Ama utanunua pizza ya jibini, ama utachagua burger baada ya shule.

Either you will buy a cheese pizza, or you will choose a burger after school.

Breakdown of Ama utanunua pizza ya jibini, ama utachagua burger baada ya shule.

• wewe: you
• shule: the school
• kununua: to buy
• ya: of

Questions & Answers about Ama utanunua pizza ya jibini, ama utachagua burger baada ya shule.

Why is ama used twice in this sentence?

In this sentence, repeating ama creates the sense of either ... or:

• Ama utanunua pizza ya jibini, ama utachagua burger baada ya shule.

So the pattern is:

• ama ..., ama ... = either ..., or ...

In everyday Swahili, a single ama can also mean just or, but repeating it makes the choice more explicit.

What does utanunua mean grammatically?

Utanunua breaks down like this:

• u- = you (singular)
• -ta- = future tense marker (will)
• -nunua = buy

So:

• utanunua = you will buy

This is a very common Swahili verb structure, where subject and tense are attached directly to the verb.

What about utachagua? Is it built the same way?