Tutategua fumbo leo.

Here is the breakdown:

• Tu- = we
• -ta- = future tense marker, meaning will
• -tegua = solve, untie, unravel, or figure out, depending on context
• fumbo = riddle, mystery, or puzzle
• leo = today

So the sentence is built as:

Tu-ta-tegua fumbo leo
= We will solve the riddle today

In Swahili, subject pronouns are usually built into the verb instead of standing alone.

So in tutategua:

• tu- already means we

That means you normally do not need a separate word for we. Swahili often packs a lot of information into one verb form.

Compare:

• Nitasoma = I will read
• Utasoma = you will read
• Atasoma = he/she will read
• Tutasoma = we will read

-ta- is the future tense marker in Swahili. It means the action will happen in the future.

So:

• tutegua = we solve / we are solving in certain contexts
• tutategua = we will solve

A very common verb pattern in Swahili is:

subject prefix + tense marker + verb stem

So here:

tu- + -ta- + -tegua
= tutategua

The base verb is -tegua.

It can mean things like:

• untie
• unravel
• decode
• solve

In the sentence Tutategua fumbo leo, the natural meaning is solve or figure out, because fumbo is something like a riddle or mystery.

Swahili does not use articles like a, an, or the.

So fumbo can mean:

• a riddle
• the riddle

The exact meaning depends on context.

That is very normal in Swahili. Many nouns appear without any article, and the listener understands from the situation what is meant.

Here, fumbo is singular.

Its plural is usually mafumbo.

So:

• fumbo = riddle / mystery
• mafumbo = riddles / mysteries

This noun belongs to the ji/ma noun class, where singular and plural can change form.

Swahili can include an object marker inside the verb, but it does not have to.

In Tutategua fumbo leo, the object is stated separately as fumbo, so no object marker is needed.

You could think of the sentence as:

• Tutategua fumbo leo = We will solve the riddle today

If the object had already been mentioned and was clear from context, Swahili might use an object marker instead in some situations. But with a full noun like fumbo stated after the verb, leaving the object marker out is very common.

The basic word order here is:

Verb + object + time expression

So:

• Tutategua = verb
• fumbo = object
• leo = time expression

This order is very natural in Swahili.

You may also hear some variation for emphasis, especially with time words. For example:

• Leo tutategua fumbo = Today we will solve the riddle

That is also correct. But Tutategua fumbo leo sounds perfectly normal.

Yes. Leo means today, and Swahili allows some flexibility with time expressions.

All of these can work, depending on emphasis:

• Tutategua fumbo leo
• Leo tutategua fumbo
• Tutategua leo fumbo — possible, but less neutral and less common

The most natural choices are usually:

• Tutategua fumbo leo
• Leo tutategua fumbo

If you start with leo, it often adds a bit of focus to today.

A simple pronunciation guide:

• Tu-ta-te-gua fum-bo le-o

Helpful points:

• Swahili vowels are usually pronounced clearly and consistently:
  • a as in father
  • e as in bet but often a bit purer
  • i as in machine
  • o as in more but shorter/purer
  • u as in rule
• g in tegua is a hard g, like in go
• leo is pronounced in two vowel beats: le-o, not like one English syllable

A rough guide in English-style spelling could be:

too-tah-TEH-gwah FOOM-boh LEH-oh

Yes. Fumbo can refer to:

• a literal riddle
• a mystery
• something puzzling or hard to understand

And -tegua can mean more than just solve in a textbook sense. It can suggest unraveling or figuring something out.

So depending on context, Tutategua fumbo leo could mean:

• We will solve the riddle today
• We will unravel the mystery today
• We will figure it out today

You change the subject prefix at the beginning of the verb.

Using the same future marker -ta- and the same verb -tegua:

• Nitategua fumbo leo = I will solve the riddle today
• Utategua fumbo leo = You will solve the riddle today
• Atategua fumbo leo = He/She will solve the riddle today
• Tutategua fumbo leo = We will solve the riddle today
• Mtatategua fumbo leo = You all will solve the riddle today
• Watategua fumbo leo = They will solve the riddle today

This is a very useful pattern to memorize.

Yes. Swahili verbs are often quite compact and include several pieces of meaning in one word.

A verb can include:

• the subject
• the tense
• sometimes an object marker
• the verb root
• sometimes extra suffixes that change the meaning slightly

So tutategua is one word because Swahili grammar naturally combines those parts into a single verb form.

This is one of the most important features of Swahili grammar, and getting used to it helps a lot with reading and speaking.