Ukichelewa kufika, mashua haitakusubiri.

If you arrive late, the boat will not wait for you.

Breakdown of Ukichelewa kufika, mashua haitakusubiri.

• kuchelewa: to be late
• kufika: to arrive
• mashua: the boat
• kusubiri: to wait for

Questions & Answers about Ukichelewa kufika, mashua haitakusubiri.

What are the components of ukichelewa, and how do they work together?

Breakdown of ukichelewa:
• u- : subject prefix for “you” (singular)
• -ki- : conditional/conjunctive marker meaning “if/when”
• chelewa : verb stem “be late”
So ukichelewa literally means “if you are late.”

How would you form the same “if … are late to arrive” for I or we?

You just swap the subject prefix:
• For I: nikichelewa kufika (“if I am late to arrive”)
• For we: tukichelewa kufika (“if we are late to arrive”)
The rest stays the same (-ki- + chelewa + infinitive kufika).

Why is kufika in the infinitive (ku-fika) instead of a conjugated form?

Because chelewa is one of several verbs that take an infinitive as their complement. You say “to be late to do something” as chelewa + ku- + verb root. Hence kufika = “to arrive.”

How is haitakusubiri constructed, and what does each piece mean?

Breakdown of haitakusubiri:
• ha- : negative subject prefix for 3rd person singular (“it does not”)
• -ta- : future tense marker (“will”)
• -ku- : object prefix for “you”
• subiri : verb stem “wait”
• -a : final vowel of the verb
Putting it together: “it (the boat) will not wait for you.”

Why is there an object prefix -ku- in haitakusubiri?

The object prefix ku- refers to the second-person singular “you.” It tells us what the boat will not wait for: for you.

Could I use kama instead of the -ki- marker? How would the sentence look?

Yes. Using kama (if) you need a normal tense on the verb:
“Kama utachelewa kufika, mashua haitakusubiri.”
Here utachelewa is future (“if you will be late…”), though you could also say unachelewa for present habitual:
“Kama unachelewa kufika….”

What type of conditional is this, and how would you express an unlikely or past hypothetical?

This is an open/real (first) conditional: -ki- in the protasis + future in the apodosis.
For an unlikely or contrary-to-fact (past) conditional you’d use -nge- + appropriate negative:
“Ungechelewa kufika, mashua haingekusubiri.”
= “If you had been late arriving, the boat would not have waited.”

Can you swap the order of the clauses (“result” and “condition”)? Will it still be correct?

Yes. You can also say:
“Mashua haitakusubiri ukichelewa kufika.”
The meaning remains the same, though starting with ukichelewa kufika is more common in Swahili.