When to use it
Use it when someone explained too quickly, such as how a ticket machine works.
“I didn't understand the instructions, can you repeat?” — The sentence in English
In “I didn't understand the instructions, can you repeat?” ‘didn't’ negates the past and ‘-s’ makes the plural.
- I
- pronounpersonal pronoun, always written with a capital letter
- didn't
- contractiondo · tense: past · contraction of "did not"; makes the negative in the past
- understand
- verbunderstand · form: base form (infinitive without "to") · after "didn't" the verb stays in its base form
- the
- determinerdefinite article
- instructions
- nounplural noun
- can
- auxiliary verbcan · tense: present · modal verb of ability or permission
- you
- pronounpersonal pronoun
- repeat
- verbrepeat · form: base form (infinitive without "to") · main verb after "can"
“Sikuelewa maelekezo, unaweza kurudia?” — The sentence in Swahili
In “Sikuelewa maelekezo, unaweza kurudia?” the negative past marker is ‘-ku-’: ‘Sikuelewa’ means I did not understand. ‘maelekezo’ (instructions) is already plural with ‘ma-’.
- Sikuelewa
- verbelewa · person: 1st singular · tense: past, negative (-ku-) · si- (I not) + -ku- (negative past) + elewa 'understand'
- maelekezo
- noun'instructions', MA class
- unaweza
- auxiliary verbweza · person: 2nd singular · tense: present (-na-) · 'can you', a gentle request
- kurudia
- verbrudia · form: infinitive (ku-) · ku- + rudia 'to repeat'
English × Swahili: What changes from one language to the other
Three English words, ‘I didn't understand’, are one Swahili verb; the plural is at the end in English and at the start in Swahili.
Example conversation
— Sikuelewa maelekezo, unaweza kurudia?
— I didn't understand the instructions, can you repeat?
— Sawa, nitaeleza polepole safari hii.
— Of course, I'll go slowly this time.