"Drink clean and safe water"
Translation:Kunyweni maji safi na salama
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Is there a way to indicate if it is singular or plural in the English sentence? Otherwise, how do we know which word to use when we translate - kunywa or kunyweni.
you could preface the command with "all of you," or "guys," to indicate that in english. the swahili course makers were not that diligent though, so you just have to remember the phrase.
I simply cannot know when to say Y'all drink or just drink. It is not clear and I find it a great problem
I simply cannot cope with this. It is not clear whether it is singular or plural and I find it discouraging
To avoid using (sing.) and (pl.) in the English sentences, and to avoid so-called southern English -- "Y'all drink clean water!", the command could be preceded by a plural word, e.g., "Students, drink clean and safe water!" Then it is clear the plural imperative is needed in this sentence.
Edit: In the latest revision of the Duo French course, they are prefacing the command (or whatever) with the names of two people to make it clear that a plural form is needed, e.g., Rashidi and Juma, go to the head teacher's office ~ Rashidi na Juma, nendeni ofisi ya mwalimu mkuu.
A question. Why is not 'maji masafi na masalama'.
When we discuss dirty water don't we say 'maji machafu'?
Thank you sir. Does the same logic apply to safi/masafi? Does it have to do with rules about adjectives of Arabic origin?
(I'm a woman)
Not really sure about that, word origins weren't something we were taught to distinguish; some adjective stems have noun prefixes, others don't. For me it's something I got a handle on with practice
There is no indication of plurality in the english. If only plural is allowed, then must indicate in the English
Theret is nothing that indicates that the plural is the correct answer here. Plenty of good suggestions here to fix the problem.