Learn Hardcore Swahili: Niliporudi kutoka sokoni, niliona maji mengi barabarani. - When I returned from the market, I saw a lot of water on the road.

In Swahili, it’s normal for the subject, tense, and some connecting ideas like “when” or “if” to attach directly to the verb rather than being separate words.

What is the difference between Niliporudi and Nilirudi?

Nilirudi = ni- (I) + -li- (past) + rudi (return)
→ “I returned / I came back.” (a normal main clause)
Niliporudi = ni-
- -li-
  - -po-
    - rudi
      → “When I returned / when I came back.” (introduces a time clause)

That extra -po- turns the verb into something like “at the time when I returned.”

So:

Nilirudi kutoka sokoni. = I came back from the market.
Niliporudi kutoka sokoni, … = When I came back from the market, … (it expects another clause after it).

What exactly does -po- in Niliporudi mean? Are there other forms like it?

-po- is a relative/connecting marker often used for:

a specific place where something happens, or
a specific time when something happens.

In a sentence like Niliporudi kutoka sokoni, …, -po- is understood as “when.”

There are related forms:

-po- → specific time/place: when / where (specific)
-ki- → when / if / as (often for ongoing or repeated situations)
-ko- / -mo- → more clearly locative (where / in which), depending on context

Examples:

Nitakapofika, nitakupigia simu. – When I arrive, I’ll call you.
Nikifika, nitakupigia simu. – When(ever)/as I arrive, I’ll call you.

In your sentence, -po- is the natural choice for “when (I returned).”

Why do we need kutoka in kutoka sokoni? Could I just say Niliporudi sokoni?

Kutoka literally means “to come from / to go out of.”

kutoka sokoni = from the market
kurudi sokoni usually means to return *to the market*

If you say:

Nilirudi sokoni.
That will normally be understood as I went back to the market.

But your sentence wants from the market, so Swahili shows that clearly with kutoka:

Niliporudi kutoka sokoni, …
→ When I came back *from the market, …*

So kutoka is important to show the direction (coming from, not going to).

What is the difference between soko and sokoni?

soko = market (basic noun form)
sokoni = at the market / in the market / to or from the market

The suffix -ni is a locative ending. It often gives meanings like “in, at, on, to, from” depending on the verb and context.

Some patterns:

Niko sokoni. – I am at the market.
Naenda sokoni. – I am going to the market.
Ninatoka sokoni. – I am coming from the market.

In kutoka sokoni, it’s clearly “from the market.”

Is maji singular or plural? Why is it maji mengi and not something like maji nyingi?

In Swahili, maji (water) belongs to the ji-/ma- noun class (Class 5/6). Many mass nouns like water, milk, etc., look grammatically plural even though in English we treat them as “uncountable.”

maji – water
The agreeing form of -ingi (many/much) for this class is mengi, not nyingi.

So:

maji mengi = a lot of water (literally “many waters” but understood as “much water”)
nyingi is used with nouns in a different class, e.g.
- siku nyingi – many days
- habari nyingi – a lot of news

So maji mengi is the correct agreement: noun and adjective match in class.

Does maji mengi mean “many waters” or “a lot of water”? Is it natural to say it this way?

In normal usage, maji mengi means “a lot of water / much water.”

Even though maji is grammatically plural, speakers don’t picture separate “waters” unless the context forces that idea. In everyday speech:

Kulikuwa na maji mengi barabarani.
= There was a lot of water on the road.

If you really wanted to stress quantity even more, you might hear:

maji mengi sana – a whole lot of water, very much water

But maji mengi alone is already natural and clear.

What does barabarani literally mean, and what does the -ni ending do here?

barabara = road / street
barabarani = on the road / in the road / along the road

Again, -ni is a locative suffix: it attaches to a noun to give a sense of location (in, at, on), depending on context and the verb.

