Breakdown of Usiku ninapokuwa na usingizi, ninasoma kurasa chache tu, halafu nazima taa.
Questions & Answers about Usiku ninapokuwa na usingizi, ninasoma kurasa chache tu, halafu nazima taa.
Ninapokuwa can be broken down like this:
- ni- = I (1st person singular subject marker)
- -na- = present / habitual tense marker
- -po- = “when / where” (relative marker for a specific time or place)
- -kuwa = to be
So ninapokuwa literally means “when I am” (in the present/habitual sense).
In the sentence:
- Usiku ninapokuwa na usingizi…
→ At night, when I am sleepy…
You will also see the same pattern with other persons:
- anapokuwa = when he/she is
- tunapokuwa = when we are
Yes, kuwa na usingizi is literally “to have sleepiness” or “to have sleep,” but idiomatically it means “to be sleepy.”
Swahili often uses “to have + noun” to express physical states or feelings where English uses an adjective:
- kuwa na njaa = to be hungry (lit. to have hunger)
- kuwa na kiu = to be thirsty (lit. to have thirst)
- kuwa na homa = to have a fever / be feverish
- kuwa na baridi = to feel cold
So:
- ninapokuwa na usingizi = when I am sleepy
- nina usingizi = I am sleepy / I feel sleepy
This is perfectly natural Swahili and much more common than trying to invent an adjective for “sleepy.”
Yes, you can say nikiwa na usingizi, and it is very common in everyday speech.
Comparison:
Usiku ninapokuwa na usingizi…
→ a bit more formal/literary; uses the -po- relative form (when I am…).Usiku nikiwa na usingizi…
→ slightly more conversational; nikiwa = ni-ki-wa (“when/while I am”).
Both basically mean “At night, when I’m sleepy…”.
Subtle shades:
- -napo- (ninapokuwa) often feels like a neutral “whenever/when”.
- -ki- (nikiwa) can sound a bit more like “when(ever)/whenever” in a flowing, narrative sense, but in many contexts they overlap strongly.
Neither is wrong; they are both good Swahili.
In Swahili, time expressions usually stand alone at the beginning (or end) of the sentence without a preposition:
- Asubuhi nitaondoka. = In the morning I will leave.
- Jioni tunakutana. = In the evening we meet.
- Kesho nitaenda. = Tomorrow I will go.
Similarly:
- Usiku ninapokuwa na usingizi…
→ At night, when I’m sleepy…
Using katika usiku or kwa usiku would either sound wrong or unnatural in this context. You normally only add extra words if you need a more specific phrase, e.g.:
- Kila usiku = every night
- Usiku wa manane = in the middle of the night
- Usiku wa leo = tonight
The -na- tense in Swahili is quite flexible. Ninasoma can mean:
- I am reading (now / currently) – present progressive, or
- I read / I usually read – present habitual, depending on context.
In this sentence, the whole thing describes a habitual routine:
- Usiku ninapokuwa na usingizi, ninasoma kurasa chache tu…
→ At night when I’m sleepy, I (usually) read just a few pages…
So here ninasoma is best understood as habitual.
If you wanted to strongly emphasize a general habit (not tied to a particular moment), Swahili has a special hu- form:
- Usiku ninapokuwa na usingizi, husoma kurasa chache tu.
→ When I’m sleepy at night, I usually/always read just a few pages.
Both are possible; the original is slightly more neutral and conversational.
In Swahili, adjectives generally come after the noun they describe, and they agree in class with that noun.
- kurasa (pages) is class 6 (N-class plural here)
- -chache = few; its class-6 form is also chache
So the default order is:
- kurasa chache = few pages
Then tu (only/just) is added:
- kurasa chache tu = just a few pages / only a few pages
Putting chache before kurasa (chache kurasa) would be wrong in standard Swahili.
You could move tu to change emphasis slightly, but the adjective chache should stay after kurasa:
ninasoma tu kurasa chache
→ I only read a few pages (emphasis on only reading, not doing anything else)ninasoma kurasa chache tu
→ I read just a few pages (emphasis on fewness)
Tu means “only / just / merely” (not “also” – that’s pia).
In kurasa chache tu, it modifies the noun phrase:
- kurasa chache tu = only a few pages / just a few pages
Placement:
After the noun phrase (very common):
- Ninasoma kurasa chache tu. = I read just a few pages.
After the verb (emphasis on action):
- Ninasoma tu kurasa chache. = I only read a few pages (I don’t, for example, watch TV).
With pronouns or people:
- Sisi tu. = just us.
- Wao tu. = only them.
It’s quite flexible, but it usually comes after the word or phrase it’s limiting.
Halafu means “then / afterwards / and then” in a sequence of actions:
- …ninasoma kurasa chache tu, halafu nazima taa.
→ “…I read just a few pages, then I turn off the light.”
Comparison:
- halafu – very common in speech; neutral “then, after that”.
- kisha – also “then/after that”, often slightly more formal or bookish, but still common.
- baadaye – “later (on)”, suggesting a bigger time gap.
So:
- Ninakula, halafu naoga. = I eat, then I bathe.
- Ninakula, kisha naoga. = I eat, then I bathe. (more formal style)
- Ninakula, baadaye naoga. = I eat, and later I bathe (not necessarily immediately after).
In your sentence, halafu is perfect because the actions follow one another closely as part of a short routine.
The full present form in standard Swahili is indeed:
- ninazima = I turn off
The ni- (I) often gets dropped in casual speech and informal writing:
- ninazima taa → nazima taa
- ninasoma → nasoma
- ninakula → nakula
So:
- nazima taa is colloquial but very common.
- In more formal or careful written Swahili, many teachers and grammars would prefer ninazima taa.
Both will be understood. If you’re taking exams or writing formally, it’s safer to keep the full form ninazima. In everyday conversation, nazima is completely natural.
Taa is a noun in class 9/10, and its singular and plural have the same form: taa.
So taa can mean:
- a light / a lamp
- lights / lamps
Context decides whether it’s singular or plural. In nazima taa, it could be:
- “I turn off the light” (in my room – one main light)
- “I turn off the lights” (all the lights in the room/house)
If you need to be explicit:
- taa moja = one light
- taa mbili = two lights
- taa zote = all the lights
The verb does not change with plural objects; it only agrees with the subject, not the object. So:
- Ninazima taa. = I turn off the light(s).
- Wanafunzi wanazima taa. = The students turn off the light(s).
Ninapokuwa na usingizi with -po- is best translated as “when(ever)”, not “if”.
- Usiku ninapokuwa na usingizi, ninasoma…
→ At night, when I’m sleepy, I read…
It describes a typical situation or routine, not a hypothetical condition.
If you wanted a clearer “if” idea, you could use ikiwa or kama:
- Usiku ikiwa nina usingizi, ninasoma…
- Usiku kama nina usingizi, ninasoma…
Those would move the meaning closer to “If at night I’m sleepy, I read…”, suggesting that sometimes you may not be sleepy, and then maybe you do something else.
In the original sentence, the feeling is more habitual and predictable than conditional.