Learn Hardcore Swahili: Kwenye meza ya matunda, unaweza kuchukua chochote unachotaka, kwa sababu vyote vimenunuliwa kwa ajili ya wageni wote. - On the fruit table, you can take whatever you want, because all of it has been bought for all the guests.

In everyday speech, kwenye meza ya matunda is perfectly natural for “at/on the fruit table” and you don’t need to worry about choosing between “in/on/at” – English forces you to choose; Swahili doesn’t here.

How does meza ya matunda work? What does ya show here?

meza ya matunda literally is “table of fruit / fruit table”.

meza = table (class 9)
ya = of (genitive agreement for a class 9 head noun)
matunda = fruits (class 6 plural of tunda)

Key points:

The head noun is meza, so the genitive marker agrees with meza (class 9), not with matunda.
- class 9 head noun → genitive ya → meza ya …
Meaning-wise, meza ya matunda = “the table that is for/with fruit”, i.e., the fruit table.

If you reversed the relationship:

matunda ya meza would mean “fruit of the table” (grammatical but odd here).

So the pattern is: [head noun] + ya/wa/la/cha/... + [thing that specifies it].
Here: meza + ya + matunda.

In unaweza kuchukua, why do we use ku- before chukua and not just unaweza chukua?

ku- here marks the infinitive form of the verb:

unaweza = you can / you are able
- u- (you, singular)
- -na- (present)
- -weza (be able / can)
kuchukua = to take
- ku- (infinitive)
- -chukua (root: take)

In standard Swahili, after kuweza (can/be able), the next verb is normally in the infinitive:

Unaweza kula. – You can eat.
Unaweza kuja kesho. – You can come tomorrow.
Unaweza kuchukua chochote. – You can take anything.

Saying unaweza chukua is non‑standard/colloquial; you will hear it in speech, but unaweza kuchukua is the correct form to learn and use.

Can you break down chochote unachotaka word by word?

Yes. chochote unachotaka ≈ “anything that you want”.

chochote
- Built from the class 7 form and -ote (“all/any”).
- As a stand‑alone pronoun, chochote means anything / whatever (thing).
- It is related to the noun kitu (thing, class 7).
  - kitu chochote = any thing / any item
  - by itself, chochote = anything.
unachotaka
Break it into pieces:
- u- = you (2nd person singular subject)
- -na- = present tense marker
- -cho- = object relative marker for “thing” (class 7) → “that/which”
- -taka = want
So unachotaka literally means:
“you‑(present)‑thing‑that‑want” → “that you want”.

Put together:

chochote unachotaka
= “anything (that) you want”
= “whatever you want”.

You can compare:

kile unachotaka = that which you want
chochote unachopenda = whatever you like.

What is the difference between chochote and forms like yoyote, for example in matunda yoyote?

They both relate to the idea of “any”, but they behave differently.

chochote
- Class 7–based indefinite pronoun.
- Often used by itself to mean anything:
  - Unaweza kuchukua chochote. – You can take anything.
- Or with class‑7 nouns:
  - kitu chochote – any (one) thing
- It is generic: not limited specifically to fruit; it can include any item on the table.
yoyote
- -ote (all/any) with a different class prefix.
- Used together with a noun, not normally by itself:
  - tunda lolote – any fruit (one piece, class 5)
  - matunda yoyote – any fruits (class 6)
  - mti wowote – any tree
- It agrees with the class of the noun it modifies.

So in your sentence:

chochote unachotaka → “anything you want” (not restricted just to fruit).
A more specifically “fruit” version could be:
- Unaweza kuchukua tunda lolote unalotaka. – You can take any (one) fruit you want.
- Unaweza kuchukua matunda yoyote unayotaka. – You can take any fruits you want.

In kwa sababu vyote vimenunuliwa…, what does kwa sababu do, and are there other ways to say “because”?

kwa sababu is the common conjunction for “because / since”.

kwa = by/with/for (here part of a set phrase)
sababu = reason

Together, kwa sababu functions as because:

Nimechelewa kwa sababu kulikuwa na foleni.
I am late because there was a traffic jam.

Other ways to say “because” in Swahili:

kwa kuwa – since, because
maana – because (more informal/explanatory)
- Siendi, maana nimechoka. – I’m not going, because I’m tired.
sababu ni kwamba… – the reason is that…

In normal writing and polite speech, kwa sababu is very safe and widely used.

What does vyote refer to here, and why do we have vimenunuliwa with vi- instead of something matching matunda?

vyote vimenunuliwa = “they have all been bought.”

vyote is a pronoun meaning “all of them” (non‑human, plural, class 8).
vimenunuliwa uses vi- as the subject marker, agreeing with vyote.

In context, vyote refers to all the things on that fruit table – not just the fruit, but possibly everything placed there (snacks, plates of fruit, etc.). It is like saying:

“All of it has been bought (for the guests).”
Implicit noun could be vitu vyote (“all the things”), and vitu is class 8 → vyote vimenunuliwa.

If you wanted to refer specifically and explicitly to the fruits, you could say:

Matunda yote yamenunuliwa kwa ajili ya wageni wote.
All the fruits have been bought for all the guests.

Here you’d see yote / yame- agreeing with matunda (class 6).

How is vimenunuliwa built from the verb kununua, and what tense/voice is it?

vimenunuliwa is:

vi- = subject marker for class 8 (they / those things)
-me- = perfect tense/aspect (have / has)
-nunuliw- = passive stem from nunua (buy)
-a = final vowel

So:

nunua = to buy
nunuliwa = to be bought (passive infinitive)
vimenunuliwa = they have been bought.

Grammatically:

Tense/aspect: present perfect (“have been …”)
Voice: passive (focus on the items; the buyer is not mentioned)

So vyote vimenunuliwa = “all (of them) have been bought (already).”

What does kwa ajili ya wageni wote literally mean, and when do we use kwa ajili ya?

Literally:

kwa ajili ya wageni wote ≈ “for the sake/purpose of all the guests.”

Breakdown:

kwa – for/by/with (part of many fixed phrases)
ajili – purpose, sake
ya – of (linking ajili to the following noun)
wageni wote – all the guests

Function of kwa ajili ya:

It expresses intended beneficiary or purpose → “for, for the benefit of, intended for”.

Examples:

Nimenunua chakula kwa ajili ya watoto.
I’ve bought food for the children.
Hii zawadi ni kwa ajili yako.
This gift is for you.

You could also, in many cases, use simple kwa:

Nimenunua chakula kwa watoto. – I’ve bought food for the children.

But kwa ajili ya sounds a bit more explicit/formal about “for the sake/benefit of” someone.

In wageni wote, why does wote come after wageni? Could we say wote wageni instead?

In Swahili, adjectives and quantifiers like wote (“all”) normally come after the noun they modify:

wageni wote = all the guests
watoto wengi = many children
vitabu vichache = a few books

So:

wageni wote = “all the guests (as a group)” – this is what you want here.

If you say wote wageni, you change the structure and the meaning:

wote wageni walifika can be taken as “they were all guests who arrived” or “all (of them) were guests” – wote is acting more like “all (of them)” as a pronoun, and wageni is more predicative (“[they] are guests”).

Compare:

Wageni wote walifika. – All the guests arrived.
Wote walikuwa wageni. – They all were guests.

So in your sentence, kwa ajili ya wageni wote (“for all the guests”) is the natural, correct order.