Kabla ya kulala, tunaangalia kiwango cha maji kwenye tanki ili tujue kama kinatosha kwa kesho.

Before sleeping, we check the level of water in the tank so that we know whether it is enough for tomorrow.

Breakdown of Kabla ya kulala, tunaangalia kiwango cha maji kwenye tanki ili tujue kama kinatosha kwa kesho.

• sisi: we
• kesho: tomorrow
• kulala: to sleep
• kwa: for
• kujua: to know
• maji: the water
• kabla ya: before
• ili: so that
• kwenye: in
• cha: of
• kutosha: enough
• kiwango: the level
• kama: whether
• kuangalia: to check
• tanki: the tank

Questions & Answers about Kabla ya kulala, tunaangalia kiwango cha maji kwenye tanki ili tujue kama kinatosha kwa kesho.

Why is it “kabla ya kulala” and not just “kabla kulala”?

In Swahili, kabla (before) is usually followed by ya when what comes next is a noun or a verb used as a noun (a verbal noun / infinitive).

• kulala (to sleep / sleeping) is the infinitive, which behaves like a noun.
• So the pattern is: kabla ya + [noun / verbal noun]

Examples:

• kabla ya kula – before eating
• kabla ya kazi – before work

Saying kabla kulala without ya is not standard; native speakers expect kabla ya here.

What exactly is happening grammatically in “kulala” here? Is it “to sleep” or “sleeping”?

kulala is the infinitive form, built from:

• prefix ku-
  • verb stem -lala

In English it can correspond to either “to sleep” or “sleeping”, depending on context. In Swahili, that same form can act as:

• a verb: Nataka kulala. – I want to sleep.
• a verbal noun: Kabla ya kulala… – Before sleeping / before we sleep...

So in kabla ya kulala, it’s functioning more like a noun (sleeping) than a finite verb (we sleep).

Could I say “kabla ya sisi kulala” to make it clear that we are the ones sleeping?

Yes, you can, but it’s usually not necessary.

• kabla ya kulala already implies “before we sleep” because the subject is clear from context and from the rest of the sentence.
• kabla ya sisi kulala literally: “before our sleeping / before we sleep” – this is grammatically acceptable, but sounds heavier and is used when you really want to emphasize who is doing the action.

Most of the time, native speakers just say kabla ya kulala.

Why is it “tunaangalia” and not just “tunaangalia kiwango…” without “tuna-” or with a different tense?

tunaangalia is made of:

• tu- = we (subject prefix)
• -na- = present tense marker (habitual / present)
• -angalia = look/check

So tunaangalia means “we look / we are looking / we check”.
This present tense is flexible in Swahili and can express:

• current actions: Sasa tunaangalia kiwango… – Right now we’re checking…
• habitual/routine actions: Kila siku tunaangalia… – Every day we check…

In your sentence, it expresses a regular habit done before sleeping. You must keep tu- and -na-; saying just angalia kiwango… would be an imperative (“check the level…”) not “we check…”.

What does “kiwango cha maji” literally mean, and why is it “cha”?

kiwango cha maji literally is:

• kiwango – level / amount / standard (noun, class 7: ki-/vi-)
• cha – possessive/associative form for class 7 singular (ki-)
• maji – water

So kiwango cha maji = “the level of water” / “the water level” / “the amount of water”.

The cha agrees with kiwango, not with maji:

• Class 7 (ki-/vi-) uses cha in this construction:
  • kiti (chair) → kiti cha mtoto – the child’s chair
  • kikombe (cup) → kikombe cha chai – a cup of tea
  • kiwango → kiwango cha maji – level of water

Why is it “kama kinatosha” and not “kama inatosha” or “kama yanatosha”? Which noun is “ki-” referring to?

The ki- in kinatosha is agreeing with kiwango (level/amount), not with maji (water).

Breakdown of kinatosha:

• ki- = subject prefix for class 7 (ki-/vi-)
• -na- = present tense marker
• -tosha = be enough / be sufficient

So kinatosha = “it (the level/amount) is enough”.

Why not yanatosha?

