Learn Hardcore Swahili: Kila mwezi, anaongeza makala mpya kwenye blogu yake ili kushirikisha marafiki wake mawazo mapya. - Every month, she adds a new article on her blog to share her new ideas with her friends.

You do not say ✗ kila miezi or ✗ kila miaka.
So kila mwezi literally means “each month”, even though we translate it as “every month” in English.

What exactly is going on inside the verb anaongeza?

anaongeza can be broken down like this:

a- = subject marker for he/she (class 1, 3rd person singular)
-na- = present tense marker (general present / present progressive)
-ongeza = verb stem meaning to add, to increase

So anaongeza literally means “he/she is adding” or, in a habitual sense, “he/she adds”.

Other forms:

ninaongeza – I add / I am adding
wanaongeza – they add / they are adding
tutaongeza – we will add

Could we also say huongeza instead of anaongeza here? What’s the difference?

Both are possible, but they feel slightly different:

anaongeza makala mpya
– he/she adds / is adding new articles (neutral present; can be habitual or current)
huongeza makala mpya
– he/she (normally/usually) adds new articles (strongly habitual/generic)

In the sentence with kila mwezi, using:

anaongeza fits well: “Every month, he/she adds a new article...”
huongeza would sound more like a general description of habit: “He/She usually adds a new article every month.”

Both are grammatical; the nuance is that hu- makes the habit feel more like a rule or established routine.

What does kuongeza mean here, and is it the only way to say “to add (a post)”?

kuongeza = to add / to increase.
In this context, anaongeza makala mpya means “he/she adds a new article (to the blog)”.

Other near-synonyms you might see:

kuweka makala mpya – to put/post a new article
kupakia makala mpya – to upload a new article (more technical)
kuchapisha makala mpya – to publish a new article

kuongeza focuses on adding something to what is already there (the existing blog content).

What is makala exactly, and how does its number (singular/plural) work?

makala is a noun meaning things like article, essay, feature, piece (of writing).

It belongs to a noun class where singular and plural often look the same (N-class):

makala moja – one article
makala mbili – two articles
makala mpya – new article(s)

So in anaongeza makala mpya, context suggests “a new article (each month)”, but grammatically it could also mean “new articles”. Swahili often leaves number to be inferred from context.

Why does the adjective mpya come after makala, and why is it mpya and not mapya here?

Adjective position

In Swahili, adjectives normally come after the noun:

makala mpya – new article
kitabu kipya – new book
wazo jipya – new idea

Form of “new”

The adjective “new” has the base form -pya, and its surface form depends on the noun class:

kitabu kipya – class 7 singular
vitabu vipya – class 8 plural
wazo jipya – class 5 singular
mawazo mapya – class 6 plural
nyumba mpya – N-class

makala is an N-class noun, and with this class the form mpya is used:

makala mpya – new article(s)

With mawazo (a ma- plural), the plural adjective is mapya:

mawazo mapya – new ideas

What does kwenye mean in kwenye blogu yake, and how is it different from katika?

kwenye is a preposition roughly meaning in / at / on.
In kwenye blogu yake, it’s most naturally translated as “on his/her blog”.

Comparison:

kwenye blogu yake – on/at his/her blog (very common, everyday)
katika blogu yake – in/on his/her blog (a bit more formal/literary)

In many contexts, kwenye and katika are interchangeable, but:

kwenye is more colloquial and very frequent in speech and informal writing.
katika can sound more formal or bookish.

You could also sometimes hear blogu yake without a preposition in very casual speech, but kwenye blogu yake is clear and standard.

How is blogu yake formed, and why is it yake and not wake here?

blogu yake = his/her blog.

Breakdown:

blogu – blog (borrowed noun, treated like an N-class noun)
-ake – “his/her” (the possessive root)
N-class possessive form: yake

So for N-class nouns (like blogu, nyumba, nguo):

blogu yake – his/her blog
nyumba yake – his/her house
nguo yake – his/her clothes

wake is used with certain other noun classes, especially human m-/wa- nouns:

rafiki wake – his/her friend
mwanafunzi wake – his/her student

So here yake is chosen because of the noun class of “blogu”, not because the owner is masculine or feminine (Swahili doesn’t mark that).

Why is it marafiki wake and not something like marafiki zake or marafiki yake?

marafiki wake means “his/her friends”.

Points to note:

rafiki – friend (singular)
marafiki – friends (plural; widely used plural form)
wake – “his/her” (here used with a human plural)

With rafiki / marafiki, usage varies a bit because it’s a human noun with some irregular class behavior. In real Swahili you will often see:

rafiki wake – his/her friend
marafiki wake – his/her friends
marafiki zake – his/her friends (also very common)

All of these keep the same basic meaning. The important thing to notice in this sentence is simply:

wake refers back to the same person as anaongeza (he/she).
So marafiki wake = his/her friends (the friends of the blog owner).

What does ili do in the phrase ili kushirikisha marafiki wake mawazo mapya?

ili introduces a purpose or goal, like “so that / in order to” in English.

Structure in this sentence:

ili
- kushirikisha (infinitive)
  → in order to share / so as to share

So:

anaongeza makala mpya ... ili kushirikisha marafiki wake mawazo mapya
= he/she adds a new article ... in order to share new ideas with his/her friends.

General patterns with ili:

ili
- infinitive (ku-verb) when the subject is the same as in the main clause:
- Ninaenda dukani ili kununua mkate.
  – I’m going to the shop to buy bread.
ili
- full clause with subjunctive when the subject changes:
- Ninaenda mapema ili wafungue mlango.
  – I go early so that they open the door.

What is the difference between kushirikisha, kushiriki, and kushirikiana?

All three come from the same root shirik-, but they differ in meaning:

kushiriki
- Basic meaning: to participate; to take part; to share (in something)
- Example: Alishiriki mjadala. – He/She participated in the discussion.
kushirikisha
- Causative form (roughly “cause to share/participate; involve; share [something] with [someone]”).
- Often means to share something with someone / to involve someone.
- In the sentence: kushirikisha marafiki wake mawazo mapya
  → to share new ideas with his/her friends / involve his/her friends in new ideas.
kushirikiana
- Reciprocal form: to share with each other; to cooperate; to collaborate.
- Example: Walishirikiana kuandika makala. – They worked together to write an article.

So kushirikisha is correct here because the subject is making his/her friends share in his/her ideas—sharing ideas with them.

Why isn’t there a separate word for “he/she” before anaongeza? How do we know the subject?

In Swahili, the subject is normally expressed by the subject marker on the verb, not a separate pronoun:

anaongeza
- a- = he/she
- -naongeza = adds / is adding

You only add yeye (he/she) for emphasis or contrast:

Yeye anaongeza makala mpya, si mimi.
– He/She is the one adding a new article, not me.

So in normal sentences, you just use the conjugated verb, and the subject is understood from the prefix:

ninaongeza – I add
unaongeza – you (sg) add
anaongeza – he/she adds
tunaongeza – we add
mnaongeza – you (pl) add
wanaongeza – they add

How does mawazo mapya work, and how is it different from wazo jipya?

wazo / mawazo:

wazo – idea/thought (singular, class 5)
mawazo – ideas/thoughts (plural, class 6)

Adjective -pya (“new”) agrees with the noun class:

wazo jipya – a new idea (singular)
mawazo mapya – new ideas (plural)

So in the sentence:

mawazo mapya = new ideas (plural)

Compare:

Ana wazo jipya. – He/She has a new idea.
Ana mawazo mapya. – He/She has new ideas.