Rahma alisema pembetatu hiyo ina pande tatu.

Alisema breaks down like this:

• a- = third-person singular subject prefix (he/she)
• -li- = past tense
• sema = say / speak

So alisema means he said or she said. Because the subject is Rahma, English naturally gives Rahma said.

A useful point: Swahili verb forms usually do not show gender, so alisema can mean either he said or she said.

In Swahili, the conjunction kwamba (that) is often optional after verbs like say.

So both of these are fine:

• Rahma alisema pembetatu hiyo ina pande tatu.
• Rahma alisema kwamba pembetatu hiyo ina pande tatu.

English often likes said that..., but Swahili can leave kwamba out very naturally.

Because Swahili normally puts demonstratives after the noun.

So:

• pembetatu hiyo = that triangle
• literally: triangle that

This is a very common pattern in Swahili. English says that triangle, but Swahili says triangle that.

All three are demonstratives, but they differ in meaning:

• hii = this
• hiyo = that
• ile = that over there / that yonder

So:

• pembetatu hii = this triangle
• pembetatu hiyo = that triangle
• pembetatu ile = that triangle over there

In real usage, hiyo can also refer to something already mentioned, not only something physically far away.

Because pembetatu is not in the noun class that takes a- / ana-.

Here, pembetatu belongs to the class 9/10 pattern, so the subject agreement is i- in the singular. That gives:

• ina = it has

If the subject were a person in class 1, you would get:

• ana = he/she has

So the choice of ina is about noun class agreement, not about meaning alone.

In this sentence, ina means it has.

It is built from:

• i- = subject marker for this noun class
• -na = have / be with

So:

• ina pande tatu = it has three sides

A very useful idea for beginners is that Swahili often expresses have as something like be with.

For example:

• nina kitabu = I have a book
• literally: I am with a book

So here:

• pembetatu hiyo ina pande tatu = that triangle has three sides

Often it does not change its form.

Pembetatu follows the class 9/10 pattern, where singular and plural nouns are often identical in form. Instead, other words show whether it is singular or plural.

Compare:

• pembetatu hiyo ina... = that triangle has...
• pembetatu hizo zina... = those triangles have...

Notice that the noun stays pembetatu, but:

• hiyo changes to hizo
• ina changes to zina

So the agreement words help you see the number.

Because pande is the plural form used for sides.

The singular is:

• upande = side

The plural is:

• pande = sides

Since the sentence is talking about three sides, the plural is needed:

• pande tatu = three sides

If you were talking about one side, you would say something like:

• upande mmoja = one side

Swahili numbers often agree with noun classes, but the form you see depends on the class.

Here, pande is in a class where three appears as tatu, so:

• pande tatu = three sides

With other noun classes, you may see different forms, for example:

• watu watatu = three people
• miti mitatu = three trees
• pande tatu = three sides

So tatu is correct here because it matches the noun class of pande.

Swahili does not have articles exactly like English the or a/an.

Instead, definiteness is usually understood from:

• context
• word order
• demonstratives such as hii, hiyo, ile

So pembetatu hiyo is clearly specific. It means that triangle, and depending on context it can also feel close to the triangle we are talking about.

The sentence has this structure:

• Rahma = subject
• alisema = verb
• pembetatu hiyo = subject of the reported statement
• ina pande tatu = predicate of the reported statement

So the overall pattern is:

• Subject + verb + reported clause

Inside the noun phrase, Swahili uses:

• noun + demonstrative
• pembetatu hiyo = triangle that

Inside the second clause, the verb comes before the object:

• ina pande tatu = has three sides

So the sentence is very normal Swahili word order.