Mimi ninafanya ununuzi mtandaoni kila jioni.

I do online shopping every evening.

Breakdown of Mimi ninafanya ununuzi mtandaoni kila jioni.

• mimi: I
• jioni: the evening
• kufanya: to do
• kila: every
• mtandaoni: online
• ununuzi: the shopping

Questions & Answers about Mimi ninafanya ununuzi mtandaoni kila jioni.

Why is Mimi used at the beginning? Isn’t the verb prefix enough to show the subject?

Mimi is the pronoun “I.” In Swahili, the subject prefix on the verb (here ni-) already indicates “I,” so including Mimi is optional. It adds emphasis, contrast, or clarity. You can omit it:
Ninafanya ununuzi mtandaoni kila jioni.
still means “I shop online every evening.”

How is ninafanya constructed?

ninafanya breaks down into three parts:
• ni- (first person singular subject prefix, “I”)
• -na- (present tense/habitual marker)
• fanya (verb root “do/make”)
Put together, ninafanya means “I do” or “I am doing.”

Why use kufanya ununuzi instead of just kununua?

kufanya ununuzi means “to do shopping” (literally “to do a purchase”). You use the noun ununuzi (“purchase/shopping”) with kufanya (“to do”) when you speak of the general activity of shopping. If you want to emphasize the actual act of buying, you can say:
Ninanunua mtandaoni kila jioni.
(“I buy online every evening.”)

What does mtandaoni mean and how is it formed?

mtandaoni means “online” or “on the internet.” It comes from tandao (“network”) plus the locative suffix -ni (“in/on”), so tandaoni = “in/on the network.” The extra m- is part of the noun class agreement.

What does kila jioni mean, and why is jioni singular?

kila means “every” and is always followed by a singular noun. Thus kila jioni = “every evening.” You never pluralize the noun after kila, so it remains singular.

Can I move kila jioni to the front of the sentence?

Yes. Swahili allows flexible word order for adverbials. You can say:
Kila jioni ninafanya ununuzi mtandaoni.
It still means “I shop online every evening,” with the time expression up front.

What’s the difference between the markers -na- and hu- for habitual actions?

Both -na- and hu- mark present habitual tense.
• -na- is extremely common in everyday spoken Swahili.
• hu- is more formal or literary.
So you could also say:
Mimi hufanya ununuzi mtandaoni kila jioni.
and it would convey the same habitual meaning.

How would I say “I don’t shop online every evening”?

To negate the present tense, replace ni- + -na- with the negative prefix si- and change the verb’s final -a to -i.
Using kununua (“to buy”), you get:
Mimi sinunui mtandaoni kila jioni.
This literally means “I do not buy online every evening.”