Learn Hardcore Swahili: Hata kama tumekuwa tukifanya mazoezi kwa muda mfupi karibu na bwawa la kuogelea, kocha wetu anatupongeza kwa bidii yetu. - Even if we have been practising for a short time near the swimming pool, our coach praises us for our effort.

hata kama – very common, used in speech and writing, for:
- real contrast: “even though …”
  - Hata kama tumekuwa tukifanya mazoezi kwa muda mfupi…
- hypothetical contrast: “even if …”
  - Hata kama hutanielewa, nitasema. – Even if you won’t understand me, I’ll say it.
ingawa / ijapokuwa / japokuwa – more like “although / though / even though”, usually for things that are known to be true, less often for hypotheticals.

In everyday conversation, hata kama is very frequent and slightly more colloquial than ingawa.

Why is tumekuwa tukifanya used instead of just tunafanya or tumefanya?

The form tumekuwa tukifanya expresses an action that has been going on for some time up to now – it corresponds closely to English “have been doing”.

tunafanya mazoezi – we are doing exercises / we train (now / generally).
tumefanya mazoezi – we have done exercises (completed at some point before now).
tumekuwa tukifanya mazoezi – we have been doing exercises (repeatedly or continuously over a period up to now).

In this sentence, tumekuwa tukifanya plus kwa muda mfupi gives the idea:
“even though we have only been training for a short time (up to now)”.

Can you break down the verb sequence tumekuwa tukifanya into its individual parts?

Yes. It is actually two verb forms working together:

tumekuwa – we have been / we have become
- tu- = we (subject prefix, 1st person plural)
- -me- = perfect tense marker (have)
- -kuwa = verb kuwa (to be / to become)
  → tumekuwa = we have been / we have become
tukifanya – while/when/continuously doing / we (are) doing
- tu- = we (subject)
- -ki- = continuous / habitual marker
- -fanya = verb fanya (do)
  → tukifanya = we are doing / we keep doing

Put together: tumekuwa tukifanya mazoezi =
“we have been doing exercises” (over a period of time).

The pattern nimekuwa nikisoma, tumekuwa tukifanya, etc. is a very common way in Swahili to express the present perfect continuous.

What is the role of kwa in kwa muda mfupi? Can I just say muda mfupi?

Here kwa is a preposition meaning “for / during” in the sense of duration:

kwa muda mfupi = for a short time / for a brief period

Swahili very often uses kwa + time expression to talk about how long something lasts:

Nilikaa kwa siku tatu – I stayed for three days.
Aliishi hapo kwa miaka mingi – He lived there for many years.

You will sometimes hear time expressions without kwa, but:

In this exact phrase, kwa muda mfupi is the natural, set-sounding expression.
Tumekuwa tukifanya mazoezi muda mfupi would sound odd or at least less natural to most speakers.

So in this structure, you should keep kwa.

How does muda mfupi work grammatically? Why is it mfupi and not just fupi?

Mfupi is an adjective agreeing with muda:

muda – “time, period” (class 3, m-/mi- class)
base adjective: -fupi – “short”

In Swahili, many adjectives take a class prefix that must agree with the noun:

Class 3 (m-/mi-) uses m- in the singular:
- mti mrefu – a tall tree
- mto mrefu – a long river
- muda mfupi – a short time

So fupi becomes mfupi to agree with muda.

What does bwawa la kuogelea literally mean, and why do we use la?

Literally:

bwawa – pool, dam, pond, reservoir
la – “of” (genitive marker for class 5 nouns, like bwawa)
kuogelea – swimming / to swim (verbal noun / infinitive)

So bwawa la kuogelea is literally “a pool of swimming”, i.e. “a swimming pool”.

About la:

bwawa is in noun class 5 (singular bwawa, plural mabwawa).
For a class 5 noun, the “of” connector is la:
- bwawa la maji – pool of water
- jicho la kulia – right eye
- bwawa la kuogelea – swimming pool

Different noun classes use different genitive markers (e.g. ya, wa, cha, za, vya, etc.). Class 5 singular takes la.

What is the role of ku- in kuogelea, and why doesn’t fanya in tukifanya also have ku-?

Ku- is the infinitive / verbal noun prefix.

ogelea = swim (verb root)
kuogelea = to swim / swimming (as a noun-like form)

In bwawa la kuogelea, the word after la needs to act like a noun (“pool of what?”), so Swahili uses the infinitive form kuogelea.

