When to use it
Use it when joining a cooking class or asking a grandmother to teach family recipes.
The sentence in English (“I want to learn to cook traditional dishes.”)
In “I want to learn to cook traditional dishes.” each extra verb takes ‘to’, and the plural is the ‘-es’ of ‘dishes’.
- I
- pronounpersonal pronoun, always written with a capital letter
- want
- verbwant · tense: present · person: first · number: singular · followed by "to" + verb
- to
- particleinfinitive marker before the verb
- learn
- verblearn · form: base form (infinitive without "to") · after "to"
- to
- particleinfinitive marker before the verb
- cook
- verbcook · form: base form (infinitive without "to") · after "to"
- traditional
- adjectiveadjective
- dishes
- nounplural noun; prepared food
The sentence in Swahili (“Nataka kujifunza kupika vyakula vya kitamaduni.”)
In “Nataka kujifunza kupika vyakula vya kitamaduni.” each verb after ‘Nataka’ (I want) starts with ‘ku-’, like ‘to’. The plural is at the start of the noun: ‘chakula’ becomes ‘vyakula’, and ‘vya’ agrees with it.
- Nataka
- verbtaka · person: 1st singular · tense: present (-a-) · 'I want'
- kujifunza
- verbjifunza · form: infinitive (ku-) · ku- + ji- (oneself) + funza 'teach': to learn
- kupika
- verbpika · form: infinitive (ku-) · ku- + pika 'to cook'; three verbs in a row
- vyakula
- nounplural of chakula (ki- → vy-)
- vya
- preposition'of', plural KI-VI agreement
- kitamaduni
- adjective'traditional', from utamaduni 'culture'
What changes from one language to the other (English × Swahili)
English marks the plural at the end of the word; Swahili at the beginning. English ‘to’ is a word; Swahili ‘ku-’ is a prefix.
Example conversation
— Nataka kujifunza kupika vyakula vya kitamaduni.
— I want to learn to cook traditional dishes.
— Mama yangu anaweza kukufundisha kupika pilau.
— My mother can teach you to make pilau.