Breakdown of Ukikula kalori nyingi bila kufanya mazoezi, utaanza kujisikia mchovu.
Questions & Answers about Ukikula kalori nyingi bila kufanya mazoezi, utaanza kujisikia mchovu.
Ukikula means if/when you eat.
It is made of three parts:
- u- – subject marker for you (singular)
- -ki- – conditional/“when/if” marker
- kula – to eat
So u- + -ki- + kula ⇒ ukikula, literally “you-if-eat”, which we translate as “if/when you eat.”
Swahili often builds the idea of “if/when” into the verb itself, using the infix -ki-.
- Ukikula kalori nyingi...
= If/when you eat a lot of calories...
You can use a separate word kama for if, for example:
- Kama utakula kalori nyingi... – If you eat a lot of calories...
But in this sentence, the conditional is expressed purely by -ki- in ukikula, so no separate if word is needed.
Both forms exist in real usage:
- Ukila kalori nyingi...
- Ukikula kalori nyingi...
Many speakers use ukila with this verb (kula) in conditional sentences, and grammars often cite that pattern:
- ukila = u- + -ki- + -(k)ula → contraction/variation in speech
Ukikula is also heard, and people will understand you perfectly; it can sound a bit more “spelled out” and is common in some regions or styles.
For a learner, you can treat ukila and ukikula as functionally equivalent here: both mean “if/when you eat.”
In Swahili, subject pronouns are built into the verb as prefixes, so you often don’t see a separate word like wewe unless you want to emphasize it.
In the sentence:
- Ukikula kalori nyingi... – u- means you (sing.)
- utaanza kujisikia mchovu – u- in utaanza also means you
So the you is contained in:
- ukikula
- utaanza
You could say Wewe ukikula kalori nyingi..., but that’s usually for emphasis on you as opposed to someone else.
Bila kufanya mazoezi literally means “without doing exercises” / “without exercising.”
Breakdown:
- bila – without
- ku‑fanya – to do
- mazoezi – exercises / exercise (as an activity)
Pattern to remember:
bila + infinitive (ku-verb) = without doing X
Examples:
- bila kula – without eating
- bila kulala – without sleeping
- bila kuzungumza – without speaking
Zoezi and mazoezi belong to the ji-/ma- noun class:
- zoezi – exercise, drill, practice (one activity, one exercise)
- mazoezi – exercises, practice, training (plural)
In practice:
- For general “exercise” as a fitness activity, Swahili usually uses mazoezi even though English uses a mass noun exercise without a plural.
So:
- kufanya mazoezi = to exercise / to work out
- zoezi moja = one exercise (e.g., in a workbook)
In your sentence, mazoezi is the normal way to say exercise / working out.
Kalori nyingi means many calories / a lot of calories.
- kalori – calorie(s); a borrowed noun often treated as belonging to the N-class, where singular and plural look the same
- nyingi – many / a lot (of), the N-class form of the adjective “many”
Two key points:
Adjectives usually follow the noun in Swahili:
- kalori nyingi – many calories
- mazoezi mengi – many exercises
Adjectives agree with the noun class.
For N-class nouns like kalori, the “many” form is nyingi:- kalori nyingi – many calories
- safari nyingi – many trips
So kalori nyingi is noun + agreeing adjective = a lot of calories.
Utaanza means you will start / you will begin.
Breakdown:
- u- – subject marker for you (singular)
- -ta- – future tense marker
- anza – verb root meaning start / begin
So:
- utaanza = you + future + start → you will start
Other examples of -ta- future:
- nitaenda – I will go
- tutaona – we will see
- watafanya – they will do
Kujisikia means to feel (in oneself), especially about your physical or emotional state.
Breakdown:
- ku- – infinitive marker (to…)
- ji- – reflexive marker, meaning oneself
- sikia – hear / feel / sense
So literally ku-ji-sikia = to feel oneself, which we translate as:
- kujisikia vizuri – to feel well
- kujisikia vibaya – to feel bad / unwell
- kujisikia mchovu – to feel tired / worn out
The ji- prefix is used in many reflexive verbs:
- kujiona – to see oneself / to think of oneself
- kujifunza – to learn (literally “to teach oneself”)
- kujipenda – to love oneself
Some useful distinctions:
kujisikia – to feel (how you are doing physically or emotionally)
- Ninajisikia vizuri. – I feel well.
- Ninajisikia mchovu. – I feel tired.
kuhisi – to feel / sense (more neutral or abstract, also emotional, sometimes physical)
- Ninahisi baridi. – I feel cold.
- Ninahisi huzuni. – I feel sadness.
kujiona – to see oneself / consider oneself
- Anajiona hodari. – He/she sees himself/herself as clever.
In everyday speech, for health or general condition, kujisikia + adjective (e.g. vizuri, vibaya, mchovu) is very common.
So in your sentence, kujisikia mchovu fits the pattern kujisikia + state.
There are two related words:
- mchovu – an adjective/noun meaning tired, exhausted, worn out (person)
- uchovu – a noun meaning tiredness, fatigue
Usage:
- Ninajisikia mchovu. – I feel tired. (describing you)
- Nina uchovu mwingi. – I have a lot of tiredness / I am very fatigued. (talking about the state itself)
In your sentence, we want to describe how the person feels, so we use the describing word mchovu:
- utaanza kujisikia mchovu – you will start to feel tired.
If you wanted to refer to tiredness as a thing, you’d use uchovu.
Yes, that word order is grammatically correct and still natural.
Both are fine:
- Ukikula kalori nyingi bila kufanya mazoezi, utaanza kujisikia mchovu.
- Utaanza kujisikia mchovu ukikula kalori nyingi bila kufanya mazoezi.
The difference is mostly which part you emphasize first:
- Version 1 foregrounds the condition: If/when you eat a lot of calories without exercising, then you’ll start to feel tired.
- Version 2 foregrounds the result: You’ll start to feel tired if/when you eat a lot of calories without exercising.
Meaning-wise, they are equivalent.