Breakdown of Uongo mdogo unaweza kuleta ugomvi mkubwa nyumbani.
nyumba
the home
kwenye
at
kuleta
to bring
kuweza
to be able
Questions & Answers about Uongo mdogo unaweza kuleta ugomvi mkubwa nyumbani.
Isn't unaweza usually translated as you can? Why doesn't it mean that here?
It can mean you can, but not always.
In this sentence, unaweza is agreeing with uongo mdogo as the subject. So here it means it can or a small lie can.
Breakdown:
- u- = subject agreement for the noun in this sentence
- -na- = present tense
- -weza = be able / can
So:
- unaweza = it can / is able to
- not you can, because the subject is already uongo mdogo
Swahili subject prefixes often have more than one possible meaning, and context tells you which one is intended.
Why do mdogo and mkubwa come after the nouns?
Because that is the normal Swahili pattern.
In Swahili, adjectives usually follow the noun they describe:
- uongo mdogo
- ugomvi mkubwa
So unlike English, where you say small lie and big quarrel, Swahili usually says lie small and quarrel big.
Why do the adjectives start with m- in mdogo and mkubwa?
The is an agreement prefix.