"A teacher inspects the students"

Translation: Mwalimu hukagua wanafunzi

[Swahiliblue]

Why the habitual tense here on this one... why is it not -'Mwalimu anakagua wanafunzi'???????

[margamanterola]

Yes, why is anakagua wrong?

[AGreatUserName]

Because they haven't added it. It should also accept anawakagua.

[melodiejoi1]

true

[Nsikan9]

That would mean 'the teacher is inspecting the students'

[finndj]

Why is it negative?

[juryrigging]

I think that is the habitual hu-, not the second person singular negative. You'll learn a bit more about it later in the tree (the verb here is kukagaua. The habitual hu- takes the place of the tense marker, and does not require a subject prefix, hence no a-. It does, however, require a noun or pronoun, which in this sentence is of course mwalimu.)

[AGreatUserName]

Negative would be hukagui and would mean “you don't check.”

[melodiejoi1]

this is not negative it is the hu for habitual tense.