"The tree is between the house and the toilet"

Translation: Mti upo kati ya nyumba na choo

[CeeCeeSong]

no indication whatsoever as to why it should be upo. Someone please explain.

[RolloPolo]

In English, we say things like "I am at the store" or "The cup is between the bottle and the soap." We use the same verb (i.e. is or am) to talk about locations in the same way we would use it to say "He is tall." In Swahili this is not the case. There is a verb, kuwako, that is used to talk about locations and in a sentence it would be translated as the am in "I am at the store," for example. This verb is irregular in the present tense (just like kuwa and kuwa na are.) In the present tense it takes the form of -ko, -po or -mo depending on location. For this sentence it is "upo" because "u" is the subject prefix for the noun "mti" and since we are talking about a precise location you would use -po.

[trudeam]

Why does it have to be kati and not katikati?

[Hossein523800]

yes, 'kati ya' and 'katikati ya' are more or less equivalent. 'Katikati ya' stresses the middle a bit more, i.e. 'Ucheki uko katikati ya Ulaya': The Czech Republic is in the middle of Europe (central Europe).

[peninatuwe]

I believe you can also use katikati since it also means between.

[finndj]

Why is "Mti kati ya nyumba na choo" not accepted?

[danielmokmad]

sometimes "to be" is implied, but mostly in the present, non-locative sense (i.e. when you use "ni"). when there is location involved, you need to use one of the -mo, -po, -ko words