Mwanafunzi anayejitegemea anasoma vitabu vingi darasani.

A student who is self-reliant reads many books in the classroom.

Breakdown of Mwanafunzi anayejitegemea anasoma vitabu vingi darasani.

• mwanafunzi: the student
• kitabu: the book
• kusoma: to read
• vingi: many
• darasani: in the classroom
• anayejitegemea: who is independent

Questions & Answers about Mwanafunzi anayejitegemea anasoma vitabu vingi darasani.

What does anayejitegemea literally mean, and how is it built from smaller pieces?

Anayejitegemea comes from the verb kujitegemea “to be independent / to rely on oneself”.

You can break it down like this:

• a- = subject prefix for he/she (3rd person singular)
• -na- = present tense marker (“is / does / usually”)
• -ye- = relative marker (“who / that” for a singular person)
• jitegemea = verb stem “to rely on oneself, be independent”
  • ji- (reflexive) = “oneself”
  • tegemea = “depend, rely on”

So anayejitegemea is literally “he/she-who-is-self-relying,” which we translate more naturally as “who is independent” or “who is self-reliant.”

Why is it mwanafunzi anayejitegemea instead of just mwanafunzi anajitegemea?

• Mwanafunzi anajitegemea = The student is independent (full sentence about the student).
• Mwanafunzi anayejitegemea = A student who is independent (a describing phrase inside a larger sentence).

In your sentence, mwanafunzi anayejitegemea anasoma vitabu vingi darasani, the bit anayejitegemea is a relative clause directly attached to mwanafunzi, telling us which student we’re talking about:

• Mwanafunzi anayejitegemea = the independent student / the student who is independent.

So we need the relative form (anayejitegemea, with -ye-) because it’s functioning like “who is independent,” not as a separate main clause.

How do relative clauses like anayejitegemea work in Swahili in general?

Swahili often uses a relative marker inside the verb, instead of a separate word like English “who/that.”

Structure (simplified):

[subject prefix] + [tense] + [relative marker] + [verb stem]

For a singular person (class 1), the common present-tense pattern is:

• anayesoma = “who is reading / who reads”
• anayekula = “who is eating”
• anayejitegemea = “who is independent”

Compare with the non-relative forms:

• anasoma = “he/she is reading”
• anakula = “he/she is eating”
• anajitegemea = “he/she is independent”

The -ye- is what turns it into a relative (“who …”).

You can also use ambaye as a separate word:

• mwanafunzi ambaye anajitegemea = “a student who is independent”

But the built-in relative (anayejitegemea) is very common and stylistically neat.

What is the function of -ni at the end of darasani?

The -ni on darasa makes a locative form:

• darasa = “classroom, class (as a place)”
• darasani = “in the classroom / in class / at class”

So darasani basically means “in the classroom” or “in class”. It packs the preposition “in/at” into the noun itself, instead of needing a separate word like in or at.

Could I say katika darasa instead of darasani? Is there any difference?

Yes, you can say:

• mwanafunzi anayejitegemea anasoma vitabu vingi katika darasa.

It’s grammatically fine and means essentially the same thing: “in the classroom.”

Differences in feel:

• darasani

  • Very common, compact, and natural.
  • Often used in everyday speech and writing.

• katika darasa

  • Slightly more explicit because katika is a preposition “in/inside.”
  • Still correct, but darasani generally sounds smoother in this context.

In typical Swahili, darasani would be the first choice here.

Why is it vitabu vingi and not vitabu nyingi?

This is about noun class agreement.

• vitabu (“books”) is in noun class 8 (plural of kitabu, class 7).
• Adjectives must agree in class with the noun they describe.

The adjective stem here is -ingi (“many/much”).
The agreement forms are:

• Class 7 (singular, kitabu) → kingi
  
  • kitabu kingi = “much (one) book” – not usually used; other quantifiers are more natural.
• Class 8 (plural, vitabu) → vingi
  
  • vitabu vingi = “many books”

Nyingi is used with different noun classes (like class 9/10).
Since vitabu is class 8, it takes vingi, not nyingi.

Why is the order vitabu vingi, not vingi vitabu?

In Swahili, adjectives normally come after the noun they modify.

So:

• vitabu vingi = “many books”
• mwanafunzi mzuri = “a good student”
• chakula kidogo = “a little food”

Putting the adjective first (vingi vitabu) is ungrammatical in standard Swahili.
The usual pattern is: [noun] + [adjective].

What tense or aspect does anasoma express here?

Anasoma uses the -na- tense marker, which often covers:

1. Present progressive: “is reading”
2. General/habitual present: “reads”

Which one is meant depends on context. In your sentence:

• Mwanafunzi anayejitegemea anasoma vitabu vingi darasani.

we could reasonably understand:

• “An independent student reads many books in class” (habitually), or
• “An independent student is reading many books in class” (right now).

Without extra context, both readings are possible. English chooses different verb forms; Swahili uses -na- for both and lets context clarify.

Is anayejitegemea anasoma … ambiguous between “who is reading” and “who reads”? How do Swahili speakers disambiguate?

Yes, in principle the -na- in anayejitegemea (who is/does) and anasoma (is/does read) can be either progressive or habitual, just like anasoma alone.

Swahili speakers rely on:

• Context (what they’re talking about)
• Time expressions:
  • sasa = now
  • kila siku = every day
  • wakati wa somo = during the lesson

Examples:

• Mwanafunzi anayejitegemea sasa anasoma vitabu vingi darasani.
  → clearly “is now reading many books in class.”

• Mwanafunzi anayejitegemea kila siku anasoma vitabu vingi darasani.
  → clearly “every day reads many books in class.”

So most of the time, context and adverbs remove any real ambiguity.

Could I drop mwanafunzi and just say anayejitegemea anasoma vitabu vingi darasani?

You could say that, but then the subject would be just “he/she who is independent”, without explicitly mentioning that it’s a student.

• Mwanafunzi anayejitegemea anasoma …
  → clearly about a student.
• Anayejitegemea anasoma …
  → “The one who is independent is reading/reads …”
  (Who is that? Context must tell you.)

So in normal, clear sentences, you keep mwanafunzi to explicitly name the person you’re describing.

Is there a simpler adjective meaning “independent” I could use instead of anayejitegemea?

There isn’t a very common single-word adjective that exactly matches “independent” in this sense. Some related words:

• huru = free (not imprisoned, not restricted)
  
  • mwanafunzi huru = “a free student” (not the same nuance as “self-reliant”).
• mwenye kujitegemea = literally “having self-reliance”
  
  • mwanafunzi mwenye kujitegemea ≈ “a student with independence / who is independent.”

But the most straightforward and idiomatic way to say “an independent student” in the sense of “self-reliant” or “does things on their own” is:

• mwanafunzi anayejitegemea

How would this sentence change if we talked about many independent students instead of one?

You need to make everything agree in the plural (class 2 for people, class 8 for vitabu is already plural):

Singular (your original):

• Mwanafunzi anayejitegemea anasoma vitabu vingi darasani.
  → “An independent student reads many books in class.”

Plural version:

• Wanafunzi wanaojitegemea wanasoma vitabu vingi darasani.
  → “Independent students read many books in class.”

Changes:

• mwanafunzi → wanafunzi (student → students)
• anayejitegemea → wanaojitegemea
  • wa- = they
  • -na- = present
  • -o- = plural relative marker for people
• anasoma → wanasoma (he/she reads → they read)

Vitabu vingi and darasani stay the same, because they were already plural (vitabu) and locative (darasani).