Mimi nilinunua chai sokoni wiki iliyopita.

I bought tea at the market last week.

Breakdown of Mimi nilinunua chai sokoni wiki iliyopita.

• mimi: I
• chai: the tea
• kwenye: at
• soko: the market
• kununua: to buy
• wiki iliyopita: last week

Questions & Answers about Mimi nilinunua chai sokoni wiki iliyopita.

Why is Mimi used at the beginning of the sentence?

Mimi is the subject pronoun “I,” used here for emphasis or clarity. In Swahili you can often drop it because the verb prefix ni- (in nilinunua) already shows that the subject is first person singular.

What does nilinunua break down into?

nilinunua = ni- (subject prefix for “I”) + -li- (past tense marker) + nunua (verb stem “buy”). Altogether it means “I bought.”

Why is chai placed after nilinunua?

Swahili follows a Subject–Verb–Object (SVO) order, just like English. So you have Mimi (S) + nilinunua (V) + chai (O).

What does the -ni suffix in sokoni mean?

The suffix -ni is the locative marker “at/in.” soko means “market,” and sokoni means “at the market.”

Why can’t we just say soko instead of sokoni?

Without -ni, soko is just the noun “market.” To express “at the market,” you need the locative suffix -ni.

What does wiki iliyopita literally mean?

Literally wiki is “week” and iliyopita is a relative clause meaning “that passed.” Together they form “the week that passed,” i.e. “last week.”

Are there other ways to say “last week” in Swahili?

Yes. You can say wiki moja iliyopita (“one week that passed”). Adding moja (one) makes it more explicit, but wiki iliyopita is more common.

What is the overall word order in this sentence?

The pattern here is Subject–Verb–Object–Place–Time:
Mimi (S) | nilinunua (V) | chai (O) | sokoni (Place) | wiki iliyopita (Time).

Could you drop Mimi or move the time phrase to the front?

You can drop Mimi because ni- already marks “I.” You can also front the time for emphasis:
Wiki iliyopita, nilinunua chai sokoni.
This means “Last week, I bought tea at the market,” with focus on the time.