"He was born in 1985"

Translation: Alizaliwa mwaka elfu moja mia tisa themanini na tano

[clh335763]

So na is only needed between tens and ones, and {mia,elfu,laki} need to be followed by a number even if it is 1?

[JosephEnos]

Could someone breakdown how you Compound numbers in Swahili

[giraffe__]

numbers are adjectives, some take prefixes and some don't. "elfu moja" = one thousand, "mia tisa" = nine hundred, "themanini na tano" = eighty five. the "na" only goes between the tens and ones digits, unless the last two digits are divisible by ten, in which case it goes between the hundreds and tens digits, and so on.

[jo_bleuel]

I think it's the same as in German, there you say "Eintausend" = one thousand, "Neunhundert" = nine hundred, "FünfUNDachtzig" = eighty five ("und" = na)

[aboutpurpo]

Very inconsistent in using "mwaka wa" and the "na" before the final "ones" digit. Please correct all these years of birth so that answers are accepted consistently it is very frustrating to try to remember when you accept which combination for which exercise.

[machieng]

the 'na' before the ones digit is always included. Typically it's just 'mwaka ...' without the 'wa', which is what's in the Numbers lesson

[icabero816]

When should we use 'mwaka wa' and when should we just use 'mwaka?' Is using just 'mwaka' okay for every case?

[machieng]

yes, for years, just 'mwaka' is used. If you need to say 'year of' then 'mwaka wa' is used

[Daleswords]

In the previous question, "tulizaliwa mwaka elfu moja mia tisa na themanini" was the correct answer and leaving out "na" was marked wrong. Could it be that "na" is required before the last number: 10s or 1s.

The lesson material says specifically that it's optional, "mwaka elfu moja mia saba (na)* ishirini", but, apparently not.

[machieng]

For tens it's optional, for ones as far as I know it's always included

[JediJian]

That was difficult :D

[Daleswords]

The tooltip hint on 1985 is "1985". Real helpful guys!

[machieng]

the translation is too long, it won't fit

[Daleswords]

Would it be possible to break it up and use multiple lines?

mwaka

elfu moja

mia tisa

themanini

na tano

There are other tips that a have 5 lines. Anything is better than having to just guessing repeatedly.

[machieng]

The tips and notes on the section have example sentences as well as other individual numbers, so there are resources to translate the sentence

[Tanztastic]

'Giraffe' the breakdown of these numbers was very helpful thank you

[KathyKerns]

So "mwaka wa" is only to be used when it says ...year of...?

[machieng]

Yes, basically if 'year' has a modifier before it (when it applies): long year - mwaka mrefu, sad year - mwaka wa huzuni

[Keith823443]

You're giving me as wrong when my answer is completely correct