Breakdown of Tunapokula chakula cha jioni, tunapenda utulivu nyumbani.
Questions & Answers about Tunapokula chakula cha jioni, tunapenda utulivu nyumbani.
Tunapokula is one long verb form that literally means “when we are eating” or “as we eat”.
It’s built from several pieces:
- tu- = we (subject prefix for sisi)
- -na- = present tense marker (roughly “are / do”)
- -po- = “when / where” (a relative/locative marker)
- -kul- = verb root for kula (to eat)
- -a = final vowel that closes most verb forms
So structurally:
tu- + -na- + -po- + kul + -a → tunapokula
Functionally, tunapokula introduces a time clause: “When we eat…” rather than simply “we eat”.
- Tunakula = “we eat / we are eating” (a simple statement).
- Tunapokula = “when we eat / while we are eating” (sets the time for another action).
In your sentence:
- Tunapokula chakula cha jioni, tunapenda utulivu nyumbani.
= When we are eating dinner, we like quiet at home.
If you said:
- Tunakula chakula cha jioni, tunapenda utulivu nyumbani.
it sounds more like two separate statements, “We are eating dinner, we like quiet at home,” without clearly saying that the quiet is specifically desired while eating.
So -po- in tunapokula adds the meaning “when.”
Chakula cha jioni literally means “food of evening”, i.e. “evening meal” → dinner.
- chakula = food / meal (class 7 noun)
- cha = “of” for class 7 (ki-/vi- class → genitive cha / vya)
- jioni = evening
In Swahili, the “of” relationship (X of Y) is usually shown with a genitive marker that agrees with the class of the first noun:
- chakula cha jioni = food of evening
- kitabu cha Kiswahili = book of Swahili (Swahili book)
- mwalimu wa Kiswahili = teacher of Swahili
(here mwalimu is in class 1, so the genitive is wa, not cha)
So cha agrees with chakula and links it to jioni.
Both can be translated as something like “evening/night meal”, but they’re used a bit differently:
- chakula cha jioni = evening meal, dinner (more common and neutral)
- chakula cha usiku = night meal (can sound later at night, or context-specific)
In many everyday contexts, chakula cha jioni is the standard way to say “dinner/supper.”
Chakula cha usiku might be used, but it’s less typical for the main evening meal and can feel more literally “night-time food.”
In Swahili, the subject pronoun is usually built into the verb through a subject prefix, so you don’t normally write it as a separate word.
- tu- in tunapokula = we
- tu- in tunapenda = we
So:
- tunapokula = when we are eating
- tunapenda = we like
You would only add sisi for emphasis or contrast:
- Sisi tunapenda utulivu nyumbani.
= We (as opposed to others) like quiet at home.
Utulivu is an abstract noun meaning calm, quietness, tranquility, peacefulness.
Swahili doesn’t use articles like “the” or “a/some” as English does. The noun utulivu by itself can cover:
- quiet
- the quiet
- some quiet
- peace and quiet
The exact English translation depends on context. In your sentence:
- tunapenda utulivu nyumbani
is best understood as: “we like (having) quiet at home” or “we like peace and quiet at home.”
- nyumba = house (the building itself)
- nyumbani = at home, at the house, home (locative form)
The ending -ni often marks location in Swahili:
- shule (school) → shuleni (at school)
- kanisa (church) → kanisani (at church)
- nyumba (house) → nyumbani (at home / in the house)
In your sentence:
- utulivu nyumbani = quiet at home
If you said utulivu nyumba, it would be ungrammatical in this context; you need nyumbani for the “at home” meaning.
Your sentence is already a very natural way to express that idea:
- Tunapokula chakula cha jioni, tunapenda utulivu nyumbani.
If you wanted to be extra explicit, you might say:
- Tunapokula chakula cha jioni, tunapenda iwe kimya nyumbani.
= When we eat dinner, we like it to be quiet at home.
But in normal speech, tunapenda utulivu nyumbani is perfectly clear and idiomatic.
Yes, that’s possible and correct, with a very similar meaning.
- Wakati tunakula chakula cha jioni, tunapenda utulivu nyumbani.
= While/when we eat dinner, we like quiet at home.
Differences:
- tunapokula is compact and very common in conversation and writing.
- wakati tunakula is slightly more explicit, literally “at the time that we eat.”
Both are natural; tunapokula is probably the most typical pattern here.
Tunapenda utulivu nyumbani.
= We like quiet at home. (we appreciate the state of quiet)Tunapenda kuwa na utulivu nyumbani.
= We like to have quiet at home. (a little more explicitly about “having” it)
The meaning is very close. The version without kuwa na is shorter and more natural here:
- tunapenda utulivu nyumbani is exactly how a native speaker would usually phrase it.
Tunapenda comes from the verb kupenda, which covers both “like” and “love” depending on context:
- Ninapenda kahawa. = I like coffee.
- Nakupenda. = I love you.
In your sentence:
- tunapenda utulivu nyumbani
is best translated as “we like quiet at home.”
If you wanted a strong “we really love quiet” feeling, you could add emphasis:
- Tunapenda sana utulivu nyumbani.
= We really love/like quiet at home.
Yes, you can switch the order of the two clauses:
- Tunapokula chakula cha jioni, tunapenda utulivu nyumbani.
- Tunapenda utulivu nyumbani tunapokula chakula cha jioni.
Both are grammatical and understandable.
The first version (with the “when…” clause first) is slightly more natural and typical, especially when describing a habitual situation. The second version is still fine and might be used in speech without a pause/comma.
In Swahili, all those prefixes and markers are written together as one word with the verb:
- tunapokula = one word
- You should not write: tuna po kula or tuna po-kula.
Swahili verbs are agglutinative: subject, tense, relative markers, and the verb root are glued together into a single written form.