Mama anasema, “Usisite kumsalimia jirani mpya, kwa sababu hujui kama unaweza kupata rafiki.”

Anasema breaks down like this:

• a- = he/she
• -na- = present tense
• sema = say

So anasema means he/she says or he/she is saying.

Swahili usually puts the subject information inside the verb, so a separate pronoun like she is often unnecessary. Since Mama is already named, Swahili does not need an extra yeye before anasema.

The -na- tense in Swahili can cover both a simple present and a present progressive meaning, depending on context. So anasema can mean:

• she says
• she is saying

In a sentence introducing speech, English often uses says, but is saying can also be correct depending on the situation.

Usisite is a negative command addressed to one person. It means don’t hesitate.

It comes from the verb kusita = to hesitate. In this kind of negative command, Swahili uses usi- plus a verb form ending in -e:

• usi- = negative command for you (singular)
• site = the verb stem in the command form

So Usisite = Don’t hesitate.

If you were speaking to more than one person, it would be Msisite.

After Usisite = don’t hesitate, the next action is expressed with an infinitive:

• ku- = to

So kumsalimia literally begins as to greet him/her.

This is similar to English don’t hesitate to greet... Swahili often uses the infinitive after verbs and expressions like this.

The -m- is an object marker meaning him/her for a singular person.

So kumsalimia can be broken down as:

• ku- = to
• -m- = him/her
• -salimia = greet / say hello to

That -m- refers to jirani mpya = the new neighbor. In other words, the phrase means to greet the new neighbor. Using the object marker with a specific human object is very natural in Swahili.

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

So:

• jirani mpya = new neighbor
• literally: neighbor new

Also, mpya agrees with the noun class of jirani, so this is the correct adjective form here.

Kwa sababu is a common expression meaning because.

Literally, it is something like:

• kwa = by / with / for / because of
• sababu = reason

So the idea is for the reason that..., which becomes because in natural English.

Hujui is the negative present form of kujua = to know for you singular.

It breaks down like this:

• hu- = negative subject marker for you (singular)
• jui = the verb with the final vowel changed to -i

So:

• unajua = you know
• hujui = you do not know

This is why it is hujui, not haujui.

Here kama means if or whether.

In this sentence, it introduces an indirect idea:

• hujui kama unaweza... = you don’t know if / whether you can...

So this is not exactly a direct conditional like if it rains... It is more like you don’t know whether it may happen.

Unaweza literally means you can or you are able to.

But in context, English may translate it more naturally as:

• you can
• you may
• you might

That is because the sentence is talking about possibility, not just physical ability. So hujui kama unaweza kupata rafiki has the sense of you never know — you might find a friend.

Swahili does not have articles like a, an, and the. So rafiki by itself can mean:

• a friend
• the friend
• friend in a general sense

The context tells you which one is meant. Here, natural English uses a friend, so kupata rafiki is translated as to find/get a friend or more naturally to make a friend.