Learn Hardcore Swahili: Daktari alisema maziwa mgando yana msaada kwa tumbo kuliko vinywaji vyenye rangi kali. - The doctor said yogurt helps the stomach more than drinks with strong colors.

Maziwa belongs to noun class 6 (ma- class).
Even though in English milk is usually uncountable and treated as singular, in Swahili maziwa takes plural agreement.
That’s why the verb is yana (they have) rather than ina (it has).

So:

maziwa mgando yana msaada ≈ “fermented milk has/gives help (benefit)…”, but literally “fermented milks have help…”

Why is it yana msaada and not ina msaada?

This is about subject–verb agreement with noun classes.

Maziwa is in noun class 6, which uses the ya- subject prefix in the present/past:
- yana = they have / they are (for class 6 nouns)
Class 9/10 nouns (like chai, nyama) would use ina for singular-like agreement.

So:

maziwa yana msaada – correct, because maziwa is class 6.
maziwa ina msaada – incorrect agreement.

What does msaada mean in this sentence?

Msaada literally means help or assistance.

In this context, yana msaada kwa tumbo means:

“(they) are helpful for the stomach”
or
“(they) give benefit to the stomach.”

You can think of kuwa na msaada as “to be helpful / beneficial.”

What does kwa tumbo mean, and why do we use kwa here?

Tumbo means stomach.

Kwa is a very flexible preposition. Here it means for:

yana msaada kwa tumbo → “they are helpful for the stomach.”

Other common uses:

dawa kwa kichwa – medicine for the head (for headaches)
maziwa mazuri kwa mifupa – milk is good for bones

You could also hear yana msaada kwa tumbo lako – “they are helpful for your stomach.”

How does kuliko work here?

Kuliko is used to compare two things: X kuliko Y = X more than Y / rather than Y.

In the sentence:

…yana msaada kwa tumbo kuliko vinywaji vyenye rangi kali.

This means:

“(They) are more helpful for the stomach than brightly coloured drinks.”
Structure:
- [Thing A]
  - (is) [quality]
    - kuliko
      - [Thing B]
- maziwa mgando
  - yana msaada kwa tumbo
    - kuliko
      - vinywaji vyenye rangi kali

What does vinywaji mean, and what is its singular form?

Vinywaji means drinks / beverages.

It is the plural of kinywaji (class 7/8: ki-/vi-).

So:

kinywaji – a drink / one beverage
vinywaji – drinks / beverages (plural)

Because vinywaji is class 8, it takes vi- agreement (like vyenye, vya, vikali, etc.).

Why is it vinywaji vyenye rangi kali and not just vinywaji vya rangi kali?

Both are possible, but they say slightly different things:

vinywaji vya rangi kali – drinks *of bright colour (more like “drinks *with a bright colour” using the normal of possessive).
vinywaji vyenye rangi kali – drinks *that have a bright colour (using the relative *-enye, which means “having / that have”).

Here, vyenye emphasizes “drinks that contain / have strong colours,” often implying artificial colouring, additives, etc. It sounds a bit more descriptive and natural in this context than just vya.

What exactly does vyenye mean, and how is it formed?

-enye is a relative stem meaning “having / that have / that possess.”
It must agree with the noun class of the word it describes.

vinywaji is class 8 (vi-), so we use vyenye:
- vinywaji vyenye rangi kali – drinks that have bright colour.

Other examples with -enye:

mtu mwenye pesa – a person who has money.
nyumba yenye milango miwili – a house that has two doors.
miji yenye kelele – towns that are noisy.

So vyenye = class 8 relative of possession, matching vinywaji.

What does rangi kali mean? Does kali mean “hot” here?

Rangi means colour, and kali is a very flexible adjective.

Common meanings of kali:

sharp (knife) – kisu kali
fierce / strict (person) – mwalimu mkali
spicy (food) – pilipili kali
intense / strong / bright (colour, taste, smell) – rangi kali, harufu kali

In rangi kali, kali means bright / intense / strong-coloured, not “hot” in temperature. So vinywaji vyenye rangi kali suggests brightly coloured / strongly coloured drinks, often like neon sodas or artificially dyed juice.

Why is the verb alisema used, and what tense is it?

Alisema is the general past tense (sometimes called simple past):

alisema – he/she said

It refers to an event that happened in the past, with no special emphasis on “just now” or “long, long ago.” Other options:

anasema – he/she is saying / says (present).
amesema – he/she has said / has just said (recent past/result).
akasema – and then he/she said (narrative sequence).

So Daktari alisema… = “The doctor said…” (at some time in the past).

Can I add kwamba after alisema? For example, Daktari alisema kwamba maziwa mgando…?

Yes, that is perfectly correct and very common.

Daktari alisema maziwa mgando yana msaada…
Daktari alisema kwamba maziwa mgando yana msaada…

Both are acceptable. Kwamba works like “that” in English:

“The doctor said that fermented milk is good for the stomach…”

Adding kwamba can make the sentence feel a bit more formal or explicit, but it does not change the meaning here.

Is there another way to say “are helpful for the stomach,” like using nzuri instead of yana msaada?

Yes, there are several natural alternatives with slightly different nuances. For example:

maziwa mgando ni mazuri kwa tumbo – fermented milk is good for the stomach.
maziwa mgando yanafa kwa tumbo – fermented milk is beneficial/suitable for the stomach.
maziwa mgando yanasaidia tumbo – fermented milk helps the stomach.

In this sentence, yana msaada kwa tumbo focuses on “having help/benefit” for the stomach, but using ni mazuri kwa tumbo would be very natural too.