Mimi ninapenda kusoma riwaya jioni.

I like to read a novel in the evening.

Breakdown of Mimi ninapenda kusoma riwaya jioni.

• mimi: I
• kupenda: to like
• kusoma: to read
• katika: in
• jioni: the evening
• riwaya: the novel

Questions & Answers about Mimi ninapenda kusoma riwaya jioni.

Why does the sentence use both Mimi and the ni- in ninapenda? Isn’t that saying “I” twice?

In Swahili, the subject is normally marked on the verb, not by a separate pronoun.

• ni- in ninapenda already means “I”.
• Mimi also means “I / me”, but it’s usually used for emphasis or contrast.

So:

• Ninapenda kusoma riwaya jioni.
  = I like reading novels in the evening. (neutral)

• Mimi ninapenda kusoma riwaya jioni.
  = I (as opposed to someone else) like reading novels in the evening.
  (emphasis: maybe others don’t, but I do)

You can usually drop Mimi unless you want to stress the subject.

Can I say the sentence without Mimi?

Yes. This is perfectly correct:

• Ninapenda kusoma riwaya jioni.

Meaning stays the same (“I like reading novels in the evening”), just less emphatic on “I”. In everyday conversation, you will often hear the version without the independent pronoun.

What’s the difference between ninapenda and napenda?

Both can mean “I like / I love” in the present.

• ninapenda = ni- (I) + -na- (present) + penda (like/love)
• napenda is a shortened / contracted form that you hear very often in speech.

In practice:

• Ninapenda kusoma riwaya jioni.
• Napenda kusoma riwaya jioni.

Both are understood as the same sentence.
Ninapenda sounds a bit more careful / standard, while napenda is very common in everyday speech. Both are acceptable.

What exactly does ku- do in kusoma? Is it like “to” in English?

Yes, ku- is the basic infinitive marker for verbs in Swahili.

• soma = read / study (verb root)
• kusoma = to read / reading (the infinitive form)

So in the sentence:

• ninapenda kusoma
  = I like *to read / I like reading*

You cannot normally drop the ku- and say “ninapenda soma”. After verbs like penda (to like / love), anza (to start), weza (to be able), etc., the next verb usually appears in the ku- infinitive form.

Why is it ninapenda kusoma and not ninapenda nasoma?

Swahili normally does not put two fully conjugated (finite) verbs one after another the way English sometimes does.

• nasoma = ni- (I) + -na- (present) + soma (read) → I am reading / I read

If you said “ninapenda nasoma”, you’d have:

• ninapenda – “I like”
• nasoma – “I am reading”

That sounds like two separate clauses jammed together, not a smooth “I like reading.”
So Swahili uses the pattern:

• [conjugated verb] + [ku- infinitive]
  → ninapenda kusoma = I like to read / I like reading

This mirrors English structure with infinitives or gerunds: I like to read / I like reading.

Does ninapenda kusoma mean “I like to read” or “I like reading”?

It can mean both. Swahili kusoma covers both English forms:

• I like to read novels in the evening.
• I like reading novels in the evening.

Both are natural translations of:

• Ninapenda kusoma riwaya jioni.

Swahili doesn’t usually distinguish between “to read” and “reading” in this context; kusoma works for both.

Is riwaya singular or plural? How do I say “novel” vs “novels”?

Riwaya belongs to a noun class where singular and plural have the same form.

So:

• riwaya can mean “a novel” or “novels”, depending on context.
• In your sentence, riwaya is generic, so it’s natural to understand it as novels generally.

To make it explicit:

• Mimi ninapenda kusoma riwaya moja jioni.
  = I like reading one novel in the evening.

• Mimi ninapenda kusoma riwaya nyingi jioni.
  = I like reading many novels in the evening.

But Mimi ninapenda kusoma riwaya jioni. by itself is most naturally taken as “I like reading novels in the evening” (not just exactly one).

If I want to say “Swahili novels” or “English novels” in this sentence, where do I put that?

You use a genitive construction: riwaya za …

Examples:

• Mimi ninapenda kusoma riwaya za Kiswahili jioni.
  = I like reading Swahili novels in the evening.

• Mimi ninapenda kusoma riwaya za Kiingereza jioni.
  = I like reading English novels in the evening.

Pattern:

• riwaya (novels) + za (of, for this noun class) + Kiswahili / Kiingereza (language)

What does jioni literally mean, and why is there no word for “in” before it?

Jioni means “evening” and also functions as an adverb of time: in the evening.

In Swahili, time-of-day words usually don’t need a separate preposition like “in”:

• asubuhi – morning → in the morning
• mchana – afternoon/daytime → in the afternoon
• jioni – evening → in the evening
• usiku – night → at night

So:

• Mimi ninapenda kusoma riwaya jioni.
  literally: I like to-read novels evening
  but is naturally understood as: I like reading novels *in the evening.*

You don’t say “katika jioni” here; just jioni is standard.

Can I move jioni to the beginning or middle of the sentence?

Yes, adverbs of time like jioni are quite flexible in position. All of these are acceptable and mean the same thing:

1. Mimi ninapenda kusoma riwaya jioni.
2. Jioni, mimi ninapenda kusoma riwaya.
3. Mimi jioni ninapenda kusoma riwaya. (less common, but possible)

The most natural and common is probably (1).
Putting jioni at the beginning (Jioni, ...) adds a bit of emphasis to when this happens.

How would I change the tense, e.g. “I liked reading novels in the evening”?

You just change the tense marker on the verb penda:

• Present / habitual:
  Mimi ninapenda kusoma riwaya jioni.
  = I like / I love reading novels in the evening.

• Past (simple):
  Mimi nilipenda kusoma riwaya jioni.
  = I liked / I used to like reading novels in the evening.

Breakdown for past:

• ni- = I
• -li- = past
• penda = like/love

So nilipenda = I liked / I loved.
The rest of the sentence (kusoma riwaya jioni) stays the same.