Kitambaa hicho kimekatwa vibaya.

In Swahili, the demonstrative usually comes after the noun:

• kitambaa hicho = that cloth
• mtoto huyo = that child
• vitabu hivi = these books

So unlike English, where we say that cloth, Swahili normally says the equivalent of cloth that.

Hicho is a demonstrative that agrees with the noun kitambaa.

Swahili demonstratives change depending on the noun class. Since kitambaa belongs to the ki-/vi- noun class, the matching demonstrative must also use that class.

Common class 7 demonstratives are:

• hiki = this
• hicho = that / that one
• kile = that over there

So kitambaa hicho means that cloth.

Kitambaa is in noun class 7, which often uses the prefix ki- in the singular.

This matters because many other words in the sentence must agree with that noun class. In this sentence:

• kitambaa → class 7 noun
• hicho → class 7 demonstrative
• kimekatwa → begins with ki-, the class 7 subject marker

So the sentence is grammatically tied together through noun class agreement.

Kimekatwa can be broken down like this:

• ki- = subject marker for a class 7 noun
• -me- = perfect marker, often meaning has/have
• -kat- = verb root meaning cut
• -w- = passive extension, meaning be cut
• -a = final vowel

So:

• kimekata = it has cut
• kimekatwa = it has been cut

Because the noun is kitambaa, the ki- means it referring to that cloth.

The passive is used because the sentence focuses on the cloth, not on who cut it.

• Kitambaa hicho kimekatwa vibaya. = That cloth has been cut badly.

If you wanted an active version, you would need to mention the doer:

• Mtu amekata kitambaa hicho vibaya. = Someone has cut that cloth badly.

Swahili often uses the passive when the agent is unknown, unimportant, or obvious from context.

-me- is a tense/aspect marker often called the perfect. It usually gives the sense of:

• has/have
• sometimes is in a resulting state

So kimekatwa means has been cut.

In context, it can also imply the result is still relevant now: the cloth is now in a badly cut state.

Vibaya means badly.

It comes from -baya, meaning bad. In many cases, forms like vizuri and vibaya function as common adverbs:

• vizuri = well
• vibaya = badly

Even though vi- looks like a noun-class prefix, you should learn vibaya as a common whole word meaning badly. In this sentence, it describes how the cloth was cut.

Here it is functioning as an adverb because it modifies the verb:

• kimekatwa vibaya = has been cut badly

It is not describing the cloth itself as bad. If you wanted to say the cloth is bad, you would use a different structure.

Because the idea of it is already built into the verb.

In kimekatwa:

• ki- already means it for a class 7 noun like kitambaa

So Swahili often does not need a separate subject pronoun when the verb already shows the subject.

English: It has been cut badly.
Swahili: Kimekatwa vibaya.

The it is inside ki-.

Yes, if the context is already clear.

You could simply say:

• Kimekatwa vibaya. = It has been cut badly.

But then the listener has to know what ki- refers to. Since ki- is class 7 singular, it must refer to some previously understood class 7 noun, such as kitambaa.

The normal order here is:

• Noun + demonstrative + verb + adverb

So:

• Kitambaa hicho = that cloth
• kimekatwa = has been cut
• vibaya = badly

This is a very natural Swahili sentence pattern.

Yes, but the meaning changes slightly.

• kimekatwa = has been cut badly / is badly cut
• kilikatwa = was cut badly

Very roughly:

• -me- emphasizes a present result or relevance
• -li- is a more straightforward past tense

So both are possible, but kimekatwa often feels more connected to the current state of the cloth.

A simple syllable breakdown is:

• Ki-tam-baa
• hi-cho
• ki-me-kat-wa
• vi-ba-ya

A few tips:

• ch sounds like English ch in church
• w sounds like w in water
• aa in kitambaa is a long vowel sound
• Swahili words are usually pronounced quite regularly, close to how they are spelled

Yes. In real usage, hicho can point to something that is:

• near the listener
• already known
• already mentioned in the conversation

So depending on context, it may feel like:

• that cloth
• that particular cloth
• the cloth you mean

Swahili demonstratives often carry a bit more nuance than a simple one-word English equivalent.

The plural of kitambaa is vitambaa, in noun class 8.

So the sentence would change like this:

• Kitambaa hicho kimekatwa vibaya. = That cloth has been cut badly.
• Vitambaa hivyo vimekatwa vibaya. = Those cloths have been cut badly.

Notice the agreement changes:

• kitambaa → vitambaa
• hicho → hivyo
• kimekatwa → vimekatwa

That is a good example of how important noun-class agreement is in Swahili.