Learn Hardcore Swahili: Wizi sokoni unaweza kuripotiwa kwa polisi. - The theft at the market can be reported to the police.

It covers the idea of the act of stealing, not the person.
It can sometimes overlap with robbery, but for violent or armed robbery Swahili often uses words like ujambazi.

So wizi sokoni is best understood as theft at the market or stealing in the market, in a general, non‑specific way.

Why is it wizi sokoni and not wizi wa sokoni? Don’t we usually use wa to link two nouns?

Both patterns are possible, but they are not identical in feel:

wizi sokoni
- Literally: theft (that happens) at the market.
- sokoni here is a locative form (place word) modifying wizi.
- Very natural and common: noun + place‑word.
wizi wa sokoni
- More like: market theft or the theft of the market.
- Sounds a bit more like a fixed type/category of theft (e.g. when contrasting: wizi wa sokoni, wizi wa majumbani, etc.).

In everyday speech, wizi sokoni is perfectly normal for theft at the market, and you don’t have to add wa.

What is sokoni exactly? Is it from soko, and why does it end in -ni?

Yes, sokoni comes from soko (market) plus the locative ending -ni.

soko = market (the noun itself)
sokoni = at/in/to the market (location)

The -ni suffix is a common way in Swahili to turn a noun into a place form:

nyumba → nyumbani = at home
kanisa → kanisani = at church

So wizi sokoni literally means theft (occurring) at the market.

Why does the verb start with u- in unaweza? Why not inaweza or anaweza?

The verb agrees with the noun class of the subject wizi.

wizi belongs to a class of u‑/w‑ nouns (often abstract nouns).
The subject marker for this class in the present tense is u-.

So:

Subject: wizi
Subject marker: u-
Tense marker: -na- (present)
Verb root: weza

→ u-na-weza = unaweza = it can / is able to (referring to wizi).

inaweza would be used with nouns that take i- as their subject marker (e.g. certain mi‑, N‑ class nouns), and anaweza is for a human he/she (class 1).

What tense or aspect is unaweza? How is it built?

Unaweza is in the present tense and literally means is able / can.

Structure:

u- = subject marker (agreeing with wizi)
-na- = present tense marker
weza = verb root meaning be able / can

So unaweza = it (wizi) can / is able to. In English we use the modal can, but in Swahili it is a normal verb kuweza that is conjugated.

What exactly is kuripotiwa? How is that form made?

Kuripotiwa is the passive infinitive (or dictionary-like form) of the borrowed verb kuripoti (to report).

Breaking it down:

ku- = infinitive prefix (to ...)
ripoti = verb stem (report)
-w- = passive suffix
-a = final vowel of the verb

So:

kuripoti = to report
kuripotiwa = to be reported

In the sentence, unaweza kuripotiwa means can be reported.

Why do we say unaweza kuripotiwa instead of just unaripotiwa? Aren’t both something like is reported?

They express different things:

unaripotiwa
- u- (subject marker) + -na- (present) + ripotiwa (be reported)
- Means is being reported / is reported (a plain passive, ongoing or regular action).
unaweza kuripotiwa
- unaweza = can / is able to
- kuripotiwa = to be reported
- Together: can be reported / may be reported (talks about possibility or permission).

In your sentence, the idea is It is possible / allowed to report theft at the market to the police, so Swahili uses kuweza + infinitive: unaweza kuripotiwa.

Could I leave out the ku- and say Wizi sokoni unaweza ripotiwa kwa polisi?

No, that would be ungrammatical.

With kuweza (can/be able), the next verb normally appears in its infinitive form, which must include ku-:

unaweza kuimba = can sing
unaweza kusoma = can read
unaweza kuripotiwa = can be reported

Without ku-, ripotiwa would look like a finite verb form, but there is no tense marker on it, so the structure breaks. You need kuripotiwa after unaweza.

In kwa polisi, what is the role of kwa? Does it mean to the police or by the police?

Here kwa polisi means to the police, the recipient of the report.

kuripotiwa kwa polisi = to be reported to the police

If you wanted by the police as the agent of a passive, you would typically use na:

Alikamatwa na polisi = He was arrested by the police.

So:

kwa polisi → usually to/at the police (as an institution/office)
na polisi → by the police (as the doer of the action) in a passive sentence.

Is polisi singular or plural in Swahili? Why is there no word for the?

Polisi in Swahili is a bit special:

It can refer to the police force as an institution, roughly like an uncountable noun.
It can also mean the police officers, but you don’t normally change its form for plural.

Examples:

Polisi wamefika. = The police have arrived.
Nenda kwa polisi. = Go to the police (office/station/authorities).

Swahili does not have separate words for the and a. Definiteness is understood from context. So kwa polisi can mean to the police or to a police station, depending on the situation.

Who is the subject of the sentence? In English it feels like you can report theft at the market to the police, but in Swahili I only see wizi.

In this Swahili sentence, the subject is wizi (theft), not you.

Wizi sokoni = theft at the market → subject
unaweza kuripotiwa = can be reported (passive)
kwa polisi = to the police

So literally: Theft at the market can be reported to the police.

English often prefers the structure You can report theft at the market to the police, but Swahili here is using a passive, subject‑is‑theft style. Both express the same idea, but the grammatical subjects are different.

Can I move sokoni to another place, like Sokoni, wizi unaweza kuripotiwa kwa polisi? Does that change the meaning?

Yes, you can change the position of sokoni, and the core meaning stays the same, but the emphasis shifts slightly.

Possible orders:

Wizi sokoni unaweza kuripotiwa kwa polisi.
- Neutral: Theft at the market can be reported to the police.
Sokoni, wizi unaweza kuripotiwa kwa polisi.
- Puts a bit more emphasis on at the market as the topic:
  At the market, theft can be reported to the police.

Swahili word order is fairly flexible for adverbials/locatives like sokoni, especially when you want to highlight that element. The grammar remains correct in both versions.

How would I say the same idea more actively, like People can report theft at the market to the police?

A natural active version would be:

Watu wanaweza kuripoti wizi sokoni kwa polisi.

Breakdown:

watu = people
wanaweza = they can / are able to
kuripoti = to report
wizi sokoni = theft at the market
kwa polisi = to the police

So the passive Wizi sokoni unaweza kuripotiwa kwa polisi and the active Watu wanaweza kuripoti wizi sokoni kwa polisi express essentially the same idea, just with different grammatical focus.