When to use it
Use it when something you bought is faulty or a service was cancelled and you want your money back.
The sentence in English — “How can I get a refund?”
In “How can I get a refund?” ‘can’ expresses ability and ‘refund’ is a noun.
- How
- adverbquestion word asking about the way or manner
- can
- auxiliary verbcan · tense: present · modal verb of ability or permission
- I
- pronounpersonal pronoun, always written with a capital letter
- get
- verbget · form: base form (infinitive without "to") · here it means "obtain"
- a
- determinerindefinite article
- refund
- nounnoun; money given back
The sentence in Swahili — “Ninawezaje kurudishiwa pesa?”
In “Ninawezaje kurudishiwa pesa?” ‘kurudishiwa’ has the applied passive ‘-iwa’: money is returned to me. There is no single noun for ‘refund’; Swahili says ‘kurudishiwa pesa’ (to have money returned).
- Ninawezaje
- auxiliary verbweza · person: 1st singular · tense: present (-na-) · ninaweza + -je 'how can I'
- kurudishiwa
- verbrudisha · form: infinitive (ku-) · voice: applied passive (-iwa) · ku- + rudisha 'return' + -iwa: to have returned to you
- pesa
- noun'money', the thing returned
English × Swahili — What changes from one language to the other
English uses the noun ‘refund’; Swahili a verb, and ‘How can I’ is the single word ‘Ninawezaje’.
Example conversation
— Ninawezaje kurudishiwa pesa?
— How can I get a refund?
— Lete risiti kwenye dawati la wateja.
— Bring the receipt to the customer desk.