Learn Hardcore Swahili: Ni vizuri wimbo huu kuimbwa na kwaya ya watoto kanisani. - It is good for this song to be sung by the children's choir at church.

ni is the copula “is/are,” used to link a subject with a description.
zuri is the adjective root “good,” and vizuri is its adverbial form (“well / in a good way”).

In this sentence, ni vizuri works like an impersonal expression in English:

Ni vizuri… = It is good (that)… / It is good for…

So the whole thing is like: “It is good for this song to be sung…”

Why not ni mzuri?

ni mzuri would normally describe a specific noun: wimbo huu ni mzuri = “this song is good.”
Here we’re not saying the song itself is good; we’re judging the situation or idea of the song being sung. For that, Swahili tends to use ni vizuri (impersonal “it is good”) rather than ni mzuri.

How should I understand the structure wimbo huu kuimbwa? It looks like “this song to-be-sung” — is that normal?

Yes, that structure is possible in Swahili and is often used after evaluative phrases like ni vizuri, ni rahisi, ni vigumu, etc.

You can see it as:

wimbo huu – “this song” (a noun phrase)
kuimbwa – “to be sung / being sung” (infinitive in the passive)

Together, wimbo huu kuimbwa is roughly “for this song to be sung”.

There is no explicit word like “for” or “that” (as in English), but the construction [evaluation] + [noun] + ku‑verb(wa) is understood as:

Ni vizuri wimbo huu kuimbwa…
→ “It is good for this song to be sung…”

So yes, it is a normal, if slightly compact/elliptical, way to speak in Swahili.

Why is the verb kuimba (to sing) in the passive form kuimbwa instead of the active kuimba?

kuimba = “to sing” (active)
kuimbwa = “to be sung” (passive)

In the sentence, the focus is on the song, not on the choir:

Focus on the action by agents:
Ni vizuri kwaya ya watoto kuimba wimbo huu kanisani.
= “It is good for the children’s choir to sing this song in church.”
Focus on the song / event itself:
Ni vizuri wimbo huu kuimbwa na kwaya ya watoto kanisani.
= “It is good for this song to be sung by the children’s choir in church.”

By using the passive kuimbwa, the song (wimbo huu) naturally becomes the thing we’re talking about, and na kwaya ya watoto simply tells us by whom it is sung.

In English we’d say “It is good for this song to be sung…”. Why is there no word like “for” in the Swahili sentence?

Swahili often doesn’t need an explicit equivalent of “for” in this type of structure.

Pattern:

Ni vizuri
- [noun phrase] + ku‑verb(wa)

This is understood naturally as:

“It is good for [noun phrase] to be [verb‑ed].”

So:

Ni vizuri wimbo huu kuimbwa…
→ “It is good for this song to be sung…”

The relationship that English marks with “for” is expressed in Swahili simply by the juxtaposition of wimbo huu and kuimbwa, without an extra preposition.

Could we instead say Ni vizuri wimbo huu uimbwe na kwaya ya watoto kanisani? What would be the difference?

Yes, that is a very natural alternative.

uimbwe is the subjunctive passive form of kuimba for class 3 (m-/mi-) nouns like wimbo:
- wimbo (song) → subject prefix u-
- passive root imbw‑
- subjunctive ending ‑e
  → uimbwe = “(that it) be sung”

So:

Ni vizuri wimbo huu uimbwe na kwaya ya watoto kanisani.
Literally: “It is good that this song be sung by the children’s choir in church.”

Difference in feel:

kuimbwa version: uses an infinitive (“to be sung”), a bit more “neutral” or “noun-like.”
uimbwe version: uses a finite subjunctive verb (“that it be sung”), which can sound a little more explicit or formal.

Both are grammatically correct and natural; usage can vary by style and region.

Why do we use na before kwaya ya watoto? Does na here mean “and” or “by”?

In this context, na marks the agent in a passive construction, so it corresponds to English “by”:

kuimbwa na kwaya ya watoto
= “to be sung by the children’s choir”

Swahili na can have several functions:

“and”:
- mwalimu *na mwanafunzi – teacher *and student
“with” (together with):
- ninakwenda sokoni *na rafiki yangu – I’m going to the market *with my friend
“by” (agent of a passive):
- nyumba imejengwa *na fundi – the house was built *by a builder

Here it is clearly type 3: the doer of the action in a passive clause.

Why is it kwaya ya watoto and not kwaya wa watoto?

The possessive/“of” marker must agree with the head noun, not with the noun that follows.

Head noun: kwaya (choir)
- Noun class: 9/10 (the “N” class)
- Possessive prefix for class 9/10: y- → ya

So:

kwaya ya watoto literally “choir of children / children’s choir”

If you said kwaya wa watoto, you’d be using wa, which agrees with class 1/2 (mtu/watu, mtoto/watoto) and would be grammatically wrong here.

The rule:
→ kwaya ya …, nyumba ya …, gari la …, etc.
The form of “of” (ya, wa, la, cha, vya,…) is chosen according to the class of the first noun (the possessed item).

What does the ending ‑ni in kanisani do? Why not just kanisa?

The suffix ‑ni on many nouns creates a locative form: “in/at/on [place].”

kanisa = church (as a thing or institution)
kanisani = in/at church

So:

kanisani in this sentence means “in church / at church.”

Some other common examples:

nyumba → nyumbani – home, at home
shule → shuleni – at school
soko → sokoni – at the market

kanisa without ‑ni can be used in other contexts, e.g.:

Kanisa hili ni kubwa. – This church is big.
Tunaona kanisa kule. – We see the church over there.

But when indicating location (“where?”), ‑ni is added: kanisani.

Is the word order fixed? Could I say Ni vizuri kuimbwa wimbo huu na kwaya ya watoto kanisani instead?

That alternative word order is understandable, but it is less natural in standard Swahili.

Typical, natural orders here would be:

Ni vizuri wimbo huu kuimbwa na kwaya ya watoto kanisani.
Ni vizuri wimbo huu uimbwe na kwaya ya watoto kanisani.

Why is wimbo huu better before the verb?

It makes the topic (this song) clear right away.
It avoids ambiguity that might arise if you start with kuimbwa (“for it to be sung”) without immediately saying what “it” is.

Swahili does allow some flexibility in word order, but placing the main noun before the infinitive or the subjunctive verb is generally smoother here.

What exactly is the function of the prefix ku‑ in kuimbwa?

ku‑ here marks the infinitive (verbal noun) form.

imba – verb root: “sing”
kuimba – “to sing / singing” (infinitive)
kuimbwa – “to be sung / being sung” (passive infinitive)

Key points about ku‑:

It makes the verb act as a noun-like word, similar to English “to sing” or “singing” used as a thing:
- Kuimba ni vizuri. – “To sing / Singing is good.”
It normally carries no tense by itself; time is understood from context or added with other elements.

In this sentence, kuimbwa is functioning as a noun phrase (“the being-sung [of the song]”) after ni vizuri.

Is wimbo huu just “this song,” or does the order (noun + demonstrative) have any special effect?

wimbo huu is simply “this song,” with the normal Swahili order:

wimbo – “song”
huu – “this” (demonstrative for class 3 singular)

Swahili typically puts the demonstrative after the noun:

mtoto huyu – this child
mti huu – this tree
wimbo huu – this song

This order doesn’t add emphasis by itself; it’s just the standard pattern.
(There are other demonstrative sets that can appear before the noun for special nuances, but huu after the noun here is the most neutral, common way to say “this song.”)