Learn Hardcore Swahili: Tuliporudi kutoka sokoni, tukakula chakula cha jioni. - When we returned from the market, we ate dinner.

tu- = subject prefix for “we”
-li- = past tense marker
-po- = marker meaning roughly “when / at the time that” (for a specific time)
rudi = verb root “return, go back, come back”

So:

tuli-po-rudi → we-past-when-return → “when we returned”

That’s why there is no separate word for “we” or “when” in the Swahili sentence: they are built into the verb.

Why is there no separate word for “when” at the start, like When we returned…?

Swahili usually doesn’t use a separate word like English “when”; instead it uses a special infix inside the verb:

-po- → “when / at the time that” (specific occasion)
- tuliporudi = when we returned (that time)
(For comparison, not in this sentence) -ki- often means “when / whenever / if (as a condition)”.

So in tuliporudi, the -po- is doing the job that “when” does in English.

Could I say Tulirudi kutoka sokoni, tukakula chakula cha jioni instead of Tuliporudi…? What’s the difference?

You can say:

Tulirudi kutoka sokoni, tukakula chakula cha jioni.

This means:

“We returned from the market, then we ate dinner.”

The difference:

Tulirudi… = “We returned…” (a simple main clause)
Tuliporudi… = “When we returned…” (a time clause that sets the scene for what follows)

So tuliporudi makes the first part clearly a time background (“At the time when we came back, we then ate dinner”), while tulirudi just states two actions in sequence without explicitly turning the first into a “when”-clause.

What exactly does kutoka mean in kutoka sokoni? Is it a verb or a preposition like “from”?

Kutoka comes from the verb -toka = “to come from / to go out”.

ku- is the infinitive marker (“to …”)
toka is the root (“come from, exit”)

In many sentences, kutoka functions very much like the English preposition “from”:

kutoka sokoni = “from the market”

So grammatically it’s an infinitive verb used in a preposition-like way.

Why is it sokoni and not just soko?

Soko = “market”
-ni is a locative suffix meaning “in / at / to / from (a place)”.

sokoni = “at the market / in the market / from the market” depending on context

In kutoka sokoni, the verb kutoka (“come from”) plus the locative -ni gives the sense:

“from the market (as a place)”

If you said just kutoka soko, it would sound odd; the standard, natural form for “from the market” is kutoka sokoni.

What does tukakula mean, and how is it different from tulikula?

Both involve kula = “to eat”.

tuka-kula
- tu- = “we”
- -ka- = consecutive / sequential marker (“and then / and so”)
- kula = eat
tuli-kula
- tu- = “we”
- -li- = simple past
- kula = eat

So:

tukakula chakula cha jioni ≈ “and then we ate dinner / so we ate dinner”
tulikula chakula cha jioni = “we ate dinner” (just a plain past event)

The -ka- form makes it feel clearly like the next step in a sequence, tightly linked to the previous action (returning from the market). That’s why it fits perfectly after tuliporudi….

Can a sentence start with tukakula on its own, or does -ka- require something before it?

Normally, the -ka- form is used after another verb, to continue a story:

Tuliporudi kutoka sokoni, tukakula chakula cha jioni.
“When we returned from the market, we (then) ate dinner.”

Starting a conversation or new story with Tukakula chakula cha jioni would sound strange or abrupt to most speakers, because -ka- expects a prior action to connect to.

For a standalone sentence, you would just use the ordinary past:

Tulikula chakula cha jioni.
“We ate dinner.”

What does chakula cha jioni literally mean, and what is the role of cha?

Breakdown:

chakula = “food, meal” (noun class 7)
jioni = “evening”
cha = possessive/associative “of” that agrees with chakula’s noun class (class 7 → cha)

So literally:

chakula cha jioni = “food of the evening” → evening meal, dinner

The cha is like English “of” in this kind of phrase, but it also has to agree with the noun class of the first noun (chakula). For class 7 nouns, the “of” word is cha.

Why is it chakula cha jioni and not chakula ya jioni?

In Swahili, the “of” word (possessive/associative) agrees with the noun class of the first noun, not with the second noun.

chakula is in class 7 (ki-/vi-)
The class 7 form of “of” is cha

So:

chakula cha jioni ✅
chakula ya jioni ❌ (because ya is for class 9/10/6 etc., not for class 7)

Other examples with class 7:

kitabu cha Kiswahili – Swahili book
kiti cha plastiki – plastic chair

Can I drop cha and just say chakula jioni to mean “dinner”?

Normally, no. Chakula jioni without cha is not the standard way to say “dinner” and sounds incomplete or odd.

chakula cha jioni is the fixed, natural phrase for dinner / evening meal.
Without cha, you lose the explicit “of” relationship (“food of the evening”).

You might hear things like chakula jioni in fast, colloquial speech, but as a learner you should stick with chakula cha jioni.

Could I put the clauses in the other order, like Tukakula chakula cha jioni tuliporudi kutoka sokoni? Is that natural?

More natural alternatives would be:

Tuliporudi kutoka sokoni, tukakula chakula cha jioni.
(original – very natural)
Tulikula chakula cha jioni tuliporudi kutoka sokoni.
Literally “We ate dinner when we returned from the market.”

In ordinary speech and writing, it’s more common and clearer to put the “when”-clause first, then the main action:

Tuliporudi kutoka sokoni, tukakula chakula cha jioni.

Putting tukakula first and tuliporudi second in the same sentence would sound awkward here, because -ka- usually refers back to something that has already been mentioned.