"How's the afternoon grandpa?"

Translation: Habari za mchana babu?

[MaggieMooney]

what is the difference between using "ya" and "za" as the word "is"

ex. Habari za mchana keke

<pre> vs. </pre>

ex. Habari ya mchana keke

[LordMansaMusa]

This is a great question. My answer is based only on what I have studied so far.

I have not seen a greeting with a "za" without an following object.

I have seen "Habari ya mchana" a greeting, with no person it's directed towards.
I have seen "Habari za nyumbani" a question, with "nyumbani" as in "How's YOUR house" which would be a possessive.
I have seen "Habari za mchana babu", in which the greeting word "mchana" (afternoon) is turned into a possessive for the grandfather as in "How is YOUR afternoon".

So far, I can say this much. I have been guessing greetings with "ya" and everything else I have used "za" and so far it has been correct.

[MaggieMooney]

Thanks so much, this is quite helpful!

[LordMansaMusa]

If all multiple choice questions will have only one correct answer, I would recommend using the phrase "Please choose the correct answer". Only if there will always just be one correct answer.

[juryrigging]

Later in the course I did hit upon a multiple choice with two correct answers! So used to it only giving one I failed to check both.

[Tolerating]

Ya and za both mean of. Habari is news, so the question isn't just "How is the afternoon" but more literally "News of afternoon grandfather?" to mean "Is there news of the afternoon, Grandfather?".