Glossary entry (derived from question below)
English term or phrase:
You are a / an X
Swahili translation:
wewe ni ....
Added to glossary by
Mwananchi
May 1, 2008 02:33
16 yrs ago
1 viewer *
English term
United States
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Native in: English 
Works in: English, Japanese to English, zzz Other zzz to English, and 3 more.
You are a X
English to Swahili
Art/Literary
Linguistics
X represents a noun. Is there a basic, uniform pattern sentence that I can use to say "You are a (fill in the blank)"? For example, if I wanted to say "You are a student" or "You are a merchant" would I use the same pattern for both? Thank you in advance for your help.
Proposed translations
(Swahili)
| 5 +2 | wewe ni .... |
Mwananchi
|
| 4 | wewe (ni) X |
NinoV
|
Change log
May 6, 2008 15:58: Mwananchi changed "Edited KOG entry" from "<a href="/profile/45939">Will Matter's</a> old entry - "You are a / an X"" to ""wewe ni ....""
Proposed translations
+2
7 hrs
Selected
wewe ni ....
You are a student - Wewe ni mwanafunzi; You are a merchant - Wewe ni mfanyi biashara. etc
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Asante sana, Mwananchi."
1 day 4 hrs
NinoV
Specializes in field
wewe (ni) X
If the sentence is an identification, i.e. A=X and A is a noun the pattern is A ni X
Juma is a teacher = Juma ni Mwalimu
but if A is a pronoun NI is often omitted:
Yeye (ni) Mwalimu
If the A is a pronoun there others patterns too:
I am a teacher = Ni mpishi (this 'ni' is different frome the previous one)
We are teachers = Tu wapishi
Patterns are different if "A is X" is not identification, but a state or a place
Juma is a teacher = Juma ni Mwalimu
but if A is a pronoun NI is often omitted:
Yeye (ni) Mwalimu
If the A is a pronoun there others patterns too:
I am a teacher = Ni mpishi (this 'ni' is different frome the previous one)
We are teachers = Tu wapishi
Patterns are different if "A is X" is not identification, but a state or a place
Reference:
Note from asker:
| Thank you. Excellent and helpful explanations but Mwananchi came first and also has one 'agree'. *Excellent* CV and website. Personally, I'm intrigued by a Japanese speaking American talking with an Italian who has a degree in KiSwahili over the Internet, what an age we live in!. ;0) Thanks for the help. |
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