Binadamu anahitaji maji.

A human being needs water.

Breakdown of Binadamu anahitaji maji.

• maji: the water
• kuhitaji: to need
• binadamu: the human being

Questions & Answers about Binadamu anahitaji maji.

What does anahitaji mean exactly, and how is it built?

Anahitaji can be broken down as:

• a- = he/she or a singular animate subject
• -na- = present tense
• hitaji = need

So anahitaji literally means he/she needs.

In this sentence, it agrees with binadamu, so the whole phrase means a human needs.

The dictionary form of the verb is kuhitaji = to need.

Why does the verb start with a- after binadamu?

Because a- is the subject marker used for a singular animate noun, especially a person.

Even though binadamu begins with bi-, it refers to a human being, so Swahili uses the agreement pattern for people:

• singular: a-
• plural: wa-

So:

• Binadamu anahitaji maji = A human needs water
• Wanadamu wanahitaji maji = Humans need water

This is a very common feature in Swahili: meaning can matter more than the noun’s first syllable when choosing agreement.

Is the word order the same as in English?