Learn Hardcore Swahili: Leo kocha anazungumza na mzazi wa msichana mmoja kuhusu nidhamu. - Today the coach is talking with the parent of one girl about discipline.

Leo means today and is an adverb of time. In Swahili, time words like leo, jana (