"A game is being started"
Translation:Mchezo unaanzwa
17 CommentsThis discussion is locked.
171
'Mchezo' is a MI- class noun (called this because the plurals are formed by adding mi-: 'michezo'). MI- class nouns take the u- subject prefix in the singular (and i- in the plural).
Thankfully, memorizing noun classes is less tedious than it sounds. With some practice, you'll start to pick up the patterns. :)
- 1258
but why unaanzWa ? What is the w at the end? Is that a passive voice ? why not stativ? unaanzika ?
Yes, it is the passive form. I'm not sure if you could translate it differently. I presume that it is a different way of thinking and games don't play themselves but are played by others.
Plus, we haven't met the passive construction yet, but there's no option to report that kind of problem in the exercises.
- 1631
If you use the smartphone app (at least on Android) you can report any kind of problem.
I am also confused about it. So, 1. as already asked, why unaanzawa and not anaanzawa if this is a (passive) verb? I can't find this in the tips 2. I did not get the explanation by kshuck2... So far from this course I have learned only about the adjective agreement in MI- class (vowel mw-, my-, and consonant m-, mi-). So, please, give further explanation ( :
update! An explanation HERE chrome-extension://oemmndcbldboiebfnladdacbdfmadadm/https://www2.ku.edu/~kiswahili/pdfs/lesson_31.pdf
Sentence check please! :) One is in active voice and the other one in passive, if i'm right they mean almost the same thing. "Tunaanza mchezo" and "Mchezo unaanzwa na sisi". Asante!
Habari! but i cannot understand, why kipindi kinaanza and mchezo unaanzwa. I have read the comments and understood about prefix, but why mchezo supposes passive and period active is not clear for me.
- 1631
HeikeTh had a good theory about that (in this discussion):
"I presume that it is a different way of thinking and games don't play themselves but are played by others."
- 1631
As explained above, the i- subject prefix in the singular (and zi- in the plural) is only for N/N class nouns.
Mchezo is in the M/MI class, which takes the u- prefix in the singular and i- in the plural.
- 171
You could say "michezo inaanzwa" for "the games are being started" (plural), but inanzwa is not a correct translation here for "a game is being started" (singular).