Sisi tunatembea kanisani asubuhi.

We walk to church in the morning.

Breakdown of Sisi tunatembea kanisani asubuhi.

• sisi: we
• asubuhi: in the morning
• kutembea: to walk
• kanisa: the church

Questions & Answers about Sisi tunatembea kanisani asubuhi.

What does Sisi mean in this sentence?

It means “we.” Sisi is the explicit subject pronoun, used for emphasis or clarity. You can omit it because the verb prefix tuna- already marks first person plural.

How is the verb tunatembea formed?

Breakdown: tuna- is the present tense/habitual prefix for “we,” and -tembea is the verb root “walk.” Together they mean “we walk” or “we are walking.”

Why is there no separate word for “to” before kanisani?

Swahili uses the locative suffix -ni on nouns to express “in/at/to.” So kanisa (church) + -ni becomes kanisani, meaning “to the church” (or “at the church,” depending on context).

Can Sisi be left out, and if so, why?

Yes. The verb prefix tuna- already indicates “we,” so Tunatembea kanisani asubuhi is a perfectly natural sentence without Sisi.

What role does asubuhi play, and why is it at the end?

Asubuhi means “morning” and functions as a time adverbial (“in the morning”). Time expressions typically appear at the end of Swahili sentences.

Is it possible to move asubuhi to the beginning?

Yes. For emphasis you can say Asubuhi tunatembea kanisani. The meaning remains “We walk to church in the morning.”

Does tunatembea imply a habitual action or an action happening right now?

It can mean either. Context tells you if it’s a regular (habitual) activity (“we walk regularly”) or an ongoing one (“we are walking now”).

How would you say “We walked to church this morning”?

Use the past tense prefix tuli- and specify “this”:
Sisi tulitembea kanisani asubuhi hii.

Could you instead say Tunatembea kuelekea kanisani?

Yes. Kuelekea means “toward,” so Tunatembea kuelekea kanisani emphasizes direction: “We walk toward the church.”

How do you make this sentence negative?

Replace tuna- with the negative prefix hatu- and change the final -a to -i:
Hatutembei kanisani asubuhi.
That means “We do not walk to church in the morning.”