Namba ya mita iko kwenye bili ya umeme.

Iko is used to show location or existence: the meter number is located on the electricity bill.

So:

• iko = it is there / it is located
• ni = is, in the sense of identity or classification

Compare:

• Namba ya mita iko kwenye bili ya umeme. = The meter number is on the electricity bill.
• Hii ni namba ya mita. = This is a meter number.

A good way to think about it is that iko answers where it is, while ni often answers what it is.

Kwenye means something like on, in, or at, depending on context.

In this sentence, kwenye bili is best understood as on the bill.

So:

• iko kwenye bili = is on the bill

Swahili often uses location words a bit more broadly than English, so kwenye can cover several English prepositions depending on the situation.

Here, ya links two nouns and means of.

So:

• namba ya mita = number of the meter / meter number

This is a very common Swahili pattern:

• jina ya... would be wrong here
• jina la... = name of...
• namba ya... = number of...

In this sentence, ya connects namba and mita.

It does the same basic job: it links two nouns.

• bili ya umeme = electricity bill
• literally, bill of electricity

So the sentence contains two noun-linking phrases:

• namba ya mita = meter number
• bili ya umeme = electricity bill

This structure is extremely common in Swahili.

The connector changes to agree with the noun class of the first noun in the phrase.

Here:

• namba takes ya
• bili also takes ya

So we get:

• namba ya mita
• bili ya umeme

Learners often memorize this as part of noun-class agreement. You do not always translate the connector directly; you mainly choose the form that matches the noun.

For example, different nouns would use different connectors:

• jina la mtoto = the name of the child
• kitabu cha mwanafunzi = the student’s book
• namba ya mita = meter number

Here mita means a meter, specifically a utility meter such as an electricity meter.

In context, namba ya mita means the identifying number of the electricity meter.

So even though mita can look like the English word meter, the meaning depends on context. In this sentence, it clearly refers to the device, not a unit of length.

Umeme means electricity.

So:

• bili ya umeme = electricity bill
• literally, bill of electricity

You may also see umeme in other common phrases, such as:

• stima / umeme in some contexts for electricity or power
• kukatika kwa umeme = power cut / electricity outage

A close word-for-word breakdown is:

• Namba = number
• ya = of
• mita = meter
• iko = is located / is there
• kwenye = on / in / at
• bili = bill
• ya = of
• umeme = electricity

So the literal structure is:

Number of meter is on bill of electricity

Natural English then becomes:

The meter number is on the electricity bill.

Swahili does not usually have separate words for the or a/an the way English does.

So:

• namba can mean a number or the number
• bili can mean a bill or the bill

The exact meaning comes from context.

That is why Namba ya mita iko kwenye bili ya umeme can naturally mean The meter number is on the electricity bill without a separate word for the.

That phrase is the subject of the sentence.

• Namba ya mita = the meter number
• iko kwenye bili ya umeme = is on the electricity bill

This word order is very normal in Swahili:

Subject + verb + location/complement

So the sentence is built in a straightforward way.

Sometimes you may hear both, but iko is the form that matches the noun class of namba.

Because namba belongs to a noun class that commonly takes i- agreement, you get:

• namba ... iko

So in careful standard Swahili, iko is the expected form here.

You would make both the noun phrase and the verb agreement plural:

• Namba za mita ziko kwenye bili ya umeme.

Changes:

• ya becomes za
• iko becomes ziko

So:

• namba ya mita = meter number
• namba za mita = meter numbers

and

• iko = it is
• ziko = they are

Bili is a borrowed word, ultimately from English bill.

That is very common in Swahili, especially for modern administrative, technical, and commercial vocabulary.

Even when a word is borrowed, it still behaves like a normal Swahili noun in sentences, so you can say:

• bili ya umeme
• bili ya maji
• bili ya simu

Yes, in practical use it can carry that idea.

Grammatically, it simply states a location:

• The meter number is on the electricity bill

But in real-life communication, especially in instructions or customer-service contexts, it can function like helpful guidance:

• If you need the meter number, look on the electricity bill.

So the sentence is descriptive, but the implied message can be instructional.