Mpango wa mtihani unaweza kubadilishwa na mwalimu.

the teacher

Breakdown of Mpango wa mtihani unaweza kubadilishwa na mwalimu.

• wa: of
• kuweza: to be able
• mpango: the plan

Questions & Answers about Mpango wa mtihani unaweza kubadilishwa na mwalimu.

What does wa in mpango wa mtihani mean, and why is it wa and not something else?

wa here is the genitive/associative marker, roughly meaning of:

• mpango wa mtihani ≈ plan of the exam / exam plan.

In Swahili, this “of” word changes depending on the noun class of the first noun (the head noun), i.e. the thing being possessed/defined.

• mpango (plan) is in noun class 3 (m-/mi-).
• For class 3 singular, the genitive marker is wa.
• So: mpango wa … = plan of …

If you make mpango plural (mipango, class 4), the marker changes:

• mipango ya mtihani = plans of the exam / exam plans.

Summary:
It is wa because it agrees with mpango (class 3), not with mtihani. The form of this “of” word depends on the class and number of the first noun.

Why is it unaweza and not anaweza or inaweza?

The verb unaweza must agree with the subject of the sentence, which is mpango:

• Mpango = class 3 (m-/mi-),
• Class 3 subject prefix in the present tense is u-.

So the structure is:

• u- (subject prefix for class 3, referring to )