• yanatosha (class 6: ma-/ma-) would agree with maji and mean “the water is enough”.
• But the sentence is conceptually focused on the level/amount being enough (kiwango), so kinatosha is correct and natural.

inatosha would agree with a class 9/10 noun (e.g. hali inatosha – the situation is enough), which doesn’t fit here.

What is the purpose of “ili” in “ili tujue kama kinatosha”? Could I omit it?

ili introduces a purpose clause:

• ili = so that / in order that

ili tujue kama kinatosha ≈ “so that we know whether it’s enough”.

If you remove ili, you change the structure:

• tunaangalia… ili tujue… – we check… so that we know… (expresses purpose)
• tunaangalia… tunajua… – we check…, we know… (just two actions; the purpose link is weaker or disappears)

So ili is needed to clearly express that the checking is being done for the purpose of knowing whether it’s enough.

Why is “tujue” in the -e form instead of “tunajua”?

tujue is the subjunctive form of kujua (to know):

• tu- = we
• stem -jua
• final -a → -e for subjunctive → tujue

After ili (“so that / in order that”), Swahili normally uses the subjunctive:

• ili tuone – so that we see
• ili uelewe – so that you understand

So:

• ili tujue = so that we may know / so that we know

Using tunajua after ili would sound ungrammatical or at least very odd to native speakers. The -e ending is required here by the ili-clause structure.

What does “kama” mean here? Is it “if” or “whether”? Could I use “ikiwa” instead?

In kama kinatosha, kama means “whether / if” in the sense of checking a condition.

• kama is very common and works for both “if” and “whether”, depending on context.
  • Nataka kujua kama kinatosha. – I want to know whether it’s enough.
  • Kama kinatosha, hatutajaza tena. – If it is enough, we won’t fill it again.

You could say ikiwa kinatosha, but:

• ikiwa is more formal, and more typical at the beginning of a clause in “if X, then Y” sentences.
• After kujua / kujionea etc., kama is far more natural than ikiwa.

So here kama is the best choice.

What is the difference between “kwenye tanki”, “ndani ya tanki”, and “katika tanki”?

All three can be used, but there are nuances:

• kwenye tanki – very common, general location: “in/at the tank”. Neutral, everyday Swahili.
• ndani ya tanki – literally “inside the tank”. Emphasizes the interior; often used when contrasting inside vs outside.
• katika tanki – more formal/literary; also means “in the tank”.

In this sentence, kwenye tanki is perfectly natural and idiomatic for “in the tank”. Using ndani ya tanki would also be fine if you want to stress “inside”.

Why is it “kwa kesho” and not just “kesho” or “ya kesho”?

kwa here expresses the idea “for (the purpose of) tomorrow”.

• kinatosha kwa kesho ≈ “it is enough for tomorrow.”

If you said only kinatosha kesho, it would more likely be understood as:

• “It is enough tomorrow” (time adverb) rather than “enough for tomorrow’s use”.

ya kesho is used in different structures:

• maandalizi ya kesho – preparations for tomorrow
• chakula cha kesho – tomorrow’s food

Here you’re not saying “the level of water of tomorrow”, you’re specifying that the level is sufficient for tomorrow, so kwa kesho is the natural prepositional phrase.

Is the comma after “kulala” necessary in Swahili, or is it just like in English?

The comma after kabla ya kulala is used in a similar way to English:

• It separates an introductory clause/phrase (kabla ya kulala) from the main clause (tunaangalia kiwango…).

In normal writing:

• With a short opener like this, some writers omit the comma: Kabla ya kulala tunaangalia kiwango…
• Others keep it, especially in careful or formal writing.

So it isn’t strictly “grammatically required” but is stylistically helpful and quite common.

Could I move “kabla ya kulala” to the end of the sentence, and would the meaning change?

Yes, you can move it:

• Tunaangalia kiwango cha maji kwenye tanki kabla ya kulala ili tujue kama kinatosha kwa kesho.

The core meaning stays the same: checking the water level is something done before sleeping.

Differences are only in emphasis and flow:

• At the beginning (Kabla ya kulala, tunaangalia…) – emphasizes the time condition first (before sleeping, this is what we do).
• In the middle or at the end – sounds a bit more neutral, just adding when the checking happens.

All positions are acceptable; initial position is very natural for this kind of “routine before X” sentence.