Kiwanda hiki ni kikubwa.

Because Swahili uses noun classes, and words that go with a noun must agree with that noun’s class.

Kiwanda belongs to the ki-/vi- noun class:

• singular: kiwanda = factory
• plural: viwanda = factories

For a singular noun in this class, this is hiki. So:

• kiwanda hiki = this factory

You cannot use hii here, because hii agrees with nouns from a different noun class.

The ki- shows agreement with the noun class of kiwanda.

In this sentence:

• kiwanda is the noun
• kikubwa is the adjective big, but it has been changed to agree with kiwanda

The basic adjective is -kubwa = big / large.
To match kiwanda, it becomes:

• ki- + -kubwa = kikubwa

So kikubwa means big for a noun in the ki-/vi- class.

In Swahili, adjectives usually come after the noun they describe.

So the normal pattern is:

• noun + adjective

Examples:

• kiwanda kikubwa = a big factory
• mtoto mdogo = a small child

That is different from English, where adjectives usually come before the noun:

• big factory

Ni is the copula, similar to is / are in English.

In:

• Kiwanda hiki ni kikubwa

ni connects the subject kiwanda hiki and the description kikubwa.

So the structure is:

• Kiwanda hiki = this factory
• ni = is
• kikubwa = big

Together: This factory is big.

In a sentence like this, ni is normally used because you are saying that one thing is something or is a certain way.

So:

• Kiwanda hiki ni kikubwa = correct

If you remove ni, the sentence would sound incomplete or unnatural in standard Swahili for this structure.

Because adjectives in Swahili often need an agreement prefix.

The root adjective is:

• -kubwa = big

But it must agree with kiwanda, which is in the ki-/vi- class. So you add the class prefix:

• ki- + -kubwa = kikubwa

This agreement is a very important part of Swahili grammar.

Compare:

• kiwanda kikubwa = big factory
• viwanda vikubwa = big factories

The plural of kiwanda is viwanda, and the other words must change to match.

Singular:

• Kiwanda hiki ni kikubwa.

Plural:

• Viwanda hivi ni vikubwa.

Changes:

• kiwanda → viwanda
• hiki → hivi
• kikubwa → vikubwa

This shows noun class agreement in the plural.

Yes. In Swahili, the most common order is:

• noun + demonstrative

So:

• kiwanda hiki = this factory

This is more natural than putting the demonstrative first. English does the opposite:

• this factory

So Swahili and English differ in word order here.

Swahili does not usually use articles like English a, an, or the.

Whether the noun is understood as a factory, the factory, or just factory depends on context.

In this sentence, hiki already means this, so the noun is specific:

• kiwanda hiki = this factory

Because of that, no extra article is needed.

The noun class prefix helps you identify that.

For this noun:

• ki- marks the singular class
• vi- marks the plural class

So:

• kiwanda = factory
• viwanda = factories

The agreement words also confirm it:

• hiki is singular
• kikubwa is singular

Everything in the sentence points to a singular noun.

-kubwa often means big, large, or sometimes great / important, depending on context.

In this sentence, with kiwanda, it most naturally means physical size:

• a big factory

But in other contexts it can be broader:

• mtu mkubwa can mean an important person, an adult, or a big person, depending on context

So the exact sense of -kubwa depends on the noun and the situation.

A simple pronunciation guide is:

• kiwanda → kee-WAHN-da
• hiki → HEE-kee
• ni → nee
• kikubwa → kee-KOOB-wa

A few useful pronunciation points:

• Swahili vowels are usually pure and consistent
• i sounds like ee in see
• u sounds like oo in food
• stress is usually on the second-to-last syllable

So the whole sentence is said smoothly as:

• kee-WAHN-da HEE-kee nee kee-KOOB-wa