In tukifanya, fanya is part of a fully conjugated verb, not a noun:

tu- (we) + -ki- (continuous) + -fanya (do)

When a verb is conjugated with subject and tense markers, you do not keep ku-. You only use ku- when the verb itself is acting like a noun or infinitive.

What does karibu na mean here? Is na necessary after karibu?

Here karibu na means “near / close to”:

karibu na bwawa la kuogelea = near the swimming pool

About na:

karibu on its own can mean:
- “near, close” (adverb), or
- “welcome” (as a greeting), or
- “almost, nearly” (karibu nilianguka – I nearly fell).
When you want “near [some place]”, the very common pattern is:
- karibu na + noun
  e.g. Ninaishi karibu na shule – I live near the school.

You can sometimes hear karibu + noun without na, but karibu na is safer and more standard in this context.

How is the verb anatupongeza formed, and where does “us” go in the Swahili verb?

Anatupongeza is built like this:

a- = he/she (3rd person singular subject prefix)
-na- = present / present progressive tense marker
-tu- = us (1st person plural object marker)
-pongeza = verb root “praise, congratulate”

So anatupongeza = “he/she praises us / he/she is praising us.”

In Swahili verb structure, the typical order is:

[subject] – [tense] – [object] – [verb root]

Examples:

Ananipenda. – He/she loves me. (a-na-ni-penda)
Walitusaidia. – They helped us. (wa-li-tu-saidia)
Kocha wetu anatupongeza. – Our coach praises us. (a-na-tu-pongeza)

If you want extra emphasis, you can still add sisi after the verb:

Kocha wetu anatupongeza sisi – Our coach praises us (as opposed to others).

What exactly does kwa bidii yetu mean? Is kwa bidii an idiomatic expression?

Yes, kwa bidii is a very common expression.

bidii = effort, diligence, hard work
kwa bidii = “with effort / diligently / hard” (adverbial phrase of manner)

Common use:

Anafanya kazi kwa bidii. – He/she works hard.

In the sentence:

kwa bidii yetu = “for our effort / because of our effort / for our hard work”

So kocha wetu anatupongeza kwa bidii yetu is best understood as:

“our coach praises us for our effort / for how hard we have worked.”

Why is it bidii yetu and not bidii zetu here?

The noun bidii belongs to the N-class (class 9/10), where singular and plural often look the same in form.

For possessives:

Class 9 singular uses y-: yangu, yako, yake, yetu, yenu, yao
Class 10 plural uses z-: zangu, zako, zake, zetu, zenu, zao

So:

bidii yetu – our effort (singular / collective, like “our hard work” as one thing)
bidii zetu – our efforts (plural, many separate efforts)

In normal usage, bidii is usually treated as a mass / uncountable noun (like “effort” in English), so bidii yetu is the natural form.

Bidii zetu would sound unusual here and would suggest separate, countable “efforts,” which is not what is meant.

Is it normal in Swahili to start a sentence with a clause like Hata kama tumekuwa tukifanya…? Could it also come later?

Yes, it is completely normal to start with that clause. In Swahili, a concessive clause introduced by hata kama, ingawa, etc. can appear before or after the main clause.

Both of these are fine:

Hata kama tumekuwa tukifanya mazoezi kwa muda mfupi karibu na bwawa la kuogelea, kocha wetu anatupongeza kwa bidii yetu.
– Even though we have been training for a short time near the swimming pool, our coach praises us for our effort.
Kocha wetu anatupongeza kwa bidii yetu hata kama tumekuwa tukifanya mazoezi kwa muda mfupi karibu na bwawa la kuogelea.
– Our coach praises us for our effort even though we have been training for a short time near the swimming pool.

So placing hata kama… at the beginning, followed by a comma (or a pause in speech), is natural and common.

In English we might say “even though we have only been training for a short time.” Where is “only” in the Swahili sentence?

The idea of “only” is carried mainly by muda mfupi (“a short time”) in context.

tumekuwa tukifanya mazoezi kwa muda mfupi
literally: we have been doing exercises for a short time
in context: we have *only been training for a short time*

If you want to make “only” very explicit in Swahili, you can add tu:

Hata kama tumekuwa tukifanya mazoezi kwa muda mfupi tu…
– Even though we have only been training for a very short time…

But even without tu, kwa muda mfupi usually implies that the time has not been long, which is close to “only a short time.”