Je, unajua maana ya swali hili?

Je is a question marker. It helps show that the whole sentence is a yes/no question.

So:

• Je, unajua maana ya swali hili? = Do you know the meaning of this question?

In everyday Swahili, people often leave je out and just rely on tone or context:

• Unajua maana ya swali hili?

That still means the same thing.

More or less, yes. A very close breakdown is:

• Je = question marker
• unajua = you know
• maana = meaning
• ya = of
• swali = question
• hili = this

So the structure is basically:

• Do you know the meaning of this question?

A more literal version would be:

• Do you know the meaning of question this?

But in normal English, we say this question, not question this.

Unajua can be broken into parts:

• u- = you (singular)
• -na- = present tense marker
• -jua = know

So:

• u-na-jua = you know

This is a very common Swahili pattern:

• ninasoma = I am reading / I read
• unasoma = you are reading / you read
• anajua = he/she knows

Grammatically, unajua by itself means you know.

But when the sentence is turned into a question—especially with je or with question intonation—it becomes:

• Do you know ... ?

So in this sentence:

• Je, unajua ... ? = Do you know ... ?

Swahili does not need a separate helping verb like English do.

Ya here means of and links meaning to question:

• maana ya swali = the meaning of the question

This linking word changes depending on noun class in Swahili. In this phrase, swali takes the connector ya.

So:

• maana ya neno = meaning of the word
• jina la kitabu = name of the book

A learner does not have to master all noun classes immediately, but this is why the connector is ya here.

In Swahili, demonstratives like this usually come after the noun.

So:

• swali hili = this question
• kitabu hiki = this book
• mtu huyu = this person

That is normal Swahili word order. English says this question, but Swahili says the equivalent of question this.

Because hili has to agree with the noun swali.

Swahili demonstratives change according to noun class. Since swali belongs to a class that takes hili for this, you say:

• swali hili = this question

Compare:

• mtu huyu = this person
• mti huu = this tree
• barua hii = this letter

So hili is not random; it matches swali.

It specifically means this question.

The demonstrative hili points to a particular question, so it is definite.

• swali = question / a question
• swali hili = this question

So in your sentence, the speaker is referring to a specific question.

A simple pronunciation guide is:

• Je = jeh
• unajua = oo-nah-JOO-ah
• maana = mah-AH-nah
• ya = yah
• swali = swah-lee
• hili = HEE-lee

A few helpful notes:

• j in Swahili is usually like the j in jam
• sw in swali is pronounced clearly: s + w
• vowels are usually pronounced clearly and consistently:
  • a as in father
  • e as in bed or they without much glide
  • i as in machine
  • o as in more without a strong glide
  • u as in rule

Yes, it sounds natural and fairly standard. Using je can make the sentence feel a bit more careful, neutral, or textbook-like.

You may hear all of these:

• Je, unajua maana ya swali hili? — standard, clear
• Unajua maana ya swali hili? — very natural in everyday speech

Both are correct.

Yes. Maana often means meaning, but depending on context it can also mean something like:

• sense
• significance
• point

In this sentence, though, the natural meaning is simply:

• the meaning of this question

You would need to change both the noun and the demonstrative so they agree.

• swali hili = this question
• maswali haya = these questions

So a plural version would be:

• Je, unajua maana ya maswali haya? = Do you know the meaning of these questions?

This is another example of noun-class agreement in Swahili.

A natural way is:

• Je, unaelewa swali hili?

Breakdown:

• unaelewa = you understand
• swali hili = this question

This is a different idea from unajua maana ya swali hili:

• unajua maana ya swali hili = you know the meaning of this question
• unaelewa swali hili = you understand this question

They are related, but not exactly the same.