Learn Hardcore Swahili: Leo hakuna somo linalofundishwa kwenye darasa la mtandaoni. - Today there is no lesson being taught in the online class.

Swahili keeps the general order [Time] + [Existence] + [Thing] + [Description of the thing] + [Place], which is close to English, just without the dummy English subject “there”.

What exactly does hakuna mean and why is there no word for “there” like in “there is no…”?

Hakuna comes from -na (to have) plus ha- (negation). Literally it means something like “(it) is not had / it is not there”, but in practice it just means:

hakuna = there is no / there isn’t

Swahili does not need a dummy word like English “there”. The verb-like form hakuna itself covers both:

existence: there is / there isn’t
possession: related forms like sina (I don’t have), hana (he/she doesn’t have)

So:

Hakuna somo = There is no lesson.
There is no separate word for “there”; hakuna already encodes that idea.

Why is somo used here and not darasa? Don’t both mean “class”?

In everyday use:

somo – a lesson / subject / piece of teaching
darasa – a classroom / a class (group of students) / class level

So:

somo focuses on the lesson itself (the teaching session or content).
darasa focuses on the group of students or the room/level.

In Hakuna somo linalofundishwa, the speaker is saying:

“There is no lesson being taught…”

If you said:

Leo hakuna darasa la mtandaoni.
→ “Today there is no online class (no session at all / the class does not meet).”

Both are possible, but somo highlights the specific lesson, while darasa highlights the class/session as an event or group.

What does linalofundishwa mean exactly, and how is it built?

Linalofundishwa is a relative verb form meaning “that is being taught” or “which is being taught.”

Breakdown:

li- – subject prefix for class 5 nouns (like somo)
-na- – present tense marker (is / are …ing)
-lo- – relative marker (that / which) agreeing with class 5
-fundish- – verb root fundisha (“to teach”)
-w- – passive marker (be taught)
-a – final vowel (default ending)

Combined and slightly contracted:

li + na + lo + fundish + w + a
→ linalofundishwa = “that is being taught”

So somo linalofundishwa = “the lesson that is being taught.”

Why is the relative part -lo- and not something else? How does it agree with somo?

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

Somo is class 5 (its plural is masomo, class 6). For class 5/6:

relative marker is -lo- (singular), -yo- (plural)

So:

somo linalofundishwa – the lesson that is being taught
masomo yanayofundishwa – the lessons that are being taught

Other classes use other relative markers, for example:

mtu anayefundishwa – the person who is being taught (class 1, -ye-)
vitabu vinavyofundishwa – the books that are taught (class 8, -vyo-)

Here -lo- is chosen because somo is class 5.

Why not just say somo linafundishwa instead of somo linalofundishwa?

You could say somo linafundishwa, which means:

somo linafundishwa – “the lesson is being taught”

But:

somo linafundishwa is a normal clause: subject + verb (“is taught”).
somo linalofundishwa is a relative clause: “the lesson *which is being taught”*.

In this sentence:

Hakuna somo linalofundishwa…
focuses on “there is no lesson that is being taught…”, treating the whole phrase somo linalofundishwa as one noun phrase.

If you said:

Leo somo halifundishwi kwenye darasa la mtandaoni.
→ “Today the lesson is not being taught in the online class.”

That’s a different structure: somo is clearly the subject of a full clause, and the verb is halifundishwi (is not taught).

Could I say somo ambalo linafundishwa instead of somo linalofundishwa? What’s the difference?

Yes, you can say:

somo ambalo linafundishwa kwenye darasa la mtandaoni

This uses:

ambalo – a separate relative pronoun (“which/that”)
linafundishwa – normal passive verb (“is being taught”)

Difference in feel:

somo linalofundishwa – more compact, more typical in everyday speech and writing.
somo ambalo linafundishwa – a bit heavier/explicit, often used by learners and also perfectly correct.

Meaning-wise, they are essentially the same: “the lesson that is being taught.”

What does kwenye do here, and how is it different from katika or ndani ya?

Kwenye is a preposition meaning roughly “in / at / on” (location). Here:

kwenye darasa la mtandaoni – “in the online class”

Comparisons:

kwenye – very common, everyday “in/at/on”
- kwenye darasa – in class / in the classroom
katika – more formal or neutral “in/within”
- katika darasa la mtandaoni – in the online class (slightly more formal)
ndani ya – “inside (of)”
- ndani ya darasa – inside the classroom (physically inside)

In an abstract or virtual sense (like an online class), kwenye darasa la mtandaoni is the most natural-sounding.

Why is it darasa la mtandaoni and not something like darasa ya mtandaoni?

The “of” relationship in Swahili is marked by agreement with the first noun (the one being “owned” or described).

darasa is class 5 (like somo), and the class 5 possessive connector is la.

So:

darasa la mtandaoni – “online class” / “class of (the) internet”
If the first noun were class 9 (e.g., kozi – a course), you’d get:
kozi ya mtandaoni – online course
For a class 1 noun like mwanafunzi (student):
mwanafunzi wa mtandaoni – online student

So la is correct here because it agrees with darasa (class 5).

What is mtandaoni exactly? Why the ending -ni?

Base noun:

mtandao – “network,” commonly used for “the internet”

Add -ni:

mtandaoni – “on the internet / online / in the network”

The -ni suffix makes a locative form:

nyumba (house) → nyumbani (at home)
shule (school) → shuleni (at school)
mtandao (internet) → mtandaoni (online / on the internet)

So darasa la mtandaoni literally: “class of (the) online/internet” → online class.

Could I just say Leo hakuna somo la mtandaoni? Would that mean the same thing?

Leo hakuna somo la mtandaoni is grammatical and means:

“Today there is no online lesson / online subject.”

Differences:

somo la mtandaoni – “online lesson” as a type of lesson
somo linalofundishwa kwenye darasa la mtandaoni –
“the lesson that is being taught in the online class” (focus on the current teaching activity in that specific online class)

So:

If you mean: “Our online course doesn’t have a lesson today at all” → Leo hakuna somo la mtandaoni.
If you mean: “In that specific online class, no lesson is being taught today” → original sentence is better.

Can leo move around in the sentence? For example, is Hakuna somo leo… okay?

Yes, leo (today) is flexible. All of these are natural, with slightly different emphasis:

Leo hakuna somo linalofundishwa kwenye darasa la mtandaoni.
– Today, there is no lesson being taught in the online class. (emphasis on today)
Hakuna somo leo linalofundishwa kwenye darasa la mtandaoni.
– There is no lesson today being taught in the online class. (emphasis on no lesson today)
Hakuna somo linalofundishwa leo kwenye darasa la mtandaoni.
– There is no lesson being taught today in the online class. (emphasis on the time of teaching)

All are correct; placement mainly affects which part feels most highlighted.

Does linalofundishwa mean “is being taught” (continuous) or just “is taught” (general)?

The -na- tense marker usually corresponds to present continuous:

linalofundishwa – “that is being taught” (right now / around now)

However, in Swahili, -na- can also be used for habitual current actions, depending on context:

Masomo yanayofundishwa kwenye darasa la mtandaoni…
– “The lessons that are taught in the online class…” (general description)

In Leo hakuna somo linalofundishwa…, the leo strongly suggests it’s about today’s session, so the natural reading is:

“Today there is no lesson being taught in the online class.”