hugging (their) grandmother after the party.”

Why is watoto “children” and not watotos like in English?

Swahili does not use -s to form plurals. Instead, it changes the noun’s prefix according to its noun class.

For mtoto / watoto:

• mtoto = child
  
  • m- is the singular prefix for the “person” noun class (class 1)
• watoto = children
  
  • wa- is the plural prefix for that same class (class 2)

Other examples of the same pattern:

• mtu (person) → watu (people)
• mwalimu (teacher) → walimu (teachers)

So the plural is built into the beginning of the noun, not added at the end.

How is the verb wanakumbatia built, and what does each part do?

wanakumbatia is made of three parts:

1. wa- – subject prefix = “they”
2. -na- – present tense marker (often “are doing / do”)
3. kumbatia – verb stem = “to hug / embrace”

So:

• wa-na-kumbatia → “they (are) hug(ging)”

In Swahili, what English expresses with they + are + hugging is all packed into one word on the verb.

Why is wanakumbatia translated as “are hugging” and not “hugged” or “will hug”?

Because of the -na- tense marker:

• -na- is the normal present tense:
  • Can mean “are doing (right now)” – progressive
  • Can also mean “do (generally)” – simple present, depending on context

So wanakumbatia usually corresponds to:

• “they are hugging” (if we’re talking about what’s happening now), or
• “they hug” (if it’s a habitual action)

To say “they hugged”, you would normally use:

• walimkumbatia / walikumbatia – past tense with -li-

To say “they will hug”, you would use:

• watamkumbatia / watakumbatia – future tense with -ta-

Does bibi only mean “grandmother”?

Not only. bibi commonly has several related meanings, depending on context:

• grandmother – very common meaning in everyday conversation
• lady / madam / Ms / Mrs – polite form of address
• wife – in some contexts or older / regional usage

In this sentence, with watoto (children) and wanakumbatia (hugging), the natural interpretation is “grandmother.”

Why doesn’t bibi have a prefix like mtoto or watoto?

Some nouns in Swahili have clear singular/plural prefixes (like mtoto / watoto), but others are “bare” forms where the word itself doesn’t change.

bibi can behave like this:

• bibi – grandmother / lady (singular)
• bibi or mabibi – grandmothers / ladies (plural; mabibi is more explicitly plural)

So bibi itself doesn’t need a m- or wa- prefix. The number (singular/plural) is usually clear from context, or from other words (like the verb agreement or adjectives).

Should there be an object marker, like wanamkumbatia bibi instead of wanakumbatia bibi?

Both are possible, but they are slightly different:

• wanakumbatia bibi

  • Literal: “they hug grandmother”
  • No object marker; just a straightforward sentence with bibi as the object.

• wanamkumbatia bibi

  • wa-na-m-kumbatia = “they are hugging her” (the m- refers to a singular human object)
  • Then bibi clarifies who “her” is.

In everyday Swahili, you will often hear either form. The version with the object marker can feel a little more definite / specific (“they’re hugging her, the grandmother we already have in mind”), but in many contexts the difference is subtle, and wanakumbatia bibi is perfectly correct.

Why isn’t there a word for “the” in front of “children” or “grandmother”?

Swahili does not have separate words for “the” or “a/an”. There is no direct equivalent of English articles.

• watoto can mean:
  • “children”
  • “the children”
  • “some children”
• bibi can mean:
  • “grandmother”
  • “the grandmother”
  • “a grandmother”

Whether you translate it as the or a in English depends entirely on context. In a context where we already know who the children and grandmother are, we naturally say:

• “The children are hugging (their) grandmother after the party.”

What does baada ya sherehe literally mean, and how does the ya work?

Literally:

• baada – after
• ya – of
• sherehe – party / celebration

So baada ya sherehe is literally “after of party.” In Swahili, baada ya X is the standard way to say “after X.”

The ya is a possessive/connecting word that agrees with the noun class of sherehe (class 9/10), where the connector is ya. You see the same pattern in:

• baada ya kazi – after work
• kabla ya chakula – before food / before the meal

So you can think of baada ya sherehe as “the after of the party” → “after the party.”

Can I move baada ya sherehe to the beginning or middle of the sentence?

Yes. Swahili word order is fairly flexible for time expressions like this. All of these are acceptable:

• Watoto wanakumbatia bibi baada ya sherehe.
  – The children are hugging grandmother after the party.

• Baada ya sherehe, watoto wanakumbatia bibi.
  – After the party, the children are hugging grandmother.

• Watoto, baada ya sherehe, wanakumbatia bibi.
  – The children, after the party, are hugging grandmother.

The meaning is essentially the same; moving baada ya sherehe can put a little more emphasis on “after the party”, but it doesn’t change the basic sense.

Does sherehe mean only “party,” or can it be “ceremony” or “celebration” too?

sherehe is a fairly broad word:

• “party” – a social gathering, e.g. birthday party
• “celebration” – any kind of festivity
• “ceremony” – e.g. an official event, wedding, graduation, etc.

It also belongs to the N-class (9/10), where the singular and plural often look the same:

• sherehe – party/ceremony (singular or plural, depending on context)

In this sentence, after the party is a natural English translation, but depending on the wider context it could also be “after the celebration” or “after the ceremony.”