Watu nane wamefika.

to arrive

Breakdown of Watu nane wamefika.

• watu: the people
• nane: eight

Questions & Answers about Watu nane wamefika.

Why is the number after the noun in Watu nane?

Because that is the normal Swahili word order. In Swahili, a noun usually comes first, and a number or adjective follows it.

So:

• watu nane = people eight
• not eight people in English order

This same pattern is very common in Swahili.

What is the singular form of watu?

The singular is mtu, meaning person.

So:

• mtu = one person
• watu = people

This is a common singular/plural pair in Swahili, and it belongs to the m-/wa- noun class pattern:

• singular: m-
• plural: wa-

What does nane mean, and does it change form here?

Nane means eight.

In this sentence, it comes directly after the noun: watu nane = eight people.

For a learner, the important point is that you can recognize nane here simply as the number eight. In straightforward counting phrases like this, you will often see it in this basic form after the noun.

How is wamefika built?