Kesho asubuhi, karani wa posta atafungua sanduku la posta.

Tomorrow morning, the post clerk will open the post box.

Breakdown of Kesho asubuhi, karani wa posta atafungua sanduku la posta.

• kufungua: to open
• kesho asubuhi: tomorrow morning
• karani wa posta: the post clerk
• sanduku la posta: the post box

Questions & Answers about Kesho asubuhi, karani wa posta atafungua sanduku la posta.

What does kesho asubuhi literally mean, and can I change the order of these words?

Kesho asubuhi literally means tomorrow morning.

• kesho = tomorrow
• asubuhi = morning

Putting them together as kesho asubuhi is the normal, very natural way to say tomorrow morning.

You can also hear asubuhi kesho, but that sounds a bit more like in the morning tomorrow, with a slightly different emphasis. The most common and neutral form is kesho asubuhi (general time → more specific time).

Is the comma after kesho asubuhi required in Swahili?

No, it is not required; it is stylistic.

The comma just marks a natural pause after the time expression:

• Kesho asubuhi, karani wa posta atafungua sanduku la posta.
  Tomorrow morning, the post-office clerk will open the post-office box.

You could also write:

• Kesho asubuhi karani wa posta atafungua sanduku la posta.

Both are correct. Writers often use the comma when an introductory phrase (time, place, etc.) comes at the beginning of the sentence.

What does karani wa posta literally mean?

Karani wa posta literally means clerk of the post office or postal clerk.

• karani = clerk, secretary, office worker
• wa = of (genitive connector, agreeing with karani)
• posta = post, mail, postal service / post office

So karani wa posta is someone who works at the post office, a post-office clerk or postal clerk.

Why is wa used in karani wa posta, but la used in sanduku la posta?

This is because of Swahili noun classes. The genitive connector (the of word) changes depending on the noun class of the head noun.

• karani is in noun class 1 (people, singular).
  The genitive for class 1 is wa:

  • karani wa posta = clerk of the post office

• sanduku is in noun class 5 (often inanimate things).
  The genitive for class 5 is la:

  • sanduku la posta = box of the post office / mail

So:

• karani wa ... (because karani is class 1)
• sanduku la ... (because sanduku is class 5)

The form (wa, ya, la, cha, za, etc.) always agrees with the first noun, not the second.

What does sanduku la posta literally mean?

Literally, sanduku la posta means box of post/mail.

• sanduku = box, container
• la = of (genitive for class 5)
• posta = post, mail, postal service

In real usage, sanduku la posta means a post-office box or mailbox (usually referring to an official postal box, not just any box at home). Context will decide exactly how natural translations like postbox, mailbox, or P.O. box are.

Why is posta repeated in both karani wa posta and sanduku la posta? Isn’t that redundant?

It sounds repetitive in English, but it is normal and clear in Swahili.

• karani wa posta = the post-office clerk (a person who works at the post office)
• sanduku la posta = the post-office box (a box belonging to or associated with the postal service)

You are talking about two different things that are both related to the postal service, so posta is used in both phrases.

In a longer conversation where it is obvious what you mean, a Swahili speaker might sometimes shorten it (for example, just karani or sanduku after they have been clearly identified), but in a single stand‑alone sentence, repeating posta is natural and clear.

How is atafungua formed, and how does it show the future tense?

atafungua is made of three parts:

• a- = subject prefix for he/she (3rd person singular)
• -ta- = future tense marker (will / shall)
• -fungua = verb root open

So:

• atafungua = he/she will open

In Swahili, the tense is built into the verb, not with a separate word like will. The pattern is:

subject prefix + tense marker + verb root
a + ta + fungua → atafungua

How do I know that atafungua means he/she will open and not I will open or they will open?

The subject is shown by the subject prefix at the start of the verb.

Some common subject prefixes in the future tense:

• ni‑ta‑fungua = nitafungua = I will open
• u‑ta‑fungua = utafungua = you (sg.) will open
• a‑ta‑fungua = atafungua = he/she will open
• tu‑ta‑fungua = tutafungua = we will open
• m‑ta‑fungua = mtafungua = you (pl.) will open
• wa‑ta‑fungua = watafungua = they will open

So in the sentence, atafungua matches karani wa posta (a single person), so it means he/she will open.

Why is there no word for the in this Swahili sentence?

Swahili usually does not use a separate word for the (or a/an). Definiteness is understood from:

• context
• word order
• whether something has already been mentioned
• demonstratives (this/that: hiki, hicho, hili, hilo, etc.)

So sanduku la posta can mean:

• a post-office box (introducing it for the first time), or
• the post-office box (if both speaker and listener know which one is meant)

To make the very clear and specific, you can add a demonstrative, for example:

• sanduku la posta hilo = that post-office box
• sanduku la posta lile = that particular post-office box

How would I make sanduku la posta plural (post-office boxes)?

Sanduku is a class 5 noun; its plural is class 6, usually formed by adding ma‑:

• singular: sanduku la posta = post-office box
• plural: masanduku ya posta = post-office boxes

Notice two changes:

1. sanduku → masanduku (class 5 → class 6)
2. The genitive changes from la (class 5) to ya (class 6):
   • la posta (one box)
   • ya posta (several boxes)

Can I move the time expression to the end, like Karani wa posta atafungua sanduku la posta kesho asubuhi?

Yes, that is also correct.

Both of these are grammatical:

• Kesho asubuhi, karani wa posta atafungua sanduku la posta.
• Karani wa posta atafungua sanduku la posta kesho asubuhi.

Putting kesho asubuhi at the beginning slightly emphasizes when the action happens. Putting it at the end feels a bit more neutral or like an afterthought, similar to English:

• Tomorrow morning, the clerk will open the box.
• The clerk will open the box tomorrow morning.

Both orders are common in Swahili.

Is there any difference between kesho asubuhi and asubuhi ya kesho?

Both can mean tomorrow morning, but they differ slightly in structure and usage.

• kesho asubuhi = tomorrow morning (very common, simple time phrase)
• asubuhi ya kesho = the morning of tomorrow

Asubuhi ya kesho is grammatically fine, but it is a bit more formal or explicit, because:

• asubuhi = morning
• ya = of (genitive for class 9)
• kesho = tomorrow

So you are literally saying the morning of tomorrow. In everyday speech, kesho asubuhi is more frequent and sounds more natural.