Learn Hardcore Swahili: Nilikuwa nikitazama saa ya ukutani nilipomsikia mtoto akibisha mlango akisema “hodi”. - I was looking at the wall clock when I heard the child knocking at the door saying “hodi”.

In this sentence, the speaker wants to show that looking at the clock was an ongoing background action when something else happened (hearing the child). That’s why the double form nilikuwa + nikitazama is used.

Why are there two verbs with ni-: Nilikuwa nikitazama? Isn’t one ni- enough?

Both ni- forms are normal here, and they play different roles:

Nilikuwa = ni- (I) + -li- (past) + kuwa (to be) → I was
nikitazama = ni- (I) + -ki- (continuous / “while”) + tazama (look) → while I was looking / as I was looking

Structurally, it’s like saying in English:

I was (I-while-looking at the clock) when…

Swahili often marks ongoing past actions with this kuwa + verb with -ki- pattern:

Nilikuwa nikiandika barua – I was writing a letter
Tulikuwa tukiangalia televisheni – We were watching TV

What does the -ki- mean in nikitazama, akibisha, and akisema?

The prefix -ki- here marks an action that is ongoing at the same time as another action. It’s like “while …-ing”.

nikitazama – while I was looking
akibisha – while he was knocking
akisema – while he was saying

In this sentence:

Nilikuwa nikitazama… – I was in the middle of looking…
…nilipomsikia mtoto akibisha mlango akisema hodi. – when I heard the child while he was knocking and while he was saying hodi.

So -ki- in these verbs ties the actions together as overlapping, not simply one after the other.

How is nilipomsikia built, and what does -po- mean?

Nilipomsikia can be broken down like this:

ni- – I (subject)
-li- – past tense
-po- – when / at the time that (a kind of temporal “where/when” marker)
-m- – him/her (object)
-sikia – hear

So nilipomsikia literally has the sense of “when I heard him”.

Without -po-: nilimsikia = I heard him (simple statement of what happened).
With -po-: nilipomsikia = when I heard him (introduces a time clause: at the moment that I heard him).

That’s why it naturally connects with the rest of the sentence:
…nilipomsikia mtoto akibisha mlango… – …when I heard the child knocking on the door…

Could I say Nilimsikia mtoto instead of Nilipomsikia mtoto? What would change?

Yes, you can say Nilimsikia mtoto, but the nuance changes:

Nilimsikia mtoto – I heard the child.
- Just states the fact that you heard the child.
Nilipomsikia mtoto – When I heard the child…
- Introduces a time frame and expects another event to be mentioned (what else happened at that time).

In your sentence, nilipomsikia is needed because it is part of a “when X, Y happened” structure:

Nilikuwa nikitazama saa … nilipomsikia mtoto…
- I was looking at the clock when I heard the child…

Why is it mtoto akibisha mlango with no word for on, instead of something like akibisha juu ya mlango (knocking on the door)?

In Swahili, bisha mlango is the normal way to say “knock on the door”. The idea “on” is simply understood from the verb and the object.

bisha – to knock
mlango – door

So:

akibisha mlango – knocking (on) the door

Adding a preposition like juu ya here would sound unnatural or overly literal. Verbs in Swahili often include meanings that require a preposition in English.

What exactly does saa ya ukutani mean? Why ya ukutani and not something like saa ya ukuta?

saa ya ukutani literally means “the clock of/on the wall”, i.e. a wall clock.

saa – clock, watch, hour
ukuta – wall
ukutani – on the wall (locative form: “at/on the wall”)
ya – “of” (agrees with saa, which is an N-class noun)

So saa ya ukutani is “the clock (that is) on the wall”.

If you said saa ya ukuta, it would be more like “the clock of the wall” (focusing on the wall as a possessive noun), and it sounds less natural than using ukutani (the locative “on the wall”) in this common expression.

Why do we use ya in saa ya ukutani, not wa?

The word ya here is an associative/possessive connector that must agree with the first noun (saa), not the second noun (ukutani).

saa belongs to the N class (same singular/plural form)
The associative for N-class nouns is ya.

Some examples:

saa ya ukutani – the wall clock
chai ya asubuhi – morning tea
barua ya rafiki yangu – my friend’s letter

If the first noun were in a different noun class, you might use wa, la, etc. For example:

mlango wa chumbani – the door of the room (mlango = M/WA class → wa)

What does hodi mean, and when is it used?

Hodi is a polite call used at the door in Swahili-speaking cultures. It’s similar to:

“Knock knock”, or
“May I come in?”

Typical usage:

You arrive at someone’s house, stand at the door (maybe knock), and say Hodi!
Someone inside answers Karibu! – Welcome! / Come in!
Then you enter.

So mtoto … akisema hodi means the child was saying hodi at the door to ask for permission to enter.

Why is it mtoto akibisha mlango akisema hodi and not mtoto aliyekuwa akibisha mlango na akisema hodi?

Both are grammatically possible, but the original is more natural and smoother.

mtoto akibisha mlango akisema hodi
- Uses -ki- to show simultaneous ongoing actions: the child was knocking and saying hodi at the same time.
mtoto aliyekuwa akibisha mlango na akisema hodi
- More explicit, but heavier: literally “the child who was knocking on the door and was saying hodi”.

In everyday Swahili, chaining verbs with -ki- (as here) is a very common, fluent way to describe multiple overlapping actions by the same subject.

Can I change the order and say: Nilipomsikia mtoto akibisha mlango akisema hodi, nilikuwa nikitazama saa ya ukutani?

Yes, that word order is acceptable and natural. Swahili is fairly flexible with clause order as long as the verb forms are correct.

Nilikuwa nikitazama saa ya ukutani nilipomsikia mtoto…
Nilipomsikia mtoto… nilikuwa nikitazama saa ya ukutani.

Both mean the same: I was looking at the wall clock when I heard the child… The difference is just which part you want to emphasize first: the background action (nilikuwa nikitazama) or the interrupting event (nilipomsikia mtoto…).

Why isn’t there a word like wakati (when) or alipokuwa (when he/she was) linking these clauses?

The verb forms themselves already carry the “when/while” meaning:

Nilikuwa nikitazama… – I was (in the middle of) looking…
…nilipomsikia mtoto… – when I heard the child… (the -po- gives that “when” sense)
mtoto akibisha… akisema… – the child, (as he was) knocking… (as he was) saying…

So you do not need to add wakati or alipokuwa. You could say, for example:

Wakati nilikuwa nikitazama saa ya ukutani, nilimsikia mtoto akibisha mlango akisema hodi.

This is also correct, but slightly longer. The original sentence is already clear and natural just through the tense/aspect markers and connectors built into the verbs.