Mwanafunzi anachora molekuli.

Anachora can be broken down into:

• a- = subject marker for he/she (or a singular noun in the same noun class, such as mwanafunzi)
• -na- = present tense marker
• chora = verb stem meaning draw

So anachora literally works like he/she is drawing or he/she draws.

Because mwanafunzi is a singular noun referring to a person, and in Swahili that normally takes the class 1 subject marker a-.

So:

• mwanafunzi anachora = the student is drawing
• wanafunzi wanachora = the students are drawing

Notice how the verb changes with the noun:

• singular person: a-
• plural people: wa-

It can mean both, depending on context.

Swahili -na- often covers both:

• he/she is drawing
• he/she draws

In a sentence like Mwanafunzi anachora molekuli, the most natural reading is often The student is drawing a molecule, but The student draws molecules could also be possible in the right context.

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

So mwanafunzi can mean:

• a student
• the student

And molekuli can mean:

• a molecule
• the molecule

The exact meaning depends on context.

The plural is wanafunzi.

So:

• mwanafunzi = student
• wanafunzi = students

And the verb changes too:

• Mwanafunzi anachora molekuli. = The student is drawing a molecule.
• Wanafunzi wanachora molekuli. = The students are drawing a molecule.

Molekuli is being used as the object of the verb, and many Swahili nouns do not change form for singular vs. plural in the way English speakers expect, especially loanwords.

Also, Swahili does not mark the object with an article, so molekuli simply appears as the noun itself.

In this sentence, it just means molecule as the thing being drawn.

It is a borrowed word, ultimately from the international scientific word molecule.

Swahili uses many loanwords, especially in science, technology, and education. Molekuli is a normal Swahili way to say molecule.

Yes. Swahili does not normally mark gender in the verb the way English does.

So anachora can mean:

• he is drawing
• she is drawing

The noun mwanafunzi also does not tell you whether the student is male or female. You only know from context if it matters.

Yes, in this sentence it is.

The pattern is:

• Mwanafunzi = subject
• anachora = verb
• molekuli = object

So it follows Subject–Verb–Object, just like English:

• The student / is drawing / a molecule

That makes this sentence quite straightforward for English speakers.

A simple pronunciation guide is:

• Mwanafunzi ≈ mwa-na-FOON-zi
• anachora ≈ a-na-CHO-ra
• molekuli ≈ mo-le-KOO-li

A few useful points:

• mw is pronounced together, not as two separate syllables
• ch sounds like the ch in chair
• Swahili vowels are usually pure and consistent:
  • a as in father
  • e as in bed but cleaner
  • i as in machine
  • o as in more without the English glide
  • u as in rule

In Swahili, stress usually falls on the second-to-last syllable.

So:

• mwa-na-FUN-zi
• a-na-CHO-ra
• mo-le-KU-li

This regular stress pattern is very helpful when learning pronunciation.

Yes, often you can.

Because the verb already contains the subject marker a-, anachora molekuli can already mean:

• he/she is drawing a molecule

But if you want to specify who is doing the action, you include mwanafunzi.

So:

• Anachora molekuli. = He/She is drawing a molecule.
• Mwanafunzi anachora molekuli. = The student is drawing a molecule.