Learn Hardcore Swahili: Nyumba nyingi zimejengwa karibu na barabara kuu miaka ya karibuni. - Many houses have been built near the main road in recent years.

nyumba nyingi = many houses
- nyumba = house / houses (class 9/10, same form for singular and plural)
- nyingi = many (agreement form for class 9/10)

You almost never put nyingi before the noun, so nyingi nyumba is incorrect in standard Swahili.

General pattern:

mtoto mdogo = small child (not mdogo mtoto)
vitabu vingi = many books (not vingi vitabu)

So the sentence follows the normal pattern: noun first, then the adjective.

Why is the word for many here nyingi and not wengi?

Swahili adjectives change form depending on the noun class of the noun they describe.

nyumba belongs to noun class 9/10 (same form singular and plural).
The adjective -ingi (many/much) takes the form nyingi with class 9/10 nouns:
- nyumba nyingi = many houses
- nguo nyingi = many clothes
- chai nyingi = a lot of tea

Wengi is the people/animate form of “many” and is used with noun classes for people, such as class 2 (plural of mtu):

watu wengi = many people
walimu wengi = many teachers

So:

nyumba nyingi (things, class 9/10)
watu wengi (people, class 2)

How is zimejengwa formed? What are all the parts of this verb?

Zimejengwa can be broken down like this:

zi- = subject prefix for class 10 plural (nyumba in plural → they)
-me- = perfect tense marker (roughly “have/has done”)
-jeng- = verb root from kujenga (to build)
-w- = passive marker (turns “build” into “be built”)
-a = final vowel

So:

zimejengwa ≈ “they have been built”

Putting it with the subject:

Nyumba nyingi zimejengwa = Many houses have been built.

The passive (-w-) is why the English translation uses have been built and not have built.

Why is the subject prefix zi- in zimejengwa and not zi-me- for something else like wa- or vi-?

The subject prefix matches the noun class of the subject:

Subject: nyumba nyingi
nyumba is in noun class 9/10.
The class 10 subject prefix (plural) is zi-.

So we get:

Nyumba nyingi zimejengwa
- zi- (class 10 plural) + -mejengwa

Examples with other classes:

Vitabu vimepotea. = The books have disappeared.
- vi- for class 8 (plural of kitabu)
Watu wamefika. = The people have arrived.
- wa- for class 2 (plural of mtu)

Here zi- is correct because we’re talking about nyumba (class 10 plural).

What is the difference between zimejengwa and zilijengwa?

Both are passive and both refer to “they were built,” but the aspect and time nuance differ:

zimejengwa
- -me- = perfect aspect
- Often translated “have been built”
- Suggests a result that is relevant up to now. The houses are there now as a result of that building.
zilijengwa
- -li- = past tense
- Usually “were built” or “were constructed” (simple past)
- Focuses on a past event, not necessarily connected strongly to the present.

So:

Nyumba nyingi zimejengwa miaka ya karibuni.
= Many houses have been built in recent years (they’re there now).
Nyumba nyingi zilijengwa miaka ya karibuni.
= Many houses were built in recent years (more neutral past description).

Both can be correct; zimejengwa emphasizes current result more.

If I want to say it in an active way, like “People have built many houses…”, how would I change the sentence?

To make it active, you put the builders as the subject and use the active verb wamejenga:

Watu wamejenga nyumba nyingi karibu na barabara kuu miaka ya karibuni.
= People have built many houses near the main road in recent years.

Breakdown:

Watu = people
wamejenga = they-have-built
nyumba nyingi = many houses
karibu na barabara kuu = near the main road
miaka ya karibuni = in recent years

You can also add a more specific subject, like wajenzi (builders) or wakazi (residents), instead of watu.

If I keep the passive, how do I say by people or by the government?

In the passive, the doer is typically added with na (“by”):

Nyumba nyingi zimejengwa na watu karibu na barabara kuu miaka ya karibuni.
= Many houses have been built by people near the main road…
Nyumba nyingi zimejengwa na serikali karibu na barabara kuu miaka ya karibuni.
= Many houses have been built by the government near the main road…

Pattern:

[Object] + passive-verb + na + [agent]
- barabara imefungwa na polisi = The road has been closed by the police.

