Unit
6
A. Use of the Adverb baada ‘after/afterwards’
This adverb is very common in everyday discourse. It is important to learn it early and to use it often so you can remember it. It is also notable that it is always followed by the preposition ya and a ku-verb. Thus we have:
Baada ya kazi ‘After work’
Baada ya kusafisha mazingira hukaa kwenye baraza.
‘After cleaning the surroundings we sit on the porch.
The opposite of baada is kabla ‘before’ which behaves similarly:
Kabla ya kula anaoga. ‘Before eating, he takes a bath.’
Another adverb that works similarly is badala ‘instead’.
Badala ya mwalimu. ‘instead of the teacher’
Badala ya kusafisha mazingira, tulisafisha madarasa.
‘Instead of cleaning the surroundings, we cleaned the classrooms.’
Je is an interjection type of question word. It can occur alone or suffixed to a verb. For example:
Je, unajifunza Kiswahili? ‘(so) Are you learning Kiswahili?’
Unasemaje ‘boyfriend’ kwa Kiswahili? ‘How do you say ‘boyfriend’ in Kiswahili?’
From the lessons, we have these examples:
Na wewe je? ‘How about you?’
Mitihani
ilikuwaje? ‘How were your exams?’
This reflexive marker translates to ‘self’. It is the same regardless of the noun type or person. For example:
John anajipikia ‘John cooks for himself.’
An example from the text: kujiandaa ‘preparing one self.’
This is used to express a condition and may translate to ‘if’ or ‘when’. For example:
A-ta-kuja a-ki-pata fedha
‘He/she-will-come he-if-get money
‘He/she will come if he get some money.’
or
‘He will come when he gets money.’
An example from the unit:
-------(mara tu) tukifunga shule.
‘…(immediately)
when we (close school) end the school term.’