Baba ataninunulia baiskeli mpya ambayo itakuwa rahisi kuliko pikipiki kwa safari fupi.

It can be split like this:

• a- = he/she
• -ta- = future tense, will
• -ni- = me
• nunuli- = the verb idea buy for
• -a = the final vowel

So ataninunulia means he/she will buy for me.

Because the subject noun Baba is already stated, here it means Father/Dad will buy for me.

This is a very common question.

• kununua = to buy
• kununulia = to buy for someone

The extra -li- / -i- element is part of what learners often call the applicative extension. It adds the idea of doing the action for or to someone.

So:

• ataninunua baiskeli would sound like he will buy me a bicycle in a less precise way, and can be awkward because me looks like the direct object.
• ataninunulia baiskeli clearly means he will buy a bicycle for me.

So -nunulia is the natural choice here.

In Swahili, verbs normally include a subject marker, even when the subject noun is also stated.

So in:

• Baba ataninunulia ...

you have:

• Baba = the subject noun, Father/Dad
• a- = the subject marker on the verb, agreeing with he/she

This is normal Swahili grammar. The verb does not skip the subject marker just because the noun is present.

Swahili does not use articles the way English does.

So:

• baiskeli mpya can mean a new bicycle or the new bicycle, depending on context.

Learners often want a separate word for a/an/the, but Swahili usually leaves that idea to context instead.

In Swahili, adjectives usually come after the noun they describe.

So:

• baiskeli mpya = new bicycle

not the other way around.

This is the normal noun + adjective order in Swahili.

Swahili adjectives often change form to agree with the noun class of the noun they describe.

Baiskeli is commonly treated as a class 9/10 noun, and with this class the adjective -pya appears as:

• mpya

So:

• baiskeli mpya
• pikipiki mpya

Both are natural, because many loanwords like baiskeli and pikipiki fall into this noun class pattern.

Ambayo is a relative word meaning something like which, that, or which one in this sentence.

It introduces the relative clause:

• ambayo itakuwa rahisi kuliko pikipiki kwa safari fupi

This whole part describes baiskeli mpya.

So the structure is:

• baiskeli mpya = a new bicycle
• ambayo ... = which/that ...

In other words, ambayo connects the noun to extra information about it.

Because relative forms in Swahili match the noun class of the noun they refer to.

Here, ambayo refers back to baiskeli, which is treated as a class 9 noun in the singular.

That is why ambayo is used, rather than a different relative form.

This agreement is one of the big features of Swahili grammar: nouns, adjectives, relatives, and verbs often all show matching class patterns.

Itakuwa breaks down as:

• i- = subject marker for a class 9 noun
• -ta- = future, will
• kuwa = be

So itakuwa means it will be.

The i- agrees with baiskeli, because the bicycle is what will be easy.

That agreement helps show clearly that the relative clause is talking about the bicycle.

Kuliko means than in comparisons.

So:

• rahisi kuliko pikipiki = easier than a motorcycle or more convenient/easy than a motorcycle

It is used after a comparative idea, just like English than.

Examples:

• bora kuliko = better than
• kubwa kuliko = bigger than
• rahisi kuliko = easier than

Not always. Rahisi can mean:

• easy
• simple
• sometimes convenient or less troublesome, depending on context

So in this sentence, itakuwa rahisi kuliko pikipiki kwa safari fupi could mean not only it will be easier than a motorcycle for short trips, but also something like it will be more practical/convenient than a motorcycle for short trips.

Literally, it means:

• kwa = for
• safari = journey/trip
• fupi = short

So:

• kwa safari fupi = for a short trip
• or more naturally in English, for short trips

The phrase gives the situation or context in which the bicycle is easier.

Swahili does not form plurals the way English does.

Safari is one of those nouns whose singular and plural often look the same:

• safari = journey/trip
• safari = journeys/trips

The context tells you whether it is singular, plural, or generic.

Also, fupi is the correct agreeing adjective form here, so:

• safari fupi can mean a short trip or short trips, depending on context.

It is describing the bicycle.

This is clear because:

• ambayo refers back to baiskeli
• itakuwa uses the class-9 subject marker i-, which also agrees with baiskeli

So the meaning is not that Father will be easier than a motorcycle. It is the new bicycle that will be easier/more practical than a motorcycle for short trips.

Yes, in some contexts Swahili can use a more compact relative construction, but ambayo is a very clear and standard way to build the relative clause, especially for learners.

Using ambayo makes the structure easy to see:

• baiskeli mpya ambayo itakuwa rahisi ...

For a learner, this is a good pattern to recognize: noun + ambayo + verb = noun + which/that + verb.

Both baiskeli and pikipiki are commonly treated as class 9/10 nouns.

That matters because noun class affects agreement in Swahili, including:

• relative words like ambayo
• subject markers like i- in itakuwa
• adjective forms in some cases

So even though these are loanwords, they still participate in the Swahili agreement system. That is why the sentence has forms like:

• ambayo
• itakuwa
• mpya

all matching the noun class pattern of baiskeli.