Kifo ni sehemu ya maisha.

to be

Breakdown of Kifo ni sehemu ya maisha.

• ya: of
• maisha: the life
• sehemu: the part

Questions & Answers about Kifo ni sehemu ya maisha.

What does ni mean here?

Ni is the basic Swahili linking word used in sentences like X ni Y. In this kind of sentence, it works like English is/are.

So:

• Kifo ni sehemu ya maisha = Death is part of life

A useful thing to remember is that ni does not change the way English am/is/are do. The same ni is used with different subjects.

Why is it ya maisha and not some other form?

The -a word here means of, and its form changes to match the noun before it.

In sehemu ya maisha:

• sehemu = part
• ya = of
• maisha = life

So sehemu ya maisha means part of life.

It is ya because sehemu belongs to the noun class that uses ya in this pattern.

A few similar patterns are:

• kitabu cha mwanafunzi = the student's book / book of the student
• watu wa mjini = people of the town
• sehemu ya maisha = part of life

Why does maisha look plural even though English says life, not lives?