Compare:

barabara – road (as a thing, abstractly)
barabarani – on/at/in the road (as a place where something is happening)

Other examples:

shuleni – at school (from shule, school)
nyumbani – at home (from nyumba, house/home)

So maji mengi barabarani ≈ a lot of water on the road.

Can I change the word order and put the “I saw…” part first, like in English sometimes?

Yes, you can reverse the order:

Niliona maji mengi barabarani niliporudi kutoka sokoni.
→ I saw a lot of water on the road when I came back from the market.

Both orders are grammatically correct:

Niliporudi kutoka sokoni, niliona maji mengi barabarani.
Niliona maji mengi barabarani niliporudi kutoka sokoni.

Placing Niliporudi kutoka sokoni first just emphasizes the time (when it happened).

Swahili word order is fairly flexible with clauses, as long as each clause itself is well-formed.

Do I really need the comma in Niliporudi kutoka sokoni, niliona… in Swahili?

Punctuation rules are a bit looser in everyday Swahili writing than in formal English, but the comma is recommended and common here.

Niliporudi kutoka sokoni, niliona maji mengi barabarani.

The comma helps the reader:

It separates the time clause (when I came back from the market)
from the main action (I saw a lot of water on the road).

In informal writing or texting, people might drop it, but in careful writing you should keep it.

Why is ni- (meaning “I”) repeated in both Niliporudi and niliona? Couldn’t you just say it once?

In Swahili, each finite verb normally carries its own subject marker, even if the same subject continues.

So:

Niliporudi… niliona…
Both verbs show ni- (I) and -li- (past).

You do not “carry over” the subject across verbs the way you might in English with “When I returned, saw a lot of water…”—in English that would be wrong; in Swahili it’s the same idea: each verb needs its subject marker.

However, Swahili has special connecting forms like nika-:

Niliporudi kutoka sokoni, nikaona maji mengi barabarani.

Here nikaona is:

ni- (I) + -ka- (narrative “and then”) + ona (see)

It still encodes the subject on the second verb; it’s just using a different tense/aspect connector instead of -li-.

Could I say Niliporudi sokoni instead of Niliporudi kutoka sokoni to mean “when I came back from the market”?

No; Niliporudi sokoni is normally understood as:

When I returned *to the market* (destination)

Because -ni on soko → sokoni often behaves like “to / at / in” depending on the verb:

Naenda sokoni. – I’m going to the market.
Niko sokoni. – I’m at the market.

To make it clearly from the market, you normally say:

Niliporudi kutoka sokoni. – When I came back from the market.

So kutoka is important for the “from” meaning.

Are there other natural ways to express “When I came back from the market…” in Swahili?

Yes, you can phrase it in several natural ways, for example:

Wakati niliporudi kutoka sokoni, niliona maji mengi barabarani.
– At the time when I came back from the market, I saw…
(wakati explicitly means time/when; it’s a bit more explicit.)
Niliporudi kutoka sokoni nikakuta maji mengi barabarani.
– When I came back from the market I (then) found a lot of water on the road.
(nikakuta uses -ka-, a narrative connector, and kuta = to find.)
Niliporudi kutoka sokoni, kulikuwa na maji mengi barabarani.
– When I came back from the market, there was a lot of water on the road.
(kulikuwa na = there was/there were)

Your original version is already natural; these are just stylistic variations.

Why is the second verb niliona (simple past) and not something like nikaona? What’s the difference?

Both are possible, but they have slightly different flavors:

Niliporudi kutoka sokoni, niliona maji mengi barabarani.
- Both verbs use -li- (simple past).
- This sounds like a straightforward description of two past facts.
Niliporudi kutoka sokoni, nikaona maji mengi barabarani.
- The first verb has -li- (past), the second has -ka- (narrative connector).
- -ka- often carries the meaning “and then / and as a result.”

So sentence 2 feels a bit more like a sequence:
When I came back from the market, I then saw a lot of water (as the next event).

In many contexts, both are acceptable; the -ka- form is especially common in storytelling and narratives.