Learn Hardcore Swahili: Ninapenda gharama ya chini sokoni.

Ninapenda gharama ya chini sokoni. = I like low prices at the market.
Mimi ninapenda gharama ya chini sokoni. = I (as opposed to others) like low prices at the market.

Can I say Napenda instead of Ninapenda?

Yes, in everyday spoken Swahili Ninapenda is very often shortened to Napenda.

Ninapenda gharama ya chini sokoni. (full form)
Napenda gharama ya chini sokoni. (more casual, very common in speech)

Both mean the same thing grammatically: I like / I love.

Written Swahili (especially in textbooks, exams, news, etc.) usually prefers the full form ninapenda.

Why do we say gharama ya chini and not just gharama chini?

In Swahili, an adjective or descriptive word often needs a connector (a possessive-like particle) to link it to the noun. Here, ya is doing that job:

gharama = cost, price, expense
ya = of (connector agreeing with the noun class of gharama)
chini = down / low

So gharama ya chini is literally cost of low (level) → a low cost / a low price.

Saying gharama chini without ya sounds ungrammatical; the connector is needed:

✅ gharama ya chini (correct)
❌ gharama chini (wrong in standard Swahili)

Why is it ya chini and not za chini, la chini, or wa chini?

The connector (often called a possessive concord) must agree with the noun class of the head noun.

gharama belongs to noun class 9/10 (like ndizi, chai, nchi).
For class 9/10, the connector is ya for both singular and plural.

So:

gharama ya chini = low cost (singular)
gharama za chini = low costs / low prices (plural)

Comparison with other classes:

gari (car, class 5) → gari la chini (a low car)
vitabu (books, class 8) → vitabu vya zamani (old books)
watu (people, class 2) → watu wa Afrika (people of Africa)

So ya here is correct because of the noun class of gharama.

Is gharama singular or plural here? How would I say “low prices” (plural)?

In the sentence Ninapenda gharama ya chini sokoni, gharama is grammatically singular: a low price / low cost (in a general sense).

To clearly refer to more than one price, you can:

use the plural form with agreement:
- Ninapenda gharama za chini sokoni. = I like low prices at the market.
or, more commonly in everyday speech, switch to bei (price, usually class 9/10 but often used as plural-like):
- Napenda bei za chini sokoni. = I like low prices at the market.

Swahili sometimes uses a singular noun with a general meaning that English translates with a plural. So even the original can sound like “I like low prices” in context, but za chini makes the plurality explicit.

What does chini normally mean, and how does it end up meaning “low/cheap” in this sentence?

The basic meanings of chini are:

down, below, underneath, lower (in position)

Examples:

Kitabu kiko chini ya meza. = The book is under the table.
Ameshuka chini. = He/She has gone down.

With words related to amount, level, or cost, chini takes on the sense low / lower / cheap:

joto la chini = low temperature
mshahara wa chini = low salary
gharama ya chini = low cost / low price

So the idea is “the price is down (low)” → cheap / low price.

Is sokoni “in the market” or “at the market”? Why do we add -ni?

Sokoni is formed from:

soko = market
-ni = locative suffix (“in/at/to” a place, depending on context)

So sokoni usually means at the market or in the market. With motion verbs, it can also mean to the market.

Examples:

Nipo sokoni. = I am at the market.
Ninaenda sokoni. = I am going to the market.
Ninapenda kununua matunda sokoni. = I like buying fruit at the market.

The -ni makes soko into a location; you don’t need a separate preposition like at or in.

Could I say kwenye soko or katika soko instead of sokoni? Is there any difference?

Yes, you can use them, but sokoni is the most natural and common.

sokoni = at/in the market (very natural, compact)
kwenye soko = at/in the market
katika soko = in the market (a bit more formal or bookish)

All of these are grammatically fine:

Ninapenda gharama ya chini sokoni.
Ninapenda gharama ya chini kwenye soko.
Ninapenda gharama ya chini katika soko.

Native speakers will most often choose sokoni in everyday speech.

Is the word order fixed? Could I say Ninapenda sokoni gharama ya chini?

The most natural order in Swahili is:

Verb (with its prefixes)
Direct object
Place/time expressions

So:

Ninapenda gharama ya chini sokoni.
→ like [what?] gharama ya chini, [where?] sokoni

You can move sokoni earlier for emphasis or style, but you must keep the verb and its object together:

Sokoni ninapenda gharama ya chini. (At the market, I like low prices.)

But Ninapenda sokoni gharama ya chini sounds unnatural, because it splits the verb and its object:

❌ Ninapenda sokoni gharama ya chini. (odd word order)

What kind of “present” is Ninapenda – is it like “I like” or “I am liking”?

Ninapenda covers both the simple present and the present continuous meanings in English, depending on the verb type and context.

With stative verbs like penda (like/love), it normally corresponds to:

I like / I love (general/habitual)

So here:

Ninapenda gharama ya chini sokoni.
- I like low prices at the market.
- I love low prices at the market.

Swahili doesn’t usually say “I am liking” for this kind of verb. Ninapenda already expresses the idea clearly.

Is gharama the most natural word here, or would speakers more often say bei or nafuu?

Gharama is correct, but in everyday language about shopping, other choices are often more idiomatic:

bei = price (very common in market contexts)
nafuu = reasonably priced / cheap in a good way

More natural options you will often hear:

Napenda bei za chini sokoni. = I like low prices at the market.
Napenda bei nafuu sokoni. = I like affordable prices at the market.
Napenda vitu vya bei nafuu sokoni. = I like (reasonably) cheap things at the market.

Gharama can sound slightly more formal or technical (cost/expense), though it’s still correct.

Why don’t we say mimi for “I” in the sentence?

In Swahili, the subject is built into the verb through the subject prefix, so you usually don’t need an independent pronoun.

ni- (in ninapenda) already means I.
So Ninapenda gharama ya chini sokoni. already contains the idea I like…

You add mimi only for emphasis or contrast:

Mimi ninapenda gharama ya chini sokoni, lakini yeye hapendi.
= I like low prices at the market, but he/she doesn’t.