Jangwa hili lina joto kali mchana.

A word-by-word breakdown is:

• jangwa = desert
• hili = this
• lina = it has / it is with
• joto = heat
• kali = شديد / intense / fierce, so here great or strong
• mchana = daytime / during the day

Very literally, the sentence is something like:

• This desert has intense heat during the day.

That is why the natural English meaning is This desert is very hot during the day.

In Swahili, words like this must agree with the noun class of the noun they describe.

• jangwa belongs to the JI/MA noun class
• the this form for a singular noun in that class is hili

So:

• jangwa hili = this desert

If the noun belonged to another class, the form of this would change.

That is a very common question. Yes, lina is related to the idea of having.

It breaks down like this:

• li- = the subject marker for a singular JI/MA class noun
• -na = with / have

So lina joto literally means it has heat.

In Swahili, saying something has heat, has hunger, has thirst, and so on is often the normal way to express states that English might express with be:

• ana njaa = he/she is hungry
• nina kiu = I am thirsty
• lina joto = it is hot / it has heat

So the Swahili structure is different from English, even though the meaning is natural.

Because joto here is not being used like a simple noun identity after ni.

The verb pattern kuwa na / -na (to have) is the normal way to express this kind of condition:

• lina joto = it is hot / it has heat

Using ni would sound like you are saying the desert is heat, which is not the intended structure here.

So for weather-like or bodily states, Swahili often prefers have rather than be.

li- is the subject agreement marker for a singular noun in the JI/MA class.

Since jangwa is in that class, the verb has to agree with it:

• jangwa hili lina ... = this desert has ...

This agreement is a central feature of Swahili grammar. The noun class affects not only adjectives and demonstratives, but also the verb.

In Swahili, descriptive words usually come after the noun they describe.

So:

• joto kali = intense heat / great heat

This is normal Swahili word order. English often puts adjectives before nouns, but Swahili usually puts them after.

kali often means fierce, strong, harsh, intense, severe, depending on context.

In joto kali, it means:

• intense heat
• naturally translated as very hot or extreme heat

So kali does not always map to one single English word. Its meaning depends on the noun it describes.

mchana means daytime or during the day.

Here it tells you when the desert is hot:

• Jangwa hili lina joto kali mchana = This desert is very hot during the day

Swahili often uses time words like this without needing a separate preposition like during.

Yes, you could say something like wakati wa mchana for during the daytime, but mchana by itself is shorter and very natural.

So:

• mchana = during the day / in the daytime
• wakati wa mchana = during the daytime

The original sentence sounds normal and idiomatic.

Swahili does not have articles like English a, an, and the.

So jangwa can mean:

• a desert
• the desert
• simply desert

The exact meaning depends on context. In this sentence, hili already makes it definite and specific:

• jangwa hili = this desert

So there is no need for a separate word for the.

Normally, no. In standard Swahili, demonstratives like this usually come after the noun:

• jangwa hili = correct

Putting hili before jangwa would not be the normal standard pattern.

kali is describing joto, not jangwa.

So the structure is:

• jangwa hili = this desert
• lina joto kali = has intense heat
• mchana = during the day

That matters because the sentence is not saying the desert itself is fierce. It is saying the heat is intense.

Yes. That is actually very close to the literal Swahili structure.

Possible English renderings include:

• This desert is very hot during the day.
• This desert has intense heat in the daytime.
• This desert is extremely hot by day.

The first one is the most natural everyday English translation, but the second one helps show how the Swahili grammar works.

jangwa is a singular noun in the JI/MA class.

That matters because several other words must agree with it:

• hili = this for singular JI/MA
• lina = subject agreement for singular JI/MA
  • -na

So the noun class controls grammar around the noun. This is one of the biggest differences between Swahili and English.

The plural of jangwa is majangwa.

Then the agreement would also change:

• Jangwa hili lina joto kali mchana = This desert is very hot during the day.
• Majangwa haya yana joto kali mchana = These deserts are very hot during the day.

Changes:

• jangwa → majangwa
• hili → haya
• lina → yana

That is a good example of how noun class agreement works across the sentence.