Learn Hardcore Swahili: Mimi ninataka tu kupumzika nyumbani.

Mimi ninataka tu kupumzika nyumbani.
= Me, I just want to rest at home. (more emphasis on me)
Ninataka tu kupumzika nyumbani.
= I just want to rest at home. (neutral, normal)

Mimi is usually added:

for emphasis or contrast: Mimi ninataka kupumzika, sio yeye. (I want to rest, not him/her.)
or at the beginning of conversations, for clarity.

So: grammatically it’s optional, and in everyday speech people very often omit Mimi.

What exactly is inside the verb ninataka? Why is it written that way?

Ninataka is one word made of several parts:

ni- = subject marker for “I”
-na- = present tense marker (“am / do” kind of present)
-taka = verb root meaning “want”

So: ni + na + taka → ninataka = I want / I am wanting.

In rapid or casual speech people often shorten it to nataka, dropping the ni-, but the full standard form is ninataka. Both are widely understood, but in careful writing/teaching you’ll usually see ninataka.

Why is there no word like English “to” before kupumzika? Why is “to rest” just kupumzika?

In Swahili, the idea of English “to [verb]” is usually expressed with the prefix ku- attached to the verb.

pumzika = rest
ku-pumzika = to rest

So kupumzika is the infinitive “to rest”. There is no separate word for “to” here.

More examples:

kula = to eat (from la = eat)
kuandika = to write (from andika)
kucheza = to play (from cheza)

So ninataka kupumzika literally feels like “I-want to-rest”.

What does tu mean in this sentence, and where does it normally go?

Here tu means “only” / “just” in the sense of “nothing more than that”.

Mimi ninataka tu kupumzika nyumbani.
= I just want to rest at home.
(I don’t want to go out, work, study, etc. — I only want to rest.)

About placement with this meaning:

Ninataka tu kupumzika nyumbani. (most common)
→ I just/only want to rest at home. (focus on the wanting as limited)

You can also move tu for slightly different emphasis:

Ninataka kupumzika tu nyumbani.
→ I want to rest just at home / only at home (and not elsewhere).
Mimi tu ninataka kupumzika nyumbani.
→ Only I want to rest at home (others don’t).

So tu always means “only / just”, and its position affects what is being limited:

after the verb → only the wanting
after nyumbani → only the place
after Mimi → only me

Is this tu the same as the tu- that means “we” in verbs like tunataka?

No, they are different things that just look the same:

tu- (as a prefix stuck to the verb) is a subject marker meaning “we”:
- tu-nataka = we want
- tu-naenda = we are going
tu (as a separate word) is a particle meaning “only / just”:
- Ninataka tu kupumzika. = I just want to rest.
- Yeye tu atakuja. = Only he/she will come.

In your sentence, tu is a separate word after the verb, so it clearly means “only / just”, not “we”.

Why is kupumzika one word? Could I write ku pumzika with a space?

You should write it as one word: kupumzika.

In Swahili, these infinitive forms (like “to rest”, “to eat”, “to play”) are written as a single unit:

ku (infinitive marker) + verb → kupumzika, kucheza, kuimba, etc.

Writing ku pumzika would look incorrect, as if ku were a separate, independent word. So always join ku- directly to the verb root.

What does nyumbani literally mean, and why does it end in -ni?

Nyumbani comes from:

nyumba = house
-ni (locative suffix) = at / in / to (a place)

So nyumbani literally means “at/in the house”, and by usage it often means “at home”.

The -ni ending is common for places:

shule (school) → shuleni = at school
kanisa (church) → kanisani = at church
nyumba (house) → nyumbani = at home / in the house

In your sentence, nyumbani is best translated as “at home”.

Why isn’t there any word for “the” or “a” in the sentence?

Swahili does not use articles like English “the” or “a/an”.

So:

nyumba can mean “a house” or “the house” depending on context.
nyumbani can mean “at home” or “at the house” depending on context.

In your sentence:

Mimi ninataka tu kupumzika nyumbani.
is naturally understood as “I just want to rest at home.”

If you needed to be more specific, you’d usually add other words (like hiyo = that, ile = that, etc.), not an article:

nyumba hiyo = that house / the house (just mentioned)

Can I change the word order and still be correct? For example, can I say Ninataka kupumzika tu nyumbani or Ninataka kupumzika nyumbani tu?

Yes, several variations are possible, but the focus changes slightly:

Ninataka tu kupumzika nyumbani.
→ I just/only want to rest at home. (main limitation is on the wanting)
Ninataka kupumzika tu nyumbani.
→ I want to rest only at home (not elsewhere). (focus on place of resting)
Ninataka kupumzika nyumbani tu.
→ I want to rest at home only. (also emphasizes the place, similar to 2)

All are grammatical; 1 is the most neutral/common for “I just want to rest at home” in a general sense.

Some orders, like Ninataka nyumbani tu kupumzika, start to sound odd in normal speech, so it’s safer to keep tu right after the word you are “limiting” (want, rest, home, etc.).

Does kupumzika mean “to sleep” or just “to rest”? When would I use kulala instead?

Kupumzika means “to rest / to relax / to take a break”. It’s more general than “to sleep”.

kupumzika = to rest (sit down, relax, not working, recover energy)
kulala = to sleep (actually lie down and sleep)

In your sentence:

Mimi ninataka tu kupumzika nyumbani.
= I just want to rest at home.
(Maybe sitting on the couch, reading, watching TV, or even sleeping — it’s vague.)

If you specifically mean sleep:

Mimi ninataka tu kulala nyumbani.
= I just want to sleep at home.

How would I say “I don’t want to just rest at home” in Swahili?

You negate ninataka by using sitaki (si- = negative for “I” + -taki “want”):

Mimi sitaki tu kupumzika nyumbani.
= I don’t just want to rest at home.
(I want to do more than that.)

Here:

si- = I (negative)
-taki = want (negative form of taka)

You can also drop Mimi if the context is clear:

Sitaki tu kupumzika nyumbani.

Could I say Mimi nataka tu kupumzika nyumbani instead of Mimi ninataka…?

Yes, you will hear Mimi nataka tu kupumzika nyumbani very often in everyday speech.

ninataka is the full, clear form: ni- (I) + -na- (present) + -taka (want).
nataka is a shortened spoken form where the ni- is dropped because it’s understood from context.

In formal writing or in language courses, ninataka is preferred, but nataka is very common and natural in casual conversation.