"Go and buy bananas now!"
Translation:Nenda kanunue ndizi sasa!
7 CommentsThis discussion is locked.
1930
Wouldn't "Nenda kununua ..." mean the same, as it's already an imperative? Does the -ka- make it more angry/urgent?
the 'ka' shows that the second action is also in the imperative; so 'kanunue ndizi sasa' on its own is a sentence in the imperative
- 1254
I think "go buy" would be a more accurate English translation here than "go and buy" because this Swahili sentence doesn't use "na"
not necessarily, the prefix 'ka-' already implies succession of actions, so 'na' is not needed
"Go buy" and "go and buy" are exactly the same but used in different dialects of English. I only hear "go buy" from Americans. The rest of us say "Go and buy".
This seems to be one of the only exercises where ka is used correctly, if I'm understanding the meaning right?
- 1930
You didn't say how you understand the meaning, and I can't see the other exercises from here, but this is what Wikipedia says about the consecutive/narrative tense prefix '-ka-':
The consecutive tense is mainly used with the past tense -li- in narrating a sequence of events whereby -li- is used for the first verb and -ka- for subsequent verbs. It roughly carries the meaning "and then" and makes the use of na "and" or halafu / kisha "then" essentially redundant.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swahili_grammar#Consecutive
In this exercise, the sentence is in the imperative, but the principle is the same. ("Go and then buy ..." = Go and buy ... / Go buy ...)