What exactly does karibu na mean here? Why not just karibu barabara kuu?

Karibu na literally means near to / close to.

karibu = near, close, or welcome (depending on context)
karibu na X = near X, close to X

In practice:

Nyumba zimejengwa karibu na barabara kuu.
= Houses have been built near the main road.

You can sometimes hear karibu barabara (without na), but karibu na barabara is:

more explicit
more standard/neutral
very common in careful speech and writing

So karibu na is a safe default when you mean “near [something].”

What does barabara kuu literally mean, and why is kuu after barabara?

Barabara kuu literally means main road:

barabara = road
kuu = major, great, principal, main

In Swahili, most descriptive words come after the noun:

barabara kuu = main road
mtu muhimu = important person
mji mkuu = capital city (literally “principal town”)

So kuu comes after barabara by the usual noun–adjective order.

Could I say barabara kubwa instead of barabara kuu? Would that change the meaning?

Yes, you can, but the nuance is slightly different:

barabara kuu
- Standard way to say main road, principal road, or highway.
- Focus is on importance or status (it’s the main/primary route).
barabara kubwa
- Literally big road.
- Focus is more on physical size or width than on its importance.
- In context, people might still understand it as “main road,” but it’s less precise for that meaning.

In your sentence, barabara kuu is the best choice if you mean the main / major road.

What does miaka ya karibuni mean exactly, and why is there no “in” like katika?

Miaka ya karibuni literally means years of recent (time) → recent years.

miaka = years (plural of mwaka, year)
ya = of (agreement for this noun class)
karibuni = recent / recent times (in this context)

English needs a preposition “in”:

“in recent years”

Swahili can express this without katika:

miaka ya karibuni = in recent years (understood)

You can add katika for extra clarity or emphasis:

katika miaka ya karibuni = in recent years
miaka ya hivi karibuni is also very common (“these recent years”).

Both:

Nyumba nyingi zimejengwa karibu na barabara kuu miaka ya karibuni.
Nyumba nyingi zimejengwa karibu na barabara kuu katika miaka ya karibuni.

are acceptable; the meaning is the same.

I’ve seen karibuni used to mean welcome. How can it also mean recent here?

The word karibu and its forms (karibuni, karibuni!) have several related uses. The core idea is “nearness”:

As an invitation / greeting
- Karibu! = Welcome! (to one person)
- Karibuni! = Welcome! (to several people)
  Here it means “come near / come closer” in a friendly way.
As an adverb of place or time
- karibu = near / close
- Tutafika hivi karibuni. = We will arrive soon / in the near future.
- miaka ya karibuni = recent years (years near to now in time)

In miaka ya karibuni, karibuni means recent, consistent with the idea of “time that is close (to now).” Context tells you whether karibuni is “welcome (you all)” or “recent/soon.”

Why is it miaka ya karibuni and not miaka wa karibuni or something else? What does ya agree with?

Ya is the genitive connector “of” that must agree with the noun class of miaka.

miaka is class 4 (plural of mwaka, class 3/4).
The class 3/4 genitive connector is wa/ya:
- wa for singular class 3 (mwaka wa…)
- ya for plural class 4 (miaka ya…)

So:

mwaka wa tatu = the third year
mwaka wa mwisho = the last year
miaka ya karibuni = recent years
miaka ya vita = years of war

Using wa with miaka would sound incorrect because wa marks the singular year, not plural years. Here ya is the correct plural agreement form.

Can the parts of the sentence move around? For example, can I start with miaka ya karibuni?

Yes, Swahili word order is relatively flexible for adverbial phrases like time and place. You can move them for emphasis or style:

Original:

Nyumba nyingi zimejengwa karibu na barabara kuu miaka ya karibuni.

Possible variants:

Time first:
- Miaka ya karibuni, nyumba nyingi zimejengwa karibu na barabara kuu.
  = In recent years, many houses have been built near the main road.
Place first:
- Karibu na barabara kuu, nyumba nyingi zimejengwa miaka ya karibuni.
  = Near the main road, many houses have been built in recent years.

The core verb phrase nyumba nyingi zimejengwa usually stays together, but time and place phrases (karibu na barabara kuu, miaka ya karibuni) can move around it. The meaning stays the same; only emphasis changes.