Learn Hardcore Swahili: Maswali yote kwenye jaribio hili yamejibiwa tayari. - All the questions on this quiz have already been answered.

Maswali – questions (plural of swali, question)
yote – all
kwenye – in / on / at (a general preposition)
jaribio – test, experiment, trial
hili – this (the this that agrees with jaribio)
yamejibiwa – have been answered
- ya- – subject prefix for class 6 nouns (here, maswali)
- -me- – perfect aspect (have / has done)
- -jibiwa – been answered (passive of kujibu, to answer)
tayari – already (also means ready in other contexts)

So the whole sentence means: All the questions in this test have already been answered.

Why is it Maswali yote and not yote maswali for all the questions?

In Swahili, most adjectives and quantifiers (like all, big, new) usually follow the noun:

maswali yote – all (the) questions
vitabu vyote – all (the) books
siku zote – all (the) days

So:

English: all the questions
Swahili: maswali yote (literally: questions all)

Putting yote before the noun (yote maswali) is not correct.

Why is the word for all here yote and not wote or zote?

The form of all must agree with the noun class of the noun it describes.

Maswali is the plural of swali, and it belongs to noun class 5/6:
- singular: swali
- plural: maswali

For class 5/6 plurals, all is yote:

swali lote – the whole question / all of the question
maswali yote – all (the) questions

Compare with other noun classes:

watu wote – all the people (class 1/2, m-/wa-)
siku zote – all the days (class 9/10)
vitabu vyote – all the books (class 7/8, ki-/vi-)

So we use yote because maswali is a class 6 noun.

Why does the verb start with ya- in yamejibiwa?

The prefix ya- is the subject agreement marker for class 6 nouns in the present perfect tense.

Subject: maswali (class 6)
Class 6 subject prefix: ya- (for present, past, perfect, etc.)

So:

maswali yamejibiwa – the questions have been answered
maombi yamepokelewa – the requests have been received
majibu yameandikwa – the answers have been written

If the subject were different, the agreement prefix would change:

mtihani umejibiwa – the test has been answered (class 3/4, mtihani)
vitabu vimepotea – the books have been lost (class 7/8, vitabu)
watu wamefika – the people have arrived (class 1/2, watu)

So ya- is there because the subject maswali is a class 6 plural noun.

How is yamejibiwa formed from the verb kujibu?

Base verb: kujibu – to answer

Passive form: kujibiwa – to be answered
- Swahili often forms the passive by adding -wa or -iwa/-ewa:
  - kuona → kuonwa – to be seen
  - kusoma → kusomwa – to be read
  - kujibu → kujibiwa – to be answered
Perfect aspect of kujibiwa with a class 6 subject (maswali):
- Subject prefix (class 6): ya-
- Perfect marker: -me-
- Passive stem: -jibiwa
This gives: ya + me + jibiwa → yamejibiwa

Meaning: have been answered.

Why is the passive used (yamejibiwa) instead of an active form like wamejibu maswali yote?

Both are correct, but they focus on different things:

Maswali yote kwenye jaribio hili yamejibiwa tayari.
- Passive: All the questions in this test have already been answered.
- Focuses on the questions and their state (they are answered).
- The doer (who answered) is not mentioned.
Wamejibu maswali yote kwenye jaribio hili.
- Active: They have answered all the questions in this test.
- Focuses on the people (subject wa- → wamejibu) who did the action.

So the passive is chosen when:

You care more about the result/state (questions answered)
The agent (who answered) is unknown, unimportant, or obvious from context.

What is the function of kwenye in kwenye jaribio hili, and could you use something else instead?

Kwenye is a preposition that often means in, on, at, depending on context.

In this sentence:

kwenye jaribio hili – in this test

You could usually replace kwenye with katika without changing the basic meaning:

Maswali yote katika jaribio hili yamejibiwa tayari.

Other possibilities:

ndani ya jaribio hili – inside this test (more literal inside)

Kwenye is very common in everyday speech and writing; katika sounds a bit more formal or bookish, but both are standard.

Why is it jaribio hili instead of hili jaribio for this test?

The usual order in Swahili is:

noun + demonstrative (this, that)

So:

jaribio hili – this test
mtihani huu – this exam
kitabu hiki – this book
mji huu – this town/city

Putting the demonstrative first (hili jaribio) is not the normal pattern and sounds wrong in standard Swahili. The demonstrative must agree with the noun class:

jaribio (class 5): hili (this)
swali (class 5): hili swali (this question)
maswali (class 6): haya maswali (these questions) – here the order can vary in some expressions, but maswali haya is more standard.

What tense or aspect does -me- express in yamejibiwa, and how is it different from yalijibiwa?

The marker -me- expresses the perfect aspect in Swahili:

yamejibiwa – have been answered

Perfect aspect typically describes a completed action with present relevance or result (similar to English have done).

If you used -li- instead:

yalijibiwa – were answered (simple past)

Difference in use:

Maswali yote yamejibiwa tayari.
- All questions have been answered (and they are in that state now).
Maswali yote yalijibiwa jana.
- All questions were answered yesterday (event located in the past; focus on when it happened, not on its present result).

What does tayari contribute to the sentence, and where can it appear?

Tayari means:

already (adverb of time)
ready (adjective), depending on context

In this sentence:

Maswali yote kwenye jaribio hili yamejibiwa tayari.
- tayari = already

It emphasizes that the action is completed before now or before some expected time.

You can sometimes move it:

Maswali yote kwenye jaribio hili tayari yamejibiwa.
Tayari maswali yote kwenye jaribio hili yamejibiwa.

All are acceptable; putting tayari at the end is very common in speech. The core meaning (already) stays the same.

Is there any difference between jaribio and mtihani for test?

Both can translate as test, but they are used a bit differently in practice:

mtihani
- Usually a formal exam, school test, official test
- e.g. mtihani wa mwisho – final exam
jaribio
- More general: test, trial, experiment, attempt
- e.g. jaribio la kisayansi – scientific experiment
- In some contexts, it can mean a test/exercise/trial run

Your sentence could also be:

Maswali yote kwenye mtihani huu yamejibiwa tayari.
- All the questions in this exam have already been answered.

Here, mtihani might sound more specifically like a school/official exam, whereas jaribio can be broader.

How does swali form its plural maswali, and what noun class is this?

Swali belongs to noun class 5, and its plural is class 6:

class 5: swali – question
class 6: maswali – questions

This is the ji-/ma- pattern (even though swali doesn’t show ji- on the surface):

jicho → macho – eye → eyes
jina → majina – name → names
swali → maswali – question → questions

Because maswali is class 6, it controls:

yote (not wote/zote) for all
ya- as the subject prefix in verbs (yamejibiwa)

That is why we say:

Maswali yote yamejibiwa. – All the questions have been answered.

Can I change the word order of yote and still be correct, for example Maswali kwenye jaribio hili yote yamejibiwa tayari?

The most natural, standard position is:

Maswali yote kwenye jaribio hili yamejibiwa tayari.

Moving yote away from maswali can sound odd or less natural, because yote is directly modifying maswali and usually stays right next to it.

Some variations are possible in longer sentences, but for a clear, neutral sentence you should keep:

[Maswali yote] [kwenye jaribio hili] [yamejibiwa tayari].

So it is best not to say Maswali kwenye jaribio hili yote yamejibiwa tayari. It is understandable, but not the standard word order.