Learn Hardcore Swahili: Mama anataka kununulia mtoto zawadi. - Mother wants to buy a gift for the child.

a- = subject prefix for “he / she” (or any 3rd-person singular noun like Mama)
-na- = present tense marker (roughly “is / does / is currently”)
-taka = verb root “want”

So Mama anataka… literally is “Mother she-is-wanting…”, which in normal English is just “Mother wants…” or “Mum wants to…”.

Using just taka without a- and -na- would be incomplete in normal sentences.

Why is there ku- in kununulia? What does it do?

ku- in kununulia is the infinitive marker, like “to” in English.

nunulia = the verb form “buy for”
ku-nunulia = “to buy for”

Because anataka (“wants”) is followed by another verb, that second verb is put in its infinitive form:

anataka kula = she wants to eat
anataka kuenda = she wants to go
anataka kununulia = she wants to buy (for)

So ku- is needed to show this is the “to X” form of the verb.

What is the difference between kununua and kununulia?

Both come from the root -nunua (“to buy”), but:

kununua = to buy (basic meaning)
kununulia = to buy for (someone)

kununulia is an “applied” or benefactive form: it adds the sense of doing the action for someone’s benefit.

Compare:

Mama anataka kununua zawadi.
= Mother wants to buy a gift.
(No information about for whom.)
Mama anataka kununulia mtoto zawadi.
= Mother wants to buy the child a gift / buy a gift for the child.
(The verb itself already includes “for [the child]”.)

Why is there no word meaning “for” before mtoto? Why not something like kwa mtoto?

The idea of “for” is already built into the verb kununulia:

kununua = to buy
kununulia mtu kitu = to buy something for someone

So:

kununua zawadi kwa mtoto = to buy a gift for the child (using kwa)
kununulia mtoto zawadi = to buy the child a gift (the “for” idea is inside -li- / -lia)

Both structures are grammatically possible, but in this particular sentence, because kununulia is already the “buy for” form, you don’t need kwa. The pattern kununulia + recipient + thing is very common and natural.

Why does mtoto come before zawadi? Could I say …kununulia zawadi mtoto instead?

In this kind of double-object structure, the usual, most natural order in Swahili is:

Verb (applied) + recipient + thing given

So:

…kununulia mtoto zawadi
= buy the child a gift

Putting zawadi first:

…kununulia zawadi mtoto

sounds awkward or wrong to most speakers in this sentence. You might see the order change in some contexts for emphasis, but the “default” order is:

Person who benefits / receives (mtoto)
Thing that is given / done (zawadi)

How would I say “Mother wants to buy her child a gift” instead of just “the child”?

To show that it’s her child, you add a possessive after mtoto:

mtoto wake = her child / his child
Mama anataka kununulia mtoto wake zawadi.
= Mother wants to buy her child a gift.

Other examples:

mtoto wao = their child
mtoto wetu = our child
mtoto wangu = my child

Could I drop Mama and just say Anataka kununulia mtoto zawadi?

Yes, if the subject is already clear from context, Swahili often drops the noun or pronoun and relies on the verb’s subject prefix:

Anataka kununulia mtoto zawadi.
= She/he wants to buy the child a gift.

Because a- is “he/she”, the listener would need context to know who exactly you mean. If you want to be clear and introduce the subject, you keep Mama:

Mama anataka kununulia mtoto zawadi.

What tense or time does anataka show? Is it “wants” or “is wanting right now”?

The marker -na- is the present tense, which usually covers:

general present: “Mother wants to buy the child a gift.”
present-in-progress / current desire: “Mother (right now) wants to buy the child a gift.”

So anataka can be translated as “wants” or sometimes “is wanting”, but in natural English we just say “wants”.

Other tenses with the same verb:

alitaka = she/he wanted
atataka = she/he will want
angependa kununulia = she/he would like to buy (for) (more polite/conditional)

Why is it anataka after Mama, and not ninataka or nataka?

The verb has to agree with the subject in person and number via a subject prefix:

mimi ninataka = I want
wewe unataka = you (sg.) want
yeye anataka = he/she wants
sisi tunataka = we want
nyinyi mnataka = you (pl.) want
wao wanataka = they want

Since Mama is 3rd-person singular (like “she”), it takes a-:

Mama anataka… = Mother wants…

Saying Mama ninataka… would wrongly combine “Mother I want…” and is ungrammatical.

Does zawadi change form for singular and plural? How would I say “gifts”?

zawadi belongs to a noun class where the singular and plural often look the same. Context tells you whether it’s one gift or several.

zawadi = gift / gifts

To be explicit:

zawadi moja = one gift
zawadi nyingi = many gifts

In your sentence:

Mama anataka kununulia mtoto zawadi.

is usually understood as “a gift”, but depending on context it could also be “(some) gifts”.

How do you pronounce kununulia? It looks like a lot of vowels in a row.

kununulia is pronounced with clear, separate syllables:

ku-nu-nu-li-a

All vowels in Swahili are pure and short, so don’t blend them together like in English.

ku – like “koo” in “cookie”
nu – “noo”
nu – again
li – “lee”
a – “ah”

Say it smoothly: koo-noo-noo-LEE-ah (but not drawn out; each syllable is short and even).

Can I also say Mama anataka kumnunulia mtoto zawadi with kum- before nunulia?

You’ll sometimes see an object marker attached to the infinitive like that, but you need to be careful.

kumnunulia = ku- (to) + m- (object marker “him/her”) + nunulia (buy for)

However, with an applied verb like kununulia, which already takes both a recipient and a thing, it’s more natural and simple just to say:

Mama anataka kununulia mtoto zawadi.

You’d typically only add an object marker if you were really emphasizing that particular person, or if the noun wasn’t stated again. For example:

Mama anataka kumnunulia zawadi.
= Mother wants to buy him/her a gift.
(The person was mentioned earlier, so now you just use kum-.)

In your original sentence, the basic, clean form kununulia mtoto zawadi is the best choice.