English Translation
I’m feeling a bit sick.
“Ninahisi kuwa mgonjwa kidogo” is a Swahili sentence that translates to “I feel a little sick” in English. Let’s break down the sentence to understand its components and structure:
Nina: This is the first-person singular present tense of the verb "kuwa" (to be). "Nina" means "I have" or "I am." It is composed of "ni-" (the subject prefix for "I") and "-na" (the tense marker for present continuous).
hisi: This is the verb "to feel." It follows "nina" to denote the action.
kuwa: This is the infinitive form of the verb "to be." In this sentence, it is used to link the feeling with the state of being sick.
mgonjwa: This is the adjective for "sick." In Swahili, adjectives often follow the nouns they describe, but in this case, it follows the verb to indicate the state of being.
kidogo: This means "a little" or "slightly." It is used to modify "mgonjwa," giving an indication of the degree of sickness.
Putting it all together, “Ninahisi kuwa mgonjwa kidogo” literally breaks down to “I feel to be sick a little,” which can be understood as “I feel a little sick.”
Grammar Points:
Subject Prefix: "Ni-" indicates the first person singular (I).
Tense Marker: "-na" signifies the present continuous tense.
Verb Use: "hisi" (to feel) is immediately followed by the infinitive "kuwa" (to be).
Order: The structure follows a subject-verb-adjective order, with the degree modifier "kidogo" (a little) placed after the adjective "mgonjwa."
Understanding this structure will help you construct similar sentences in Swahili.