"The clothing were washed by Rehema"

Translation: Nguo zimefuliwa na Rehema

[Baziraake]

the word should in simple past! Zilifuliwa instead of zimefuliwa!

[5vZSXEt5]

So the two past tenses , li- and me-, are they exactly the same with English, with the same functions? That would be really remarkable, considering the languages are so far apart

[dsimonds]

"Clothing" is a uncountable noun in English and requires the singular form of the verb: "The clothing was washed by Rehema." Or substitute "clothes" for "clothing" to make the English sentence correct -- "The clothes were washed by Rehema." Concerning -li- versus -me- as the tense marker, I think I have noticed that speakers from certain areas tend to use -me- where I would naturally use -li- . I have never understood why.