Breakdown of Wakati watoto walikuwa wakicheza uwanjani, mama alikuwa akipika chakula cha jioni.
Questions & Answers about Wakati watoto walikuwa wakicheza uwanjani, mama alikuwa akipika chakula cha jioni.
Wakati literally means time, but in sentences like this it works as a conjunction meaning when or while.
- Wakati watoto walikuwa wakicheza uwanjani
= When / While the children were playing in the yard
It does not clearly force either when (a single moment) or while (overlapping actions); the progressive form walikuwa wakicheza already suggests an ongoing action, so while is a natural translation.
You can also say:
- Watoto walipokuwa wakicheza uwanjani, mama alikuwa akipika chakula cha jioni.
(Literally: When the children were playing in the yard…)
Here -po- on walipokuwa also means when/while, so wakati can be dropped if you use that structure.
Walicheza is simple past: they played.
Walikuwa wakicheza is a past progressive: they were playing – an action that was ongoing at a certain time.
Structure:
- walikuwa = wa- (they) + -li- (past) + -kuwa (to be) → they were
- wakicheza = wa- (they) + -ki- (progressive marker) + cheza (play) → (while) playing
So:
Watoto walicheza uwanjani.
The children played in the yard. (finished event)Watoto walikuwa wakicheza uwanjani.
The children were playing in the yard. (ongoing background action)
In your sentence, the ongoing feeling is important because it overlaps with the mother cooking.
A very common way to form the past continuous is:
[subject]-li-kuwa + [subject]-ki-[verb]
So in your sentence:
walikuwa wakicheza
- wa-li-kuwa = they were
- wa-ki-cheza = (while) playing
→ they were playing
alikuwa akipika
- a-li-kuwa = he/she was
- a-ki-pika = (while) cooking
→ she was cooking
Other patterns you may hear:
- walikuwa wanacheza (using na instead of ki)
- In speech, sometimes just one part is kept if the meaning is clear from context, e.g.
Watoto walikuwa wanacheza uwanjani.
Mama alikuwa anapika chakula cha jioni.
But the pattern in your sentence is a textbook example of the past continuous.
After kuwa when you want the progressive meaning (be doing something), you usually use a verb with -ki-:
- wa-ki-cheza (they [are/were] playing)
- a-ki-pika (she [is/was] cooking)
Using ku- here (the infinitive form, kucheza, kupika) would be wrong in standard Swahili for this meaning. Compare:
- walikuwa wakicheza = they were playing
- walikuwa kucheza = incorrect in this structure
Very roughly:
- -ki- on the verb stem → ongoing, in-progress action
- ku- at the beginning → infinitive, to do X (to play, to cook)
So walikuwa wakicheza is literally they were (they-ki-play).
This is subject agreement with noun classes and number.
Watoto (children) → plural humans → subject prefix wa-
- wa-li-kuwa = they were
- wa-ki-cheza = (while) they were playing
Mama (mother) → singular human → subject prefix a-
- a-li-kuwa = she was
- a-ki-pika = (while) she was cooking
In Swahili, the subject pronoun (they, she, he, I, we, etc.) is usually baked into the verb as a prefix:
- walikuwa already means they were
- alikuwa already means she/he was
That is why you usually do not see separate subject pronouns like wao (they) or yeye (he/she) unless you want to emphasize something.
Yes, that form is possible, especially in narrative or more literary styles. For example:
- Watoto wakicheza uwanjani, mama akipika chakula cha jioni.
This sounds like a written-story style: The children (were) playing in the yard, the mother (was) cooking dinner.
However:
- For clear, neutral, textbook Swahili, walikuwa wakicheza / alikuwa akipika is safer.
- The shorter form with just wakicheza / akipika is more compact and can sound more literary or descriptive.
Your original sentence is perfectly natural and very clear for learners.
Uwanjani is:
- uwanja = yard, field, ground, playground
- -ni = locative suffix (at/in/on)
So uwanjani means in the yard, in the field, at the playground, depending on context.
You could also express the location with a preposition:
- katika uwanja = in the yard / in the field
Often, uwanjani (with -ni) is the most natural, compact way to say in the yard / on the field.
This is about noun classes and the connective of.
- Chakula (food, meal) is in noun class 7 (ki-/vi- class).
- The of connector (associative) for class 7 is cha (singular) / vya (plural).
So:
- chakula cha jioni = food of evening → evening meal → dinner
- chakula cha mchana = food of midday → lunch
- chakula cha asubuhi = food of morning → breakfast
Ya is the class 9/10 form of of (for nouns like nchi, meza, etc.), so chakula ya jioni would be ungrammatical, because chakula is not in that class.
Think:
- Class 7: kitu → cha kitu (thing → thing of…)
- Class 7: chakula → cha chakula / cha jioni
Yes, a very common and natural way to say dinner is:
- chakula cha jioni (literally: evening food / evening meal)
You will also hear:
- chakula cha usiku (night meal) – depending on regional habits
- mlo wa jioni (evening meal) – more formal or written
In everyday speech, chakula cha jioni is widely understood as dinner.
Yes, that is perfectly correct:
- Mama alikuwa akipika chakula cha jioni wakati watoto walikuwa wakicheza uwanjani.
Swahili allows both orders:
- Wakati watoto walikuwa wakicheza uwanjani, mama alikuwa akipika chakula cha jioni.
- Mama alikuwa akipika chakula cha jioni wakati watoto walikuwa wakicheza uwanjani.
The meaning is the same: two actions happening at the same time; only the focus or what you mention first changes slightly.
Swahili does not use definite articles like the, and often leaves out possessives like my, their when they are obvious from context.
- mama can mean mother or the mother; in some contexts it also works like Mum/Mom.
- In your sentence, it is natural to understand mama as their mother because the children and the mother are clearly connected in the story.
If you want to be explicit, you can add a possessive:
- mama yao = their mother
- mama yangu = my mother
- mama wa watoto = the children’s mother
So you could say:
- Wakati watoto walikuwa wakicheza uwanjani, mama yao alikuwa akipika chakula cha jioni.
(When the children were playing in the yard, their mother was cooking dinner.)
But it is not required if the relationship is clear.
Compare:
Wakati watoto walikuwa wakicheza uwanjani, mama alikuwa akipika chakula cha jioni.
- walikuwa wakicheza = were playing (ongoing)
- alikuwa akipika = was cooking (ongoing)
→ Two actions happening at the same time, both in progress.
Wakati watoto walicheza uwanjani, mama alipika chakula cha jioni.
- walicheza = played (simple past)
- alipika = cooked (simple past)
→ Often understood more as whole events, and can sound more like:
When the children played in the yard, the mother cooked dinner.
(Less emphasis on the two actions unfolding simultaneously.)
The version with walikuwa wakicheza / alikuwa akipika is better if you want to highlight that both activities were ongoing at the same time, which is what the English past progressive were playing / was cooking does.