Learn Hardcore Swahili: Usiku, mimi ninatumia darubini kuona nyota. - At night, I use a telescope to see stars.

Starting with Usiku (at night) emphasizes the time frame. The comma isn’t mandatory in Swahili, but it signals a brief pause, highlighting that “at night” is a separate adverbial phrase before the main clause.

Do we need mimi in the sentence, since ninatumia already shows first person?

No, you don’t have to include mimi. In Swahili, the subject marker in ninatumia (ni- = I) is enough. Mimi is optional and used only for extra emphasis or contrast (for example, “Me, I use a telescope”).

What is the breakdown of ninatumia?

ninatumia = ni- (subject marker “I”) + -na- (present tense marker) + tumia (verb root “use”). Together it means “I am using” or “I use.”

Why is the verb kuona in its infinitive form rather than a conjugated form?

After verbs like tumia, any following verb that expresses purpose or complement must be in the infinitive (ku- + root). So “use … to see” becomes ninatumia darubini kuona nyota, literally “I use a telescope to see stars.”

Why does nyota look the same whether it means “star” or “stars”?

Nyota is in noun class 9/10, which has the same form for singular and plural. Context tells you whether you mean one star or many. Here it clearly means “stars.”

Is there another Swahili word for “telescope” besides darubini?

Darubini is the standard and most common word (it’s a loanword from Arabic/Persian). If you really wanted, you could describe it periphrastically—kifaa cha kukagua nyota kwa mbali (“device for examining distant stars”), but that’s awkward and uncommon.

How do you say “I am looking at the stars” without “use a telescope”?

You can say Usiku ninaangalia nyota, which literally means “At night, I watch/look at stars.” Here -angalia is the verb “look at” or “watch,” no instrument implied.

Does ninatumia imply a habitual action or something happening right now?

Without extra context, ninatumia can mean either “I use” (habitually) or “I am using” (right now). If you want to stress right now, you can add sasa: Usiku, mimi sasa ninatumia darubini kuona nyota (“At night, right now I’m using a telescope to see stars”).

Could the word order be changed, for example putting darubini before ninatumia?

Swahili is fairly flexible, but the most natural SVO order is mimi ninatumia darubini kuona nyota. You might hear Usiku, darubini ninatumia kuona nyota, but that shifts emphasis to the telescope and sounds a bit marked.

How would you negate the sentence to say “At night, I don’t use a telescope to see stars”?

You replace the tense marker -na- with the negative marker -si-, and adjust the subject marker. So:
Usiku, mimi situmii darubini kuona nyota.
(Or just Situmii darubini kuona nyota usiku.)