Jua linazama baharini jioni.

The sun sets in the ocean in the evening.

Breakdown of Jua linazama baharini jioni.

• jua: the sun
• baharini: in the ocean
• jioni: in the evening
• kuzama: to set

Questions & Answers about Jua linazama baharini jioni.

What does each word in Jua linazama baharini jioni correspond to in English?

Word by word:

• Jua – sun
• li- (in linazama) – subject marker for a class 5 noun (jua) meaning it (for the sun)
• -na- (in linazama) – present tense marker (is / does / is currently)
• -zama – verb root meaning to sink, go down, submerge
• bahari – sea, ocean
• -ni (in baharini) – locative ending meaning in, at
• jioni – in the evening / evening time

So structurally it’s something like: Sun it-PRES-sink sea-LOC evening → “The sun sets in/into the sea in the evening.”

Why is there no word for “the” in front of jua and jioni?

Swahili generally doesn’t use separate words for “a / an / the”.

• Jua can mean “sun” or “the sun” depending on context.
• Jioni can mean “evening” or “in the evening”.

Definiteness (whether it is the sun or just a sun) is understood from context, not from a special article word like in English.

What exactly is going on inside the verb linazama?

Linazama is built from three parts:

• li- – subject prefix for noun class 5 (it, referring to jua, the sun)
• -na- – present tense marker
• -zama – verb root “to sink, to go down, to submerge”

So linazama literally means something like “it (class 5) is sinking / goes down”.
In natural English for the sun, we translate that as “(the sun) is setting / sets.”

Why is the subject prefix li- used here and not a- or i-?

Swahili verbs agree with the noun class of the subject.

• Jua belongs to noun class 5.
• The class 5 subject marker is li-.

So with jua, you get:

• Jua linazama – The sun is setting.

If the subject were a class 1 noun like mtu (person), you would use a-:

• Mtu anazama – The person is sinking.

If it were a class 9 noun like ndege (bird/plane, sg.), you’d use i-:

• Ndege inazama – The bird/plane is sinking.

So li- is there because jua is a class 5 noun.

Why is it baharini and not just bahari?

Baharini is bahari + the locative ending -ni:

• bahari – sea, ocean
• baharini – in/at/on the sea

The -ni ending often means “in, at, on” a place. So baharini answers the question “where?” – it turns sea into in the sea / at the sea.

Without -ni, bahari would just be “sea” as a bare noun, not clearly “in the sea.”

Does baharini mean “in the sea”, “into the sea”, or “at the sea”?

It can cover all of those, depending on context:

• in the sea / on the sea – static location
• into the sea – with a sense of movement towards and then into the sea

In this sentence, Jua linazama baharini, the idea is that the sun appears to sink down into the sea at the horizon, so English speakers usually say “into the sea” or just “in the sea” for this image.

Swahili doesn’t always distinguish these prepositions as clearly as English does; -ni is quite flexible.

Why is there no preposition like “in” before jioni? Why not katika jioni?

Times of day in Swahili often function as adverbs on their own, without an extra preposition:

• asubuhi – (in the) morning
• mchana – (in the) afternoon/daytime
• jioni – (in the) evening
• usiku – (at) night

So jioni by itself normally means “in the evening”.
You can say jua linazama katika jioni, but it sounds unnatural and redundant for everyday speech. Jioni alone is standard.

Is linazama more like “is setting” (right now) or “sets” (habitually)?

The -na- tense marker usually corresponds to a present tense that can cover:

• present progressive: The sun is setting (now).
• general/habitual present: The sun sets (in the evening).

In context, Jua linazama baharini jioni is often understood as a general fact or regular event (like saying “The sun sets in the west”), but if you were looking at the sunset at that moment, you could also say it to mean “The sun is setting into the sea this evening.”

English forces you to choose; Swahili -na- can cover both, and the context disambiguates.

What is the dictionary / infinitive form of linazama?

The infinitive (dictionary) form is:

• kuzama – to sink, to go down, to submerge

So:

• kuzama – to sink
• linazama – it (class 5) is sinking / sinks

Another common verb for the sun setting is:

• kutua → Jua linatua – The sun sets.

Both linazama and linatua can describe the sun going down, but -zama is more literally to sink/submerge, which fits nicely with “into the sea.”

Can I change the word order, for example put jioni at the beginning?

Yes, Swahili word order is fairly flexible for time and place expressions. All of these are possible and natural:

• Jua linazama baharini jioni.
• Jua linazama jioni baharini.
• Jioni jua linazama baharini.

The basic Subject–Verb–(Place)–(Time) order is common, but moving jioni to the front emphasises “in the evening”, like saying “In the evening, the sun sets in the sea.”

You generally keep Jua linazama together, but you can shuffle baharini and jioni around it.

How would I say “The sun does not set in the sea in the evening”?

You negate the verb by changing the subject prefix and dropping -na-:

• Affirmative: Jua linazama baharini jioni.
• Negative: Jua halizami baharini jioni.

Breakdown of the negative verb:

• ha- – negative marker
• -li- – class 5 subject marker (for jua)
• -zami – negative present form of -zama (the final -a changes to -i in the negative)

So halizami = it (sun) does not sink / does not set.