Translation and grammar: “I need to make an appointment with the dentist.” in Swahili

When to use it

Use it when calling a clinic or telling someone you must see the dentist.

The sentence in English — “I need to make an appointment with the dentist.”

In “I need to make an appointment with the dentist.” ‘need to’ expresses necessity and ‘an’ goes before the vowel.

I

pronounpersonal pronoun, always written with a capital letter

need

verbneed · tense: present · person: first · number: singular · followed by "to" + verb

to

particleinfinitive marker before the verb

make

verbmake · form: base form (infinitive without "to") · "make an appointment" and "make a complaint" are fixed expressions

an

determinerindefinite article, used before a vowel sound

appointment

nounnoun

with

prepositionpreposition

the

determinerdefinite article

dentist

nounnoun

The sentence in Swahili — “Ninahitaji kupanga miadi na daktari wa meno.”

In “Ninahitaji kupanga miadi na daktari wa meno.” ‘kupanga’ (to arrange) is the verb used with ‘miadi’ (appointment). There is no single word for dentist: ‘daktari wa meno’ (doctor of teeth).

Ninahitaji

verbhitaji · person: 1st singular · tense: present (-na-) · 'I need'

kupanga

verbpanga · form: infinitive (ku-) · kupanga miadi 'make an appointment'

miadi

noun'appointment'

na

preposition'with'

daktari

noun'doctor'

wa

preposition'of', for a person noun

meno

noun'teeth'; daktari wa meno = dentist

English × Swahili — What changes from one language to the other

English ‘makes’ an appointment, Swahili ‘arranges’ one, and the dentist takes three words.

Example conversation