You are a X

Swahili translation: wewe ni ....

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)

English term or phrase:	You are a / an X
Swahili translation:	wewe ni ....
Entered by:	Mwananchi

02:33 May 1, 2008

English to Swahili translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Linguistics

English term or phrase: You are a X

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.

Will Matter KudoZ activity Questions: 32 (1 open) (1 closed without grading) Answers: 1426 United States
Local time: 11:52

wewe ni ....

Explanation:
You are a student - Wewe ni mwanafunzi; You are a merchant - Wewe ni mfanyi biashara. etc

Selected response from:

Mwananchi
Kenya
Local time: 21:52

Grading comment

Asante sana, Mwananchi.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

5 +2

wewe ni ....

Mwananchi

wewe (ni) X

NinoV

Answers

7 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): +2

you are a x

wewe ni ....

Explanation:
You are a student - Wewe ni mwanafunzi; You are a merchant - Wewe ni mfanyi biashara. etc

Mwananchi
Kenya
Local time: 21:52
Works in field
Native speaker of:

English,

Swahili
PRO pts in category: 4

Grading comment

Asante sana, Mwananchi.

1 day 4 hrs confidence:

you are a x wewe (ni) X

Explanation:
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

Reference: http://www.lernado.it
Reference: http://www.swahili.it

NinoV
Local time: 20:52
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

Italian

Notes to answerer

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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