Learn Hardcore Swahili: Hadithi za ajabu za babu ni nzuri. - Grandfather's amazing stories are nice.

Hadithi – a noun meaning story / stories.
- It belongs to noun class 9/10.
- Singular and plural look the same: hadithi.
za – an agreement form meaning of, linking a noun to something that describes or possesses it.
- This za agrees with hadithi in class 10 (plural).
ajabu – literally wonder, amazement; used like amazing / extraordinary / strange.
- Here it’s part of the phrase za ajabu = of wonder → amazing.
za (second one) – again of, still agreeing with hadithi in class 10 (plural).
- Now it links hadithi to babu: stories of grandfather → grandfather’s stories.
babu – grandfather / old man.
- A human noun, typically class 1 (singular).
ni – the copula, linking subject and description; equivalent to is / are (present tense).
nzuri – good / nice / beautiful, an adjective.
- It’s in the form that agrees with class 9/10 nouns like hadithi.

Why does hadithi look the same for singular and plural?

Because hadithi belongs to noun class 9/10, where the singular and plural often have identical forms.

hadithi can mean:
- one story
- several stories

Swahili doesn’t add an -s like English. Instead, you tell singular vs plural mainly through:

Agreement words (like possessives, adjectives, and “of” markers):
- Singular: hadithi ya ajabu – an amazing story
- Plural: hadithi za ajabu – amazing stories
Context and other words (numbers, quantifiers, etc.):
- hadithi moja – one story
- hadithi nyingi – many stories

In Hadithi za ajabu za babu ni nzuri, the za shows we’re talking about plural (stories).

How can I tell that hadithi is plural in this sentence?

You know hadithi is plural here mainly from za:

For class 9/10 nouns like hadithi:
- Singular “of” is ya
  - hadithi ya babu – the story of the grandfather
- Plural “of” is za
  - hadithi za babu – the stories of the grandfather

In Hadithi za ajabu za babu ni nzuri:

za ajabu and za babu both use za, which is the plural form that agrees with hadithi.
So we understand hadithi here as stories, not a story.

What exactly does za mean, and why is it used twice?

za is an agreement form of “of” that attaches extra information to a noun. It agrees with the head noun, not with the word that follows it.

In this sentence:

Hadithi za ajabu
- Head noun: hadithi (class 10 plural)
- za agrees with hadithi → stories *of wonder → *amazing stories
Hadithi za ajabu za babu
- Now we add another “of” phrase:
- za babu again uses za to agree with hadithi (still the head noun)
- stories of wonder *of grandfather → *grandfather’s amazing stories

Swahili often makes “chains” like this:

hadithi za ajabu za babu
vitabu vya zamani vya mtoto – old books of the child
nguo nzuri za mama – mother’s nice clothes

Each za / ya / wa / cha / vya, etc., keeps agreeing with the main noun that everything describes.

Why is it za babu and not wa babu?

Because in Swahili, this “of” word agrees with the possessed noun, not the possessor.

The head noun here is hadithi (stories), class 10 plural.
Class 10 takes za for “of”.

Examples to compare:

hadithi za babu – stories of grandfather
- hadithi is class 10 → za
mtoto wa babu – child of grandfather
- mtoto is class 1 → wa
kitabu cha babu – book of grandfather
- kitabu is class 7 → cha

So even though babu is human (class 1), the form za is controlled by hadithi, not by babu.
That’s why za babu is correct.

Is ajabu an adjective or a noun here, and why doesn’t it change its form?

ajabu can function both as a noun (wonder, marvel, strangeness) and as an adjectival idea (amazing, extraordinary, strange).

In hadithi za ajabu:

Literally: stories of wonder
Naturally translated: amazing / extraordinary stories

Grammatically:

ajabu itself does not change to show noun class.
The class agreement is carried by za, which agrees with hadithi:
- ya ajabu – of wonder (class 9 singular)
- za ajabu – of wonder (class 10 plural)
- cha ajabu – of wonder (class 7)
- la ajabu – of wonder (class 5)

So ajabu stays the same; the small linking word (ya / za / cha / la) does the class agreement work.

Can I change the order and say Hadithi za babu za ajabu ni nzuri instead?

Yes, that’s grammatical, and people do say it. The difference is mostly one of emphasis and feel, not basic meaning.

Hadithi za ajabu za babu ni nzuri
- Feels like: the grandfather’s *amazing stories are good*
- The quality ajabu (amazing/extraordinary) is closer to hadithi, so it feels a bit more central.
Hadithi za babu za ajabu ni nzuri
- Feels like: the stories of the grandfather that are amazing are good
- Slightly more like “those stories of the grandfather that happen to be amazing”.

In everyday speech, both are fine, and many speakers would not feel a strong difference in most contexts. Word order in these “za + X” chains is fairly flexible, but:

The main noun usually comes first (Hadithi ...).
The most inherent or important description is often placed closer to the noun.

What does ni do here? Is it like “is” or “are”?

Yes. ni is the copula that links the subject to what describes it, much like “is / are” in English.

In this sentence:

Subject: Hadithi za ajabu za babu
Predicate: nzuri (good)
Link: ni

So:

Hadithi za ajabu za babu ni nzuri
→ The grandfather’s amazing stories *are good.*

Some important points about ni:

In simple present it does not change for singular vs plural:
- Kitabu ni kizuri. – The book is good.
- Vitabu ni vizuri. – The books are good.
For other tenses, you normally change the verb:
- zilikuwa nzuri – they were good
- zitakuwa nzuri – they will be good
- zimekuwa nzuri – they have become good

Why is the adjective nzuri and not zuri here?

The adjective has the root -zuri (good, nice, beautiful), and it changes according to the noun class of the word it describes.

Common forms of -zuri:

Class 1 (mtu): mzuri – mtu mzuri (a good person)
Class 2 (watu): wazuri – watu wazuri (good people)
Class 3 (mti): mzuri – mti mzuri (a good tree)
Class 4 (miti): mizuri – miti mizuri (good trees)
Class 5 (tunda): zuri – tunda zuri (a good fruit)
Class 6 (matunda): mazuri – matunda mazuri (good fruits)
Class 7 (kitabu): kizuri – kitabu kizuri (a good book)
Class 8 (vitabu): vizuri – vitabu vizuri (good books)
Class 9/10 (hadithi): nzuri – hadithi nzuri (good story / good stories)

Since hadithi is class 9/10, the correct agreeing form is nzuri:

Hadithi ... ni nzuri. – The story/stories are good.

How would I say “The amazing story of the grandfather is good” (singular “story”)?

You mainly need to:

Make the “of” marker singular (ya, not za).
Keep hadithi (same form) but treat it as singular through agreement.

A natural singular version:

Hadithi ya ajabu ya babu ni nzuri.
→ The amazing story of the grandfather is good.

You could also add a demonstrative:

Hii hadithi ya ajabu ya babu ni nzuri.
→ This amazing story of the grandfather is good.

Key change from the plural sentence:

Plural: Hadithi za ajabu za babu ni nzuri.
Singular: Hadithi ya ajabu ya babu ni nzuri.

How would I say “My grandfather’s amazing stories are good”?

You keep the same structure and add a possessive to babu:

Hadithi za ajabu za babu yangu ni nzuri.
→ My grandfather’s amazing stories are good.

Breakdown:

Hadithi – stories
za ajabu – of wonder → amazing
za babu yangu – of my grandfather
- babu – grandfather
- yangu – my (agreeing with babu)
ni nzuri – are good

You could also front the possessor if context requires:

Hadithi za ajabu za babu yangu ni nzuri sana.
– My grandfather’s amazing stories are very good.

How would I make this sentence negative: “The grandfather’s amazing stories are not good”?

Use the negative copula si instead of ni:

Hadithi za ajabu za babu si nzuri.
→ The grandfather’s amazing stories are not good.

Notes:

si = “is not / are not” (depending on context).
The adjective nzuri stays the same.
You can soften or strengthen it:
- ... si nzuri sana. – are not very good
- ... si nzuri hata kidogo. – are not good at all

You will also see sio or siyo in real usage:

Hadithi za ajabu za babu sio nzuri.
This is also common in speech and writing.

Does ajabu always mean “amazing” in a positive sense, or can it mean “strange/weird” too?

ajabu is neutral by itself; its meaning depends on context and tone.

Common shades of meaning:

Positive:
- hadithi za ajabu – amazing / extraordinary stories
- mambo ya ajabu yaliyotokea – wonderful/remarkable things that happened
Neutral/curious:
- Ni jambo la ajabu. – That’s something unusual.
Negative/odd:
- Tabia za ajabu – strange/weird behaviour
- Anafanya mambo ya ajabu. – He/she does strange things.

So in Hadithi za ajabu za babu ni nzuri, without any negative context, ajabu is usually understood as “amazing / extraordinary”, not “weird in a bad way.” Context supplies the emotional color.