When to use it
Use it at a ticket window when you need a single, not a return.
The sentence in English — “I would like a one-way ticket to Naples.”
In “I would like a one-way ticket to Naples.” ‘would like’ is polite and ‘one-way’ is a hyphenated adjective.
- I
- pronounpersonal pronoun, always written with a capital letter
- would
- auxiliary verbwill · form: conditional · with "like" it makes a polite request
- like
- verblike · form: base form (infinitive without "to") · "would like" means "want", said politely
- a
- determinerindefinite article
- one-way
- adjectivecompound adjective; a ticket only for going, not for coming back
- ticket
- nounnoun
- to
- prepositionpreposition of direction
- Naples
- proper nounproper noun; the English name of Napoli
The sentence in Swahili — “Ningependa tiketi ya kwenda tu hadi Naples.”
In “Ningependa tiketi ya kwenda tu hadi Naples.” politeness is the ‘-nge-’ in ‘Ningependa’ (I would like). There is no single word for ‘one-way’: Swahili says ‘ya kwenda tu’ (for going only).
- Ningependa
- verbpenda · person: 1st singular · tense: conditional (-nge-) · ni- + -nge- + penda 'like': I would like
- tiketi
- noun'ticket'
- ya
- preposition'of', agreeing with tiketi
- kwenda
- verbenda · form: infinitive (kw-) · kwenda 'to go'; ticket for going
- tu
- adverb'only'; kwenda tu = one-way
- hadi
- preposition'to, as far as'
- Naples
- proper nounthe Italian city
English × Swahili — What changes from one language to the other
English has the adjective ‘one-way’; Swahili a phrase after the noun, and ‘-nge-’ where English has ‘would’.
Example conversation
— Ningependa tiketi ya kwenda tu hadi Naples.
— I would like a one-way ticket to Naples.
— Kwa siku gani?
— For which day?