"Tension between planets"

Translation: Mvutano kati ya sayari

[Ernst557459]

Are we talking about the war between Earth and Mars here? Tension is a physical term, but here the correct translation would be, gravitation between planets (or even better: gravitational forces). The Swahili Wiki gives graviti or kani ya mvutano for gravity.

[Ivoryblossum]

When I read the English sentence "tension between planets" I thought it meant the pull planets have on each other in a physics sense. Not a political or social situation in a sci-fi sense.

[AGreatUserName]

Yeah, but "tension" is the completely wrong word for the forces acting between planets.

[Ivoryblossum]

Why is the "ya" necessary?

[AGreatUserName]

"Between" is kati ya, not just kati. It's a compound preposition. Kati essentially just means middle, so you have to say "middle of" to mean "between". It's like compound prepositions in English such as "on top of". You can't just say "on top the house". You need the "of" to link "top" to the "house".