"The book which I like very much is this"

Translation: Kitabu ambacho ninakipenda sana ni hiki

[vitoreiji]

Is kitabu ninachokipenda sana ni hiki correct as well?

[deactivated user]

It certainly looks correct to me (though I am not a native speaker). I have always thought of the amba- relative and the relative "infix" as being equivalent, except there are some places the "infix" does not work, such as with conditional tenses: Mtu ambaye ukimwona utacheka; mtu ambaye (kama) ungemwona ungecheka; mtu ambaye (kama) ungalimwona, ungalicheka. And sometimes the amba- relative helps to clarify complicated sentences. And there probably other cases that don't come to mind at the moment where the amba- relative is required or preferred.

[AGreatUserName]

Yeah, it's only possible to add it to the verb with

-na- (present positive)
-li- (past positive)
-taka- (future positive, instead of -ta-)
-si- (negative (present))

Or it can be added onto the end of a verb that lacks any tense marker.

It's not compatible with any other verb form.

E.g.

ninachokipenda
nilichokipenda
nitakachokipenda
nisichokipenda
nikipendacho

sichokipendi
sikuchokipenda
sitachokipenda
nimechokipenda
sijachokipenda
nichokipende
nikachokipende
nikachokipenda
nikichokipenda
ningechokipenda
ningalichokipenda

[s.rombaut]

Can i just say "ninapenda" instead of "ninakipenda"?

[GizaMoja007]

I thought you needed the object infix.

[deactivated user]

You can say "Kitabu ninachopenda ni hiki" without using the object infix, but "Kitabu ninapenda ni hiki" is wrong. You have to use the relative infix or an "amba" construction: "Kitabu ambacho ninapenda ni hiki."

[Katie105911]

"Kitabu ninachopenda" should be accepted.

[Kas334864]

But it isn't (nov. 2020).

[Phmeza]

Clarity please

A previous sentence read, " The books which they read have nice pictures" -
DL did not want me to add vi infix in that sentece
Like, "vitabu ambavyo wanavisoma vina picha nzuri.

Now, this sentence is not accepted without ki infix.
Like, "kitabu ambacho ninapenda ni hiki"

Am I missing something?

[Francis795959]

It is annoying....all these inconsistencies did make me quit before .... I am about to do so again only some three lessons from the end. You have to record these sentences so that you can do it "right" the way they have decided at random.

[gloucester5]

I have the same question: I can't work out if there is a specific object infix rule which I don't understand or if it's another problem with this course

[Katie105911]

I'm pretty sure it's the course

[RudolfJan]

I agree. This should be revised, though it must be a hard job to deal with all our creative answers.

[AGreatUserName]

Kitabu ambacho ninapenda is not really correct according to the rules I know. The object affix can be dropped if it's immediately preceded by the relative affix that refers to it (e.g. ninacho(ki)penda), but if the relative affix is on another word or refers to something else, then it is needed (e.g. ambacho ninakipenda or mimi ndiye ninayekipenda). Native speakers may use it differently, but that is the rule I was taught.

[BenMack8]

Could we put "This is the book that I like very much" to make it better idiomatic English? 20201119

[RudolfJan]

I agree, this would be a better translation. But maybe this translation helps better to understand the grammatical construct.

[AGreatUserName]

That would be
Hiki ni kitabu ambacho ninakipenda sana or
Hiki ni kitabu ninacho(ki)penda sana.

[Inyara4]

What is the difference between ndi- and amba-? Both might be translated as "which", ain't they? When should I use which?

[AGreatUserName]

Ndi- is not "which" but it is often used in sentences that include "which". It means more like "is the one" / "are the ones" when the appropriate class suffix is added to the end.

Hiki ndicho ninacho(ki)penda = This is the one that I like.
Hiki ndicho ambacho ninakipenda. = This is the one that I like.

[Inyara4]

What is the difference between "the book i like" in this sentence (object infix required) and "the house he builds" in this same lesson (no object infix required)? Is there any rule I might follow concerning this? It's quite irritating if you try to understand how a language is working, but run into a lot of questions and irregularities like this ... I understand not so many people reach this point of the course, but nonetheless it would be really cool if such things were explained somewhere ... Thank you, by the way, for all your efforts! It's not quite usual to have such a course for free! :D

[AGreatUserName]

The general rule, which doesn't seem to be applied here, is that the object infix is not required if the relative infix that refers to it immediately precedes it, but it is otherwise required, so:

kitabu ambacho ninachokipenda (required)
kitabu ninacho(ki)penda (not required)

nyumba ambayo anaijenga (required)
nyumba anayo(i)jenga (not required)