Daktari alisema ufizi wangu unauma kidogo leo.

today

Breakdown of Daktari alisema ufizi wangu unauma kidogo leo.

• wangu: my
• kusema: to say
• daktari: the doctor

Questions & Answers about Daktari alisema ufizi wangu unauma kidogo leo.

Why is it alisema? What are the parts of that verb?

Alisema breaks down as:

• a- = he/she
• -li- = past tense
• -sema = say

So Daktari alisema means the doctor said or a doctor said, depending on context.

If it were plural, you would normally get madaktari walisema = the doctors said.

Why is there no word for that after alisema?

In Swahili, kwamba = that, but it is often optional after verbs like say, know, think, and hear.

So both of these are natural:

• Daktari alisema ufizi wangu unauma kidogo leo.
• Daktari alisema kwamba ufizi wangu unauma kidogo leo.

The second one is a little more explicit, but the first is very normal.

Why does the verb still have a subject marker if Daktari is already there?

Because in Swahili, a normal finite verb usually still shows who or what the subject is, even when the full noun is stated.

So:

• Daktari alisema
• ufizi wangu unauma

are both fully normal.

English does not do this in the same way, so it can feel like repetition to an English speaker, but in Swahili it is just standard agreement.

Is singular or plural? If the meaning is , why not ?