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LESSON 15. WHO? WHOSE? WHICH? WHAT?
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44 SWAHILI MADE EASY LESSON 15 WHO? WHOSE? WHICH? WHAT? In asking questions about people, things, time or place, the following words are used: nani? who? e.g. nani wewe? who are you? wa nani? whose? mtoto wa nani? whose child? watoto wa nani? whose children? Likewise, “whose book?” kitabu cha nani? whose books? vitabu vya nani? It is obvious from the examples given here that “·whose” (nani) in Swahili takes class prefixes. It is composed of, a, “of” and nani “who”. For more on nominal prefixes, see Lesson 20. nini? what? e.g. anasema nini? what does he say? wapi? where? e.g. unakwenda wapi? where are you going? hapa, here; e.g. nani yupo hapa? who is here? lini? when? e.g. lini alikuja hapa? when did he come here? kwa nini? why? e.g. kwa nini unachelca? why are you laughing? kwa sababu, because; e. g. ninachelca kwa sababu nimefurahi, I am laughing because I am happy. PART ONE 45 -pi? which? mtoto yupi?16 which child? ki/vi kitabu kipi? which book? vitabu vipi? which books? m/mi mti upi? which tree? miti ipi? which trees? N/N nyumba ipi? which house? nyumba zipi? which houses? J/Ma jina lipi? which name? majina yapi? which names? U Ukuta upi ? which wall? kuta zipi ? which walls? PA pahali gani? which place? (Here we use another word, pahali papi is not usual. Likewise, we say, kula gani, what kind of eating?) SOME ADVERBS OF TIME juzi,day before yesterday mwaka jana, last year jana, yesterday mwaka uliopita, last year leo, today mwezi uliopita. last month kesho, tomorrow wiki iliyopita, last week kesho kutwa, day after tomorrow mwaka ujao, next year juzi na jana, day before yesterday mwezi ujao, next month juzi na jana, day before yesterday wiki ijayo. next week and yesterday juzijuzi, a few days ago 16 The plural of mtoto yupi? “which child?” is not watoto wangapi? But watoto gani? “which children?” the word “wapi” may lead to misunderstanding, as wapi also means “where”. So watoto wapi? May be mistaken for “where asre the children?” [44.213.99.37] Project MUSE (2024-03-19 09:23 GMT) 46 SWAHILI MADE EASY ON THE USE OF JE The word je is used to introduce a question and has no special meaning. As no change occurs in the structure of the sentence when asking questions in Swabili, je, is a useful device for calling attention to the question being asked. Compare the following two sentences, one is a question, the other is not: a) Mgeni amefika leo,The guest arrived today. b) Je, mgeni amefika leo? Did the guest ar rive today? When je is attached to the end of the verb it means “who”“what”; e.g. unasemaje? how, What, do you say? unapikaje? how do you cook? unafanyaje? how do you do it? etc.. EXERCISE 18 Translate into Swahili: 1. The children went to school yesterday. 2. Whose wife is an excellent teacher? 3. Tatu was ill yesterday and was at home. 4. When will you go to see Tatu at home? 5. Which man is brave and kind? 6. Where were you yesterday? 7. Why is the woman cooking potatoes today? 8. You said many people will come tomorrow, how did you know? 9. How do you say (that) in Swahili? 10. A good doctor has many patients. PART ONE 47 11. A bad doctor has few patients. 12. Who has seen an excellent cook in school? 13. How do you learn Swahili without difficulty (bila shida)? 14. I go to school everyday to learn Swahili. We have a very good teacher. 15. Do you have a good teacher? Do you go to school everyday? Where is the teacher now, at school or (au) at home? 16. I like (penda) to learn Swahili. It is a simple (rahisi) language (lugha). 17. I know a bit (kidogo) of Swahili? I can (weza) speak (sema) a little(kidogo). 18. Where do you learn Swahili? At home, or here? 19. I learn Swahili here, but the teacher is not (si) very good. 20. Which child, which book, which house? ...