"Go and buy bananas now!"

Translation:Nenda kanunue ndizi sasa!

March 6, 2018

7 Comments
This discussion is locked.


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Catriona28475

Wouldn't "Nenda kununua ..." mean the same, as it's already an imperative? Does the -ka- make it more angry/urgent?


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/machieng

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


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/nzfleisher

I think "go buy" would be a more accurate English translation here than "go and buy" because this Swahili sentence doesn't use "na"


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/machieng

not necessarily, the prefix 'ka-' already implies succession of actions, so 'na' is not needed


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/AGreatUserName

"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".


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/KelseyMercurio

This seems to be one of the only exercises where ka is used correctly, if I'm understanding the meaning right?


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Catriona28475

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 ...)

Learn Swahili in just 5 minutes a day. For free.