Mapigano yanaanza sasa.

Because mapigano belongs to noun class 6, which usually has the prefix ma-.
In Swahili, the verb must agree with the noun class of its subject.

So:

• mapigano = class 6
• class 6 subject prefix on the verb = ya-

That is why you get ya-na-anza.

A quick breakdown:

• ya- = subject agreement for class 6
• -na- = present tense
• anza = begin/start

So yanaanza literally means something like they-begin / they-are-beginning, where they refers to the class 6 noun mapigano.

Mapigano comes from pigano, meaning fight or battle.
The plural form mapigano can mean:

• fights
• battles
• fighting
• hostilities

In real usage, it is often understood as a collective idea, so even though the form is plural, English may translate it naturally as the fighting rather than the fights.

So in this sentence, it probably refers to the fighting/hostilities beginning now.

Yes, formally it is a plural noun form in Swahili.

However, its meaning does not always work like a simple English plural. It can refer to:

• several individual fights, or
• fighting in general as a mass or collective event

That is why a translation like the fighting starts now can be perfectly natural, even though mapigano is morphologically plural.

-na- is the usual present tense marker in Swahili.

So yanaanza can mean:

• it is beginning
• they are beginning
• it begins
• they begin

The exact English translation depends on context.

With sasa meaning now, the sentence strongly suggests something happening at this moment, so English often uses is starting now or starts now.

Because Swahili verbs usually pack a lot of information into a single word.

In English, we separate things:

• the fighting
• is starting
• now

In Swahili, the verb itself contains pieces that English would often write separately:

• ya- = subject agreement
• -na- = present tense
• anza = verb stem

So yanaanza is not just one simple chunk; it is a full verb form built from several parts.

Swahili does not have articles like English a, an, and the.

So whether mapigano means:

• fighting
• the fighting
• some fighting

depends on context.

That is very normal in Swahili. Learners often want to add a word for the, but there usually is no separate word for it.

Yes. The dictionary form is kuanza, which means to begin or to start.

• ku- = infinitive marker, like English to
• -anza = verb root

When the verb is conjugated, the ku- normally drops off, and the root is used in the verb form:

• kuanza = to begin
• yanaanza = they are beginning / it is beginning

So anza is the core verb idea inside kuanza.

Placing sasa at the end is a very natural word order here.

Mapigano yanaanza sasa is a neutral way to say:

• The fighting starts now
• The fighting is beginning now

You can move sasa for emphasis in some contexts, for example:

• Sasa mapigano yanaanza = Now, the fighting begins

But the version with sasa at the end sounds very straightforward and natural.

A simple pronunciation guide is:

• ma-pi-GA-no
• ya-na-AN-za
• SA-sa

A few useful points:

• Swahili usually stresses the second-to-last syllable
• vowels are pronounced clearly
• y in yanaanza sounds like English y in yes

So the rhythm is roughly:

ma-pi-GA-no ya-na-AN-za SA-sa

Yes, it could, depending on context.

Because mapigano can refer either to:

• multiple fights/battles, or
• fighting in a general sense

So possible English translations include:

• The fighting starts now
• The hostilities begin now
• The battles begin now

Context tells you which one sounds best.