Learn Hardcore Swahili: Mama alisema tuanze kurudia msamiati muhimu kabla ya somo jipya. - Mother said we should start reviewing the important vocabulary before the new lesson.

Swahili often drops the explicit “my” (-angu) when it’s obvious from context.
Mama on its own can also mean “mother” in a general sense, depending on context.

If you want to be explicit, you can say Mama yangu = my mother. Here, the English translation “Mom said…” is natural even though yangu is not written.

How is alisema formed, and what tense is it?

Alisema is in the simple past tense (“said”). It breaks down like this:

a- = subject prefix for he/she (3rd person singular)
-li- = past tense marker
-sema = verb root “say”

So: a + li + sema → alisema = she/he said.

If you changed the tense marker:

anasema = she is saying / she says
amesema = she has said (present perfect)

Why is it tuanze and not tunanza or kuanza? What does tuanze express?

Tuanze is in the subjunctive mood, often used after verbs like to say, to ask, to want when you mean “that we should start / let’s start.”

Structure:

tu- = we
-anz- = root from kuanza (to start)
-e = subjunctive ending (instead of the normal -a)

So: tu + anz + e → tuanze = that we (should) start / let’s start.

tunanza would be wrong (the correct indicative is tunaanza = we are starting)
kuanza is the infinitive “to start”, not conjugated for person.

Here, Mama alisema tuanze… naturally means:
“Mom said (that) we should start…” / “Mom said, ‘Let’s start…’”

Why is there no word for “that” in “Mom said that we should start…”?

Swahili can use kwamba for “that,” but it’s often omitted in everyday speech. Both of these are correct:

Mama alisema kwamba tuanze…
Mama alisema tuanze…

In English we normally need “that,” but in Swahili it’s optional and frequently left out. The meaning doesn’t change.

What exactly does kurudia mean here—“repeat,” “review,” or something else?

Kurudia literally means “to repeat / to go back over.”

In this context, kurudia msamiati muhimu is best understood as:

to review the important vocabulary
to go back over the important vocabulary

So kurudia often covers the idea of reviewing material you have already studied.

Why is it kurudia and not something like kukurudia? Aren’t there two ku’s?

No, there’s only one infinitive marker ku- here.

The verb is kurudia = ku- (infinitive) + -rudia (root)
The verb before it, tuanze, is already a fully conjugated verb (“we should start”), so it doesn’t have ku-.

The pattern is:

tuanze (we should start) + kurudia (to review)

You don’t add another ku-: ✗ tuanze kukurudia is incorrect.

What does msamiati mean exactly, and is it singular or plural?

Msamiati means “vocabulary”—usually as a set/list of words, not just a single word.

It is singular and belongs to noun class 3 (m-/mi-).
The plural is misamiati = “vocabularies” / multiple lists of vocabulary.

So msamiati muhimu = important vocabulary (list / set of words).

Why is it msamiati muhimu and not muhimu msamiati?

In Swahili, adjectives usually come after the noun they modify.

msamiati muhimu = important vocabulary
✗ muhimu msamiati is ungrammatical in normal Swahili word order.

So the pattern is generally: [noun] + [adjective].

Does muhimu change for plural, or is it always muhimu?

Muhimu is one of the adjectives that does not change form with noun class or number.

msamiati muhimu = important vocabulary (singular)
misamiati muhimu = important vocabularies (plural)

The noun changes (msamiati → misamiati), but muhimu stays the same.

What does kabla ya do here, and why do we need ya?

Kabla ya means “before (something)” when followed by a noun or noun phrase.

kabla = before
ya = a prepositional linking word (form of -a, the “of” particle), used here because what follows is a noun phrase (somo jipya).

So: kabla ya somo jipya = before the new lesson.

If what follows is a verb clause instead of a noun, you usually don’t use ya, and the structure changes, for example:

kabla hatujaanza somo jipya = before we start the new lesson

What is somo, and what kind of noun is it?

Somo means “lesson” or “subject” (in school).

It belongs to noun class 5 (ji-/∅).
Its plural is masomo (class 6, ma-).

So:

somo jipya = a new lesson
masomo mapya = new lessons

Why is it somo jipya and not somo mpya? What does jipya mean?

The adjective -pya (“new”) changes its prefix according to the noun class. For class 5 nouns like somo, the agreement form is jipya.

Forms of -pya (simplified):

Class 1 (mtu) → mtu mpya
Class 2 (watu) → watu wapya
Class 5 (somo) → somo jipya
Class 6 (masomo) → masomo mapya
Class 7 (kitabu) → kitabu kipya
Class 8 (vitabu) → vitabu vipya

So jipya is just the class-5 agreement form of “new.”

You might hear somo mpya in casual speech, but somo jipya is the standard, grammar-book form.

What would the plural of somo jipya be?

The plural is:

masomo mapya = new lessons

Changes:

somo → masomo (class 5 → class 6)
jipya → mapya (adjective “new” agreeing with class 6)

So:

singular: somo jipya = a new lesson
plural: masomo mapya = new lessons

Can I change the word order in the second part, or does it have to be msamiati muhimu kabla ya somo jipya?

For natural Swahili, you should keep:

[verb] + [object noun] + [adjective] + kabla ya + [noun] + [adjective]

So:

kurudia msamiati muhimu kabla ya somo jipya

These alternatives would be wrong or very unnatural:

✗ kurudia muhimu msamiati
✗ kabla ya jipya somo

The key rules:

Adjectives follow the noun.
kabla ya comes before the whole noun phrase it modifies: kabla ya somo jipya.