Kazi ilianza mnamo mwaka huu.

the work

Breakdown of Kazi ilianza mnamo mwaka huu.

• huu: this
• kuanza: to start
• mwaka: the year

Questions & Answers about Kazi ilianza mnamo mwaka huu.

Why is the verb ilianza and not alianza or ulianza?

Because the subject is kazi, and the verb has to agree with that noun class.

Kazi belongs to the N class in Swahili. With this noun, the subject marker on the verb is i- in the singular sense used here. So:

• kazi ilianza = the work started

If the subject were a different noun class, the verb prefix would change:

• mtu alianza = the person started
• mradi ulianza = the project started

So i- is there because of kazi.

How is ilianza formed?

It can be broken down like this:

• i- = subject marker for kazi
• -li- = past tense marker
• -anza = verb root meaning begin / start

So:

• i-li-anza = it started / it began

This is a very useful pattern in Swahili, because many verbs are built the same way: subject marker + tense marker + verb root.

What does mnamo mean here?