Search from various English teachers...
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Hamjambo?
Ni matumizi gani bora zaidi na "endapo"?
Inamaanisha "if" or "perhaps", no?
Tafauti gani toka "kama"?
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Hamjambo?!
Nina swali kuhusu tumizi na "kuwahi" na kitenzi "-ishi-"
Je - naweza kutumia kuwahi na "ishi" pamoja, kama mfano
"Umeishiwahi kwenda sokoni?"
Au - nitumie moja tu
"Umewahi kwenda sokoni?"
"Umeishikenda sokoni?"
Mifano gani ni sahihi zaidi?
Nashukuru
Paulo
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Hamjambo Waswahili!
Mnawahi kusikia lugha za barabara fulani "ka" kumaanisha "kidogo". Kwa mfano "katoto kadogo"?
Kama mnawahi, nipe mifano mmesikia!
Unadhani matumizi haya yanatoka wapi?
Paulo
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What is the difference between "kama" and "iwapo"?
are there certain situations where one is better to use than the other?
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In an article i read about preparing loshoro (which is like uji), there was the following statement
"ukishakuja nayo kijiweni unatenga maziwa na mahindi"
many questions:
- when you combine "ki" and "sha" tense - does that mean "when you finish" something? does this mean the same thing as "utakapokuja".
- what does "nayo" mean here and why is that used?
- what is "kijiweni"?
finally - i've never heard of loshoro before but it sounds very much like uji. is there a difference?
here is the fulll story on loshoro
https://www.bbc.com/swahili/58405922
Asanteni!
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Waswahili!
Do you ever come across the "ngali" tense to mean "to still be (something)"?
for example:
watoto wangali shuleni.
the children are still in school.
I'm familiar with "ngali" tense to mean past tense of "would have" but i hadn't heard it to mean "to still be" like this.
Do you use this tense this way - is it common - would you consider it slang or proper?
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Hamjambo Waswahili!
Nilikuta misemo toka movie "Sunshine" - unatumia misemo hii? Tafsiri zangu ni sahihi?
"nazuga zuga" kumaanisha "i hang around, i go around (toka kuzunguka?)
"mapene" - money? coin?
"weka pembeni" - kumaanisha "put to the side/let's not talk about it"
"mambo yanakuwaga vile vile" - kumaanisha "this is as usual"
"imefika wakati - kumaanisha "the time has come"
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Alternative form for habitual tense: "ga" suffix
If you're a swahili learner like me - you're probably familiar with the "hu" tense for habitual actions.
"mimi huenda kanisa jumapili"
I (usually/habitually) go to church on sunday"
I learned through my Swahili teacher when we were translating a Kenyan TV show (Selina) an alternative to this - you can add "ga" to end of verb. So the above would be:
"mimi endaga kanisa jumapili"
I'm guessing it's not grammatically correct, i've never seen this in any Swahili grammar book - seems like a more informal alternative.
I was curious if others have come across this?
Native speakers - do you also use/hear this alternative? Would you consider it grammatical or "slang"?
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Great learning resource for Swahili learners
Swahili learners! There is an excellent resource for you here published by Amherst College
https://langmedia.fivecolleges.edu/culturetalk/Tanzania
There are over 60 three to five minute videos of native Swahili speakers discussing various topics and conversing AND there are attached transcripts in Swahili. I have been through all several times and it was a huge help .
(There are also English translations but I encourage all to ignore those and actually translate the Swahili for themselves.)
Bahati nzuri!
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