Mimi ninapenda kushirikisha marafiki habari njema.

I like to share good news with friends.

Breakdown of Mimi ninapenda kushirikisha marafiki habari njema.

• mimi: I
• rafiki: the friend
• kupenda: to like
• habari: the news
• njema: good
• kushirikisha: to share

Questions & Answers about Mimi ninapenda kushirikisha marafiki habari njema.

Why does the sentence have both Mimi and ninapenda if they both refer to I?

In Swahili, the subject is already built into the verb, so ninapenda alone already means I like / I love.

• Mimi is the independent pronoun I / me.
• ni- in ninapenda is the subject prefix I.

You normally do not need Mimi. You add it mainly for:

• emphasis:
  
  • Mimi ninapenda… = I like… (contrast: maybe others don’t)
• contrast:
  
  • Mimi ninapenda kushirikisha marafiki, lakini yeye hapendi.
    I like sharing with friends, but he/she doesn’t.

A very natural version of the sentence in everyday speech would simply be:

• Ninapenda kushirikisha marafiki habari njema.

Can I drop Mimi and just say Ninapenda kushirikisha marafiki habari njema?

Yes, and that is actually more typical.

• Ninapenda kushirikisha marafiki habari njema.
  = I like sharing good news with friends.

Adding Mimi makes it more emphatic or contrastive:

• Mimi ninapenda… = I, for my part, like…

What exactly is inside the verb ninapenda?

Ninapenda can be broken down like this:

• ni- = subject prefix I
• -na- = present tense marker (general present / ongoing)
• penda = verb root like / love

So literally: ni-na-penda ≈ I-PRES-like → I like / I love.

In fast or casual speech, people often shorten ninapenda to napenda:

• Napenda kushirikisha marafiki habari njema.
  This is also correct and very common.

What is the difference between ninapenda and kupenda?

They are different forms of the same verb penda:

• kupenda

  • ku- = infinitive marker
  • meaning: to like / to love (dictionary form)
  • e.g. Ninapenda kupenda vitabu = I like to love books (a bit odd, but shows the form)

• ninapenda

  • conjugated, with subject and tense: I like / I love
  • used as the main verb in a sentence:
    
    • Ninapenda chai. = I like tea.

In the given sentence, ninapenda is the main verb, and kushirikisha is an infinitive complement:

• Ninapenda kushirikisha… = I like to share…

Does ninapenda mean I like or I love?

It can mean either I like or I love, depending on context and intensity:

• Ninapenda chai.
  Often understood as I like tea.
• Ninapenda sana familia yangu.
  More naturally understood as I love my family very much.

Swahili uses penda for both like and love; context and adverbs (e.g. sana, mno) show how strong the feeling is.

What is the difference between kushiriki and kushirikisha?

They are related but not the same:

• kushiriki

  • root shiriki = to participate / to take part / to share in
  • focus: you yourself participate or share in something
  • example: Ninapenda kushiriki katika michezo.
    = I like participating in sports.

• kushirikisha

  • root shiriki
    • causative suffix -isha
  • meaning: to involve / to share something with someone / to let others participate
  • focus: you cause others to be involved or share something with them
  • in the sentence: kushirikisha marafiki habari njema
    = to share good news with friends / involve friends in the good news.

So the chosen verb kushirikisha is appropriate because it means sharing something with your friends.

In kushirikisha marafiki habari njema, who is getting what? Which word is which object?

In this part:

• kushirikisha = to share / to involve
• marafiki = friends (the people you share with)
• habari njema = good news (the thing you share)

So the structure is:

• [Verb] [people] [thing]
• kushirikisha marafiki habari njema
  = to share good news (habari njema) with friends (marafiki).

In English we say share something with someone.
In this Swahili pattern, both the someone and the something follow the verb directly, without a preposition.

Why is there no word for with before marafiki? Why not na marafiki?

Some Swahili verbs naturally take two objects without any preposition. Shirikisha is one of them.

• Pattern: Verb + person + thing
• kushirikisha marafiki habari njema
  literally: to-share friends good news
  meaning: to share good news with friends.

You can sometimes add na:

• kushirikisha marafiki na habari njema
  but this normally sounds more like to share friends and good news (listing two things), which is not what you want.

So for share something with someone, it is better and more natural here not to use na.

Could I change the word order to kushirikisha habari njema marafiki?

That order is not wrong grammatically, but it is much less natural with shirikisha.

With verbs like shirikisha, the normal order is:

• [Verb] [people] [thing]
  → kushirikisha marafiki habari njema

Putting habari njema before marafiki can sound awkward or unclear:

• kushirikisha habari njema marafiki
  is likely to make listeners pause and re-interpret the sentence.

So it is best to keep:

• kushirikisha marafiki habari njema.

Why is it habari njema and not habari nzuri? Is there a difference between njema and nzuri?

Both njema and nzuri can mean good, and habari njema and habari nzuri are both correct. Differences:

• habari njema

  • often slightly more formal / literary / emotive
  • very common in religious or formal contexts: habari njema = good news / glad tidings.

• habari nzuri

  • more neutral everyday good news

Grammatically, both njema and nzuri are adjectives that agree with the noun class of habari (an N-class noun).
So the choice here is more stylistic than grammatical.

How does njema agree with habari? Why that form of the adjective?

In Swahili, adjectives agree with the noun class of the noun they describe.

• habari belongs to the N/N class (same form in singular and plural).
• Many common adjectives for the N/N class begin with n-:
  • -ema → njema
  • -zuri → nzuri
  • -kubwa → kubwa (no extra n- here, but still used with N-class)

So:

• habari njema
• habari nzuri

are both correct agreements of noun + adjective in that class.

If I want to say my friends, how would I change marafiki?

You add the appropriate possessive adjective after marafiki.

• marafiki = friends
• zangu = my (for class 9/10 plural nouns like marafiki)

So:

• marafiki zangu = my friends

Applied to the sentence:

• Mimi ninapenda kushirikisha marafiki zangu habari njema.
  = I like sharing good news with my friends.

How would I say I don’t like sharing good news with friends?

You negate the verb penda by changing the subject/tense pattern:

• Positive: ninapenda
• Negative: sipendi (for the present habitual)

So the full negative sentence:

• Mimi sipendi kushirikisha marafiki habari njema.
  = I don’t like sharing good news with friends.

You can also drop Mimi:

• Sipendi kushirikisha marafiki habari njema.

Is the ku- in kushirikisha always necessary after ninapenda? Can I say ninapenda shirikisha marafiki…?

In careful, standard Swahili, the ku- infinitive marker is expected here:

• ninapenda kushirikisha marafiki habari njema
  = I like to share good news with friends.

In fast colloquial speech, some speakers may drop ku- after certain verbs (like naweza, nataka), but with penda it is more natural and safer to keep ku-, especially as a learner.

So you should prefer:

• ✅ Ninapenda kushirikisha marafiki habari njema.
  and avoid:

• ⛔ Ninapenda shirikisha marafiki habari njema. (sounds off/colloquial at best).