Mayai yapo jikoni; nitayakaanga jioni.

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Breakdown of Mayai yapo jikoni; nitayakaanga jioni.

• kuwa: to be
• katika: in
• jiko: the kitchen

Questions & Answers about Mayai yapo jikoni; nitayakaanga jioni.

Why does mayai use ya- in both yapo and nitayakaanga?

Because mayai belongs to noun class 6, and class 6 uses ya- for agreement.

• yai = egg (singular, class 5)
• mayai = eggs (plural, class 6)

So:

• ya-po = they are / they are there for a class 6 noun
• ni-ta-ya-kaanga = I will fry them, where ya- means them referring to mayai

In Swahili, verbs have to agree with the noun class of the subject or object, not just with singular/plural in the English sense.

What exactly does yapo mean here?

Yapo is a locative form meaning something like are there / are present / are located.

It breaks down like this:

• ya- = subject agreement for mayai
• -po = a locative element meaning there / at that place

So Mayai yapo jikoni means The eggs are in the kitchen.

A very literal way to think of it is:

• mayai = eggs
• yapo = are located
• jikoni = in the kitchen

What is jikoni, and why does it end in -ni?