"The day after tomorrow I will go to school"
Translation:Kesho kutwa nitakwenda shule
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Yeah, more or less. Generally you would need to indicate that the school is a location, but this phrase is an exception.
Swahili more or less has an idiomatic parellel to some idiomatic phrases in English:
nita(kw)enda shule = I will go to school (i.e. I'm a student there and I'm going to go there in order to attend lessons)
nita(kw)enda shuleni
= I will go to the/a school (i.e. it's simply my destination ... maybe I'm delivering a package, maybe I'm a teacher or a parent, etc., no further information is given)
This -ni suffix is a bit complicated. It's generally added to common nouns (not names of people or places) to simply indicate that we're talking about the place. Whether it means "to", "at/in" or "from" generally depends on the verb it goes with. Eg.
kwenda dukani
= to go to
the shop
kufanya kazi dukani
= to work in/at
the shop
kutoka dukani
= to exit/leave (from
) the shop
If the place is a name of a place, you simply do nothing as the place interpretation is default.
Nitakwenda Tanzania
= I'm going to Tanzania
.
Tanzania
kuna simba. = In Tanzania
, there are lions.
Toka Tanzania
! = Leave Tanzania
!
With people and I suppose animals, you introduce them with kwa.
Niko kwa
Sonya. = I'm at
Sonya's
.**
Sometimes where the verb doesn't give the right meaning, you simply add kwenda or kutoka to give the right meaning.
Ninatembea msituni
. = I'm walking in the forest
.
Ninatembea kwenda
msituni
. = I'm walking to the forest
.
Ninatembea kutoka
msituni
** = I'm walking from the forest
.
This also works with people:
Niliipata kutoka kwa
Rashidi. I got it from
Rashidi.