Learn Hardcore Swahili: Jana tulikaa kwenye kochi tukasikiliza maoni tofauti bila kubishana. - Yesterday we sat on the sofa and listened to different opinions without arguing.

kaa – very common verb with a broad meaning: sit, stay, remain, live (somewhere)
- Nimekaa Dar es Salaam. = I live / stay in Dar es Salaam.
keti – focuses more on the act of sitting down or the posture of being seated.

In this sentence:

tulikaa kwenye kochi: suggests “we sat (and were sitting there for a while) on the couch.”
tuliketi kwenye kochi: puts a bit more focus on the act of taking a seat on the couch.

In everyday conversation, tulikaa here sounds very natural and perhaps more common.

What is the function of -ka- in tukasikiliza?

tukasikiliza is:

tu- = we
-ka- = consecutive / narrative marker
sikiliza = listen

The -ka- links this action to the previous one done by the same subject and often has the sense of “and then …” or “and so …”.

So:

Jana tulikaa kwenye kochi tukasikiliza maoni tofauti…
≈ “Yesterday we sat on the couch and (then) listened to different opinions…”

You don’t repeat the past tense marker -li- because the tense is already established in tulikaa. The -ka- just carries the sequence forward in the same time frame.

Why isn’t there a na (“and”) between tulikaa and tukasikiliza?

The -ka- in tukasikiliza is already doing the job that na could do:

tulikaa … tukasikiliza …
= “we sat … and then listened …”

You can say:

Jana tulikaa kwenye kochi na tukasikiliza maoni tofauti…

That is also correct, but na is not necessary. The -ka- form is a very natural way in Swahili storytelling and narration to string actions together without always using na. It feels smoother and more narrative-like than repeating na each time.

What does kwenye mean here, and how is it different from katika or juu ya?

kwenye is a very common general locative preposition. Depending on context it can mean “in / at / on.”

In kwenye kochi:

kwenye kochi = “on the couch” (or “on the sofa”)

Comparisons:

kwenye – general location; can be “in/at/on”:
- kwenye chumba = in the room
- kwenye meza = on the table
katika – more formal/literary; often “in, inside, within”:
- katika chumba = in the room (more formal than kwenye chumba)
juu ya – specifically “on top of”:
- juu ya kochi = literally on top of the couch (e.g. standing or sitting on the back or arm, not just normally sitting on it)

So kwenye kochi is the most natural choice for “on the couch” in ordinary speech.

Is kochi a Swahili word or a borrowing, and how do you make its plural?

kochi is a borrowing from English “couch”.

It behaves like a class 5/6 noun:

Singular: kochi = a couch / a sofa
Plural: makochi = couches / sofas

Examples:

Tulikaa kwenye kochi. = We sat on the couch.
Watoto walilala kwenye makochi. = The children slept on the couches.

The preposition kwenye does not change:

kwenye kochi (singular)
kwenye makochi (plural)

Is maoni singular or plural, and what does it basically mean?

maoni is a class 6 ma- noun and is generally treated as plural or collective. It means:

maoni = opinions, views, comments, feedback

There is a theoretical singular oni, but in real usage maoni is overwhelmingly used. In practice, maoni can mean:

“opinions” (countable sense)
“opinion/feedback” (uncountable, collective)

For “one opinion,” speakers often use another word like:

wazo moja = one idea / one thought
rather than trying to use an “oni moja” form.

In the sentence, maoni tofauti = “different opinions” or “a variety of opinions.”

What kind of word is tofauti, and could we also say maoni mbalimbali?

tofauti is originally a noun meaning “difference”, but in modern Swahili it is very commonly used as:

an adjective: “different”
- maoni tofauti = different opinions
an adverb: “differently”
- Wanawaza tofauti. = They think differently.

It does not change form for plural or noun class; it stays tofauti.

You can absolutely say:

maoni mbalimbali = “various opinions / a variety of opinions”

Nuance:

maoni tofauti = opinions that differ from each other
maoni mbalimbali = a range / variety of opinions (often a bit more explicitly “many different kinds”)

Both are very natural here. You could even say maoni tofauti tofauti for extra emphasis on variety.

How does bila kubishana work grammatically?

bila kubishana is:

bila = without
ku- = infinitive marker
bishan- = verb stem bisha plus reciprocal -an-
-a = final vowel on the verb

So:

kubishana = “to argue with each other, to dispute”

Structure:

bila + ku-verb = “without doing X”
- bila kula = without eating
- bila kuongea = without speaking
- bila kuchelewa = without being late

Therefore:

bila kubishana = “without arguing (with each other).”

The suffix -ana (here as -shana) is a reciprocal ending, meaning the action is done “to each other.”

What is the difference between bila kubishana and bila mabishano?

Both are correct, but they differ slightly in grammar and nuance.

bila kubishana
- uses the verb (infinitive)
- focuses on the action/process: “without arguing (at all)”
bila mabishano
- uses the noun mabishano = arguments, disputes, quarrels
- focuses on events or instances of argument: “with no arguments / with no disputes”

In practice, in this sentence:

… tukasikiliza maoni tofauti bila kubishana.
… tukasikiliza maoni tofauti bila mabishano.

both convey the idea that they listened peacefully, but bila kubishana feels a bit more like “we didn’t engage in arguing,” while bila mabishano feels like “there were no arguments (as things that happened).”

Can we also say bila ya kubishana? Does ya change the meaning?

Yes, you can say:

bila ya kubishana

Here ya is a kind of linking element (a genitive connector) that often follows bila. With an infinitive ku-verb, both are acceptable:

bila kubishana
bila ya kubishana

The meaning is essentially the same (“without arguing”).

Stylistically:

bila kubishana – very common in everyday speech; a bit shorter.
bila ya kubishana – can sound a bit more careful, sometimes a touch more formal or written style.

With pure nouns it’s very common to see bila ya:

bila ya sukari = without sugar
bila ya shaka = without a doubt

Why does bila kubishana come at the end of the sentence? Could it move earlier?

In Swahili, adverbial phrases (time, place, manner, “without X”, etc.) are relatively flexible in position.

Here, bila kubishana is placed right after tukasikiliza maoni tofauti, so it clearly modifies how they listened:

… tukasikiliza maoni tofauti bila kubishana.
= “we listened to different opinions without arguing.”

You could move it, for example:

Jana tulikaa kwenye kochi bila kubishana tukasikiliza maoni tofauti.

This is still grammatical, but now bila kubishana is visually closer to tulikaa, and it can feel a bit less clear whether it mainly modifies “sat” or “listened.” The original order is more natural and unambiguous.

So: yes, it can move, but the end position after tukasikiliza maoni tofauti is the clearest and most natural here.

Could we reorder Jana and say Tulikaa jana kwenye kochi tukasikiliza…? Does that sound natural?

Yes, that is possible:

Tulikaa jana kwenye kochi tukasikiliza maoni tofauti bila kubishana.

This is grammatical and understandable.

However, Swahili very often places time expressions at the beginning of the sentence:

Jana tulikaa…
Leo ninaenda…
Kesho tutasafiri…

Putting Jana first is the most typical way to set the time frame. Moving jana into the middle shifts the rhythm a little and slightly downplays the time information, but it does not make the sentence wrong.