"The toilet is behind the school"

Translation: Choo kipo nyuma ya shule

[zeromiller00]

Why is it shule instead of shuleni

[machieng]

refer to my post on use of '-enye' (it's in the Masterpost)

[shakir.mol]

Choo is also called uwani respectfully

[machieng]

yes, but note that it would be 'nyuma ya uwa'

[CoolCalmComposed]

It's 'uani' without the 'w'.

Ua = fencing around a house.

Uani = where the house fencing is (in other words, the location of the outhouse).

Now it is used to reference all 'facilities' - even if they are inside.

[machieng]

'uwa' is a word that also means restroom, and is different from 'ua'

[CoolCalmComposed]

Uwa is missing in the dictionary "Kamusi ya Kiswahili Sanifu, Toleo ya Pili, Taasisi ya Uchunguzi wa Kiswahili, Dar es Salaam (2004)

[jmlandart]

I don't understand: "choo" is [I/ZI] Class, then it should be "iko", and not "kiko".
"Kiko" would be for class [JI/MA]. It's not so?

[machieng]

Choo is in the Ki/Vi noun class, which is why it's 'kiko'. 'Liko' would be for Ji/Ma. You should check out the Noun class summary post in the Swahili Masterpost (under the 'Popular' tab in the discussions)