bila madoa
The Swahili phrase for "no spots" is bila madoa.
This phrase is used to describe a surface or an object that is clean and free of small marks or stains.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is composed of bila, meaning without and madoa, meaning spots or stains.
How does it change in a sentence?
The word madoa is the plural form of doa (spot/stain). If you want to refer to a single spot rather than multiple spots, you use the singular form bila doa instead of bila madoa.
Did you know?
- If you call a person mwenye doa, you are not commenting on their skin, but rather suggesting they have a shameful character flaw or a bad reputation.
- The word bila is a linguistic traveler from Arabic, where it originated as bilā meaning 'without'.
- The noun doa belongs to a class of words that uses the ma- prefix for plurals, which is a distinct feature of the Bantu language family's complex noun class system.
Examples in context
- Nguo hii haina madoa.This cloth has no spots.
- Nguo hii ni safi kabisa bila madoa.This cloth is completely clean without any spots.
- Viatu vyake viko safi na bila madoa.His shoes are clean and without spots.
Example conversation
Aisha is inspecting the laundry that Said just washed.
- AishaSaid, je, nguo hizi ni safi?Said, are these clothes clean?
- SaidNdiyo Aisha, ni safi sana.Yes Aisha, they are very clean.
- AishaVizuri, nimeona ni bila madoa.Good, I see they are without spots.
- SaidNimezifua kwa umakini sana.I washed them very carefully.
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries bila, CC BY-SA 4.0.
