Breakdown of Tunapumzika ukingoni mwa bahari tukiangalia machweo.
Questions & Answers about Tunapumzika ukingoni mwa bahari tukiangalia machweo.
Tunapumzika breaks down as:
- tu- = we (subject prefix for we)
- -na- = present tense marker
- pumzik- = verb root rest
- -a = final vowel (marks a normal verb form)
So tunapumzika literally means we-present-rest, which in natural English can be either:
- We are resting (right now), or
- We rest (as a general habit), depending on context.
In this sentence, because of tukiangalia machweo, the meaning is “We are resting… while watching the sunset(s).”
In Swahili, the idea of are (as part of the progressive tense are resting) is built into the verb itself using the tense marker -na-.
- English: we + are + resting
- Swahili: tu- + -na- + pumzika → tunapumzika
So Swahili doesn’t need a separate word like are; the verb form already contains both the subject and the tense.
Ukingoni mwa bahari can be broken down as:
- ukingo = edge, rim, shore
- -ni = locative suffix (in/at/on) → ukingoni = at the edge / on the shore
- mwa = a connective form of wa (of) used before certain sounds, especially vowels
- bahari = sea, ocean
So literally: at-the-edge of the sea.
Natural English: by the seashore / at the edge of the sea / on the seashore.
Mwa is a phonetic variant of wa used mainly:
- before vowels, and
- in some fixed expressions and idioms.
Here bahari starts with b (a consonant), but mwa is still perfectly acceptable and quite common in phrases like ukingoni mwa bahari, katikati mwa…, etc.
You could hear ukingoni wa bahari, but ukingoni mwa bahari sounds more natural and idiomatic.
You can say tunapumzika kwenye bahari, but it sounds more like:
- We are resting in the sea (possibly in the water).
Ukingoni mwa bahari specifies at the edge / on the shore of the sea, not in the water.
If you just want by the sea / at the beach, more natural alternatives include:
- kando ya bahari – by the sea
- ufukweni – on the beach / at the shore
- pwani – the coast, the shore
The -ni at the end of ukingoni is a locative suffix. It usually means in, at, on, depending on the noun:
- ukingo (edge, shore) → ukingoni = at/on the edge/shore
- nyumba (house) → nyumbani = at home
- shule (school) → shuleni = at school
So -ni turns ukingo (an edge/shore) into a place: the edge/shore (as a location).
Tukiangalia breaks down as:
- tu- = we
- -ki- = marker meaning “while/when/as (doing something)”
- angal- = root of kuangalia (to look at, watch)
- -ia → -ia / -ia = final vowel pattern
So tukiangalia literally means while-we-watch / as-we-are-watching.
In the sentence:
- Tunapumzika … tukiangalia machweo.
→ We are resting … while watching the sunset(s).
The -ki- form expresses an action happening at the same time as the main verb. It’s like saying “resting, as we watch” or “resting while we watch.”
You could say tunapumzika … na tunaangalia machweo, and it would mean:
- We are resting … and we are watching the sunset(s).
But tukiangalia machweo is more natural here because:
- -ki- ties the two actions together as simultaneous parts of one scene.
- It emphasizes that the watching happens during the resting, not just as another separate action.
So:
- tunapumzika … tukiangalia ≈ we rest while watching
- tunapumzika … na tunaangalia ≈ we rest and we watch (two actions listed side by side)
Tukiangalia itself doesn’t show a specific tense (past/present/future). It uses -ki-, which mainly marks simultaneous or background action relative to the main verb.
The tense comes from the main verb:
- Tunapumzika tukiangalia machweo.
Main verb tunapumzika is present → we understand:
We are resting while watching…
If the sentence were:
- Tulipumzika ukingoni mwa bahari tukiangalia machweo.
→ We rested at the seashore while watching the sunset(s).
Here tulipumzika (past) makes tukiangalia a past-time background action.
Machweo means sunset(s) or the setting (of the sun).
It belongs to the ma- noun class, where:
- jicho / macho = eye / eyes
- jina / majina = name / names
- jua (sun) → machweo (sunset[s]) – a bit more abstract/derived
In practice:
- machweo is grammatically plural, but it’s often used as a general noun:
- Ninapenda machweo. = I like sunsets / I like the sunset (as a phenomenon).
So in English you might translate it as the sunset, sunsets, or the sunset sky, depending on context and style.
Machweo on its own is usually enough and is clearly understood as sunset(s) (of the sun).
You can say:
- machweo ya jua = sunsets of the sun
but it is a bit redundant unless you really want to emphasize of the sun, for example in a poetic description or when contrasting with something else. In everyday speech, machweo alone is standard and natural.
Both kuangalia and kutazama can mean to look at / to watch, and in this sentence you could say either:
- tukiangalia machweo
- tukitazama machweo
Subtle differences:
- kuangalia – often to look at, to watch, to check (slightly broader use)
- kutazama – often to gaze, to look at attentively, sometimes a bit more “focused” or “observant”
In everyday speech, they are very close in meaning here, and both are correct.
Swahili punctuation is somewhat flexible, and commas are less obligatory than in English, especially before short verb forms like tukiangalia.
Both of these are acceptable:
- Tunapumzika ukingoni mwa bahari tukiangalia machweo.
- Tunapumzika ukingoni mwa bahari, tukiangalia machweo.
The second one mirrors English punctuation more closely, but the first is very common in Swahili texts and everyday writing. The structure and verb form tukiangalia already signal the “while …” relationship, so a comma is not strictly needed.