Swali lolote litajibiwa darasani.

Any question will be answered in class.

Breakdown of Swali lolote litajibiwa darasani.

• swali: the question
• darasani: in the classroom
• lolote: any
• kujibiwa: to be answered

Questions & Answers about Swali lolote litajibiwa darasani.

What does each word in Swali lolote litajibiwa darasani literally mean?

Broken down word by word:

• swali – a question (singular; plural: maswali)
• lolote – any (agreeing with swali; literally something like “whichever/any at all”)
• litajibiwa – will be answered
  
  • li- = subject marker for class 5 nouns (like swali)
  • -ta- = future tense marker (will)
  • -jib- = verb root from kujibu (to answer)
  • -iwa = passive ending (to be answered)
• darasani – in (the) class / in class
  
  • darasa = class, classroom
  • -ni = locative ending, “in/at”

So the structure is essentially: Question any will-be-answered in-class.

Why is it lolote and not something like yoyote or yeyote?

The form of -ote depends on the noun class of the noun it describes.

• swali is in noun class 5 (singular), with plural maswali (class 6).
• For class 5 singular, -ote takes the form lolote when it has the meaning any.
• For plural maswali, the form would be yoyote or yo yote:
  
  • Maswali yoyote yatajibiwa darasani – Any questions will be answered in class.

yeyote is used for people (class 1, singular):

• mtu yeyote – any person / anyone

So:

• swali lolote – any question
• maswali yoyote – any questions
• mtu yeyote – any person

What noun class is swali, and how does that affect the sentence?

swali belongs to noun class 5 (singular), with class 6 as its plural:

• singular: swali (class 5)
• plural: maswali (class 6)

This affects:

1. Adjective agreement

   • The -ote form must match class 5 → lolote
   • So you say swali lolote, not swali yoyote.

2. Verb agreement

   • The subject marker (SM) on the verb for class 5 is li-.
   • That’s why we get li-tajibiwa, not ki-tajibiwa or ya-tajibiwa.

If the subject were plural maswali (class 6), the verb would change:

• Maswali yoyote yatajibiwa darasani.
  
  • ya- = subject marker for class 6
  • yatajibiwa = will be answered (plural subject)

How is litajibiwa formed, grammatically?

litajibiwa is the future passive form of kujibu (to answer).

Structure: SM – Tense – Root – Passive – Final vowel

• li- = subject marker for class 5 (swali)
• -ta- = future tense marker (will)
• jib- = verb root from kujibu (to answer)
• -iwa = passive suffix (to be answered)

So:

• kujibu – to answer
• kujibiwa – to be answered
• litajibu – it (class 5) will answer
• litajibiwa – it (class 5) will be answered

Thus Swali lolote litajibiwa darasani = Any question will be answered in class.

How can I tell that li- in litajibiwa is a class 5 subject marker and not the past tense marker?

Swahili uses li- in two different places:

1. As a subject marker for class 5:
   • li-nafika – it (class 5) is arriving
2. As a past tense marker (for all classes):
   • alienda – he/she went (a- SM, li- past, enda root)

In litajibiwa the structure is:

• li- (class 5 subject marker)
• -ta- (future tense marker)
• jibiwa (passive verb stem)

If li- were the past tense marker in this same sentence, you would need another li- as the class 5 subject marker, giving:

• lilijibiwa – it was answered (class 5 subject li-
  • past -li-)

So:

• litajibiwa – it will be answered (future)
• lilijibiwa – it was answered (past)

Why is the verb in the passive (litajibiwa) instead of the active?

Using the passive here emphasizes the questions, not who answers them. In English this matches the natural classroom phrasing:

• Any question will be answered in class.

If you want to emphasize who answers, use the active:

• Tutajibu swali lolote darasani.
  – We will answer any question in class.

Both are correct; they just focus on different things:

• Passive: what happens to the questions
• Active: what we (the teacher, class, etc.) will do

Could I say Swali lolote tutalijibu darasani instead?

Yes, that is grammatically correct and natural:

• Swali lolote tutalijibu darasani.
  – Any question, we will answer it in class.

Notes:

• The subject is now we (implied by tuta- / tuta- = tu- SM + -ta- future).
• The object marker -li- on tutalijibu refers back to swali (class 5).
• Word order: putting Swali lolote first still emphasizes the question, then tutalijibu tells you what we will do with it.

Compared with:

• Swali lolote litajibiwa darasani. – focus on the question and its fate.
• Swali lolote tutalijibu darasani. – focus slightly more on us answering it.

Does swali lolote mean “any question” or “every question”? What’s the nuance?

swali lolote is closest to English “any question (at all)”.

Subtle differences:

• Swali lolote litajibiwa darasani.
  – Any question will be answered in class.
  (If you have a question, whatever it is, it will be answered in class.)

For a clear “every/all questions” meaning, Swahili would more naturally use:

• Kila swali litajibiwa darasani. – Every question will be answered in class.
• Maswali yote yatajibiwa darasani. – All (the) questions will be answered in class.

So:

• swali lolote – any question whatsoever (more open-ended)
• kila swali / maswali yote – every/all questions (more exhaustive)

What’s the difference between lolote and lote?

Both come from the same base -ote, but they differ in meaning and usage:

• lote – all, the whole (of one thing)

  • swali lote – the whole question (not common, but possible in context)
  • jambo lote – the whole matter

• lolote – any, whichever (one thing)

  • swali lolote – any question
  • jambo lolote – any matter / anything

In practice:

• Use lote to talk about the entire/whole of a specific thing.
• Use lolote to talk about any/whichever thing of that type.

In your sentence, the idea is “any question (that might come up)”, so lolote is correct, not lote.

Why is the word order Swali lolote and not Lolote swali?

In Swahili, adjectives normally follow the noun they modify:

• mtoto mdogo – small child
• kitabu kizuri – good book
• swali lolote – any question

Putting lolote before swali (Lolote swali) is not normal word order and sounds wrong.

So the correct pattern is:

• [Noun] + [Adjective / -ote form]
  → swali lolote, maswali yoyote, mtu yeyote, chakula chochote

What exactly does darasani mean? Is it “in the class” or just “class”?

darasani is darasa + -ni:

• darasa – classroom / class
• -ni – locative suffix meaning in, at, on (depending on context)

So darasani means in class / in the classroom / in the lesson.

You could also say:

• kwenye darasa – in/at the classroom
• katika darasa – in the classroom (a bit more formal)

But darasani is the most natural, compact way to say “in class” in this context.

Could I say just Swali litajibiwa darasani without lolote?

You could, but the meaning changes:

• Swali litajibiwa darasani.
  – The question will be answered in class. (referring to a specific question already known in the context)

• Swali lolote litajibiwa darasani.
  – Any question will be answered in class. (open, general invitation)

So lolote is what gives the sentence the meaning any question, whichever it is.

Is there a more “formal” or more emphatic way to say “any question” in Swahili?

Yes, you might see slightly more emphatic or formal variations such as:

• Swali lolote lile litajibiwa darasani.
  – Literally: that any question (whatsoever) will be answered in class.
  The lile adds emphasis, similar to “any question whatsoever”.

Or using a different structure:

• Swali la aina yoyote litajibiwa darasani.
  – Any kind of question will be answered in class.

But in normal classroom speech, Swali lolote litajibiwa darasani is already natural and clear.