Learn Hardcore Swahili: Kabla hatujaanza mchezo, kocha alituambia tusalimiane na timu nyingine kwa heshima. - Before we started the game, the coach told us to greet the other team respectfully.

In this sentence, kabla hatujaanza mchezo is understood as “before we start the game / before we have started the game.”
The combination kabla + (negative perfect) is a very common way to express “before (we) do X” in Swahili.

Why is it kabla hatujaanza mchezo and not kabla ya kuanza mchezo? Are both correct?

Both patterns are correct and common, but they’re slightly different grammatically:

Kabla hatujaanza mchezo…
- kabla
  - full clause (with subject + verb)
- Literally: “before we have not-yet-started the game” → idiomatically: “before we start the game”
- Feels a bit more like a full sentence: there is an explicit subject (we) and tense.
Kabla ya kuanza mchezo…
- kabla ya
  - infinitive kuanza (“to start/starting”)
- Literally: “before starting the game”
- Grammatically more “neutral,” like an English -ing phrase.

In everyday speech you will hear both:

Kabla hatujaanza mchezo, …
Kabla ya kuanza mchezo, …

The meaning here is effectively the same. Kabla hatujaanza slightly emphasizes that the action had not yet begun at that moment.

How is kocha alituambia structured, and why not say kocha aliambia sisi?

Kocha alituambia is:

kocha = coach
a- = subject prefix “he/she”
-li- = past tense marker
-tu- = object prefix “us”
-ambia = verb root “tell (someone)”

So alituambia = “he/she told us.”

You can say kocha aliambia sisi, but it sounds less natural; Swahili normally prefers object prefixes on the verb when the object is a pronoun:

More natural: Kocha alituambia… = The coach told us…
Possible but marked/emphatic: Kocha aliambia sisi…
(This can sound like you’re contrasting sisi with other people.)

You can combine both for emphasis: Kocha alituambia sisi (The coach told us in particular), but in neutral sentences, the prefix -tu- on the verb is enough.

Why is it tusalimiane and not something like tusalimiana or kuwasalimia?

Tusalimiane is a subjunctive form with the reciprocal suffix, and it fits after a verb like alituambia (told us):

tu- = we (subject)
-salim- = greet
-ian- / -an- = reciprocal (“each other”)
-e = subjunctive final vowel

So tusalimiane ≈ “that we (should) greet each other.”

Why not the other options?

tusalimiana
- -a at the end is indicative (normal statement): “we greet each other.”
- After alituambia (“he told us”), Swahili prefers the subjunctive for what you are supposed to do:
  - Kocha alituambia tusalimiane… = The coach told us to greet each other…
kuwasalimia
- Means roughly “to greet them (on behalf of someone / direct object)”, not “greet each other.”
- Example: Tuwasalimie wazazi = Let’s greet the parents (on someone’s behalf).
- In our sentence the focus is mutual greeting between two teams, so tusalimiane (greet each other) is more precise.

What does the -ane part of tusalimiane mean?

The -an- / -ane sequence is the reciprocal suffix. It expresses actions done to each other / one another.

Examples:

kuonana → “to see each other”
- Tuonane kesho. = Let’s see each other tomorrow.
kusaidiana → “to help each other”
- Wajifunze kusaidiana. = They should learn to help each other.
kusalimiana → “to greet each other”
- Tusalimiane. = Let’s greet one another.

So tusalimiane means “let’s greet each other / that we should greet each other.”

Why is it timu nyingine for “the other team”? Why not timu mwingine or timu ingine?

This is about noun classes and how adjectives agree with them.

timu (team) belongs to the N-class (same form in singular and plural).
The adjective -ingine (“other/another”) changes according to noun class:
- mtu mwingine = another person (M/Wa class)
- kitabu kingine = another book (Ki/Vi class)
- timu nyingine = another/other team (N-class)

So:

timu nyingine = the other team / another team
timu mwingine would be wrong, because mwingine agrees with mtu, mwanafunzi, mchezaji, etc., not with timu.
timu ingine is just missing the class marker ny-; it’s not grammatical.

In this sentence, timu nyingine clearly means “the other team” (the opposing side).

How does kwa heshima work, and why is it a noun (heshima) instead of a verb like heshimu?

Kwa heshima is a preposition + noun structure used to express manner (“in a … way / with …”).

kwa = by/with/in (here: “in a … way / with …”)
heshima = respect (noun)

Together: kwa heshima = “with respect / respectfully.”

Swahili often uses kwa + noun for adverbial expressions:

kwa furaha = happily, with joy
kwa hasira = angrily, with anger
kwa makini = carefully
kwa sauti ya chini = in a low voice

We use the noun heshima rather than the verb heshimu (“to respect”) because we’re describing how the greeting should be done — in a respectful manner — not giving a second verb.

Is the word order with kabla fixed? Could we move the kabla-clause to the end?

You can move it. Both of these are correct:

Kabla hatujaanza mchezo, kocha alituambia tusalimiane na timu nyingine kwa heshima.
Kocha alituambia tusalimiane na timu nyingine kwa heshima kabla hatujaanza mchezo.

Swahili is flexible with time expressions like kabla and baada ya:

Asubuhi tulifanya mazoezi.
Tulifanya mazoezi asubuhi.

The meaning stays the same; only the emphasis shifts slightly. Starting with Kabla… foregrounds “before we start the game” as the setting for what follows.

What’s the difference between mchezo and mechi, and is mchezo the best choice here?

mchezo = “game, play” in a broad sense (also “fun/play” for children, “performance,” etc.).
mechi = “match,” usually a specific sports match (loan from English “match”).

In this sentence:

Kabla hatujaanza mchezo… can mean “before we start the game (match)” in a general way.
You could also say kabla hatujaanza mechi… to emphasize it’s a sports match.

Both are understandable. Mchezo is perfectly acceptable; mechi just sounds a bit more specifically sporty.

Why is tusalimiane na timu nyingine used and not something like tukasalimiana na timu nyingine?

After verbs of saying / telling / ordering (like kuambia, kuagiza, kuamuru), Swahili normally uses the subjunctive to express what should be done:

Kocha alituambia tusalimiane…
= The coach told us to greet each other…

If you said:

Kocha alituambia tukasalimiana na timu nyingine…

this would sound off in standard Swahili, because -ka- is a narrative/sequence marker (then/and then), not a marker of obligation or instruction. Tukasalimiana would more naturally continue a story: “We did X, and then we greeted each other.”

So for reported commands/instructions:

alituambia + subjunctive:
- alituambia tusalimiane (he told us to greet each other)
- alituambia tuwe tayari (he told us to be ready)
- alituambia tukae kimya is possible but changes the feel to more “he told us, and then we sat quietly,” i.e., a sequence rather than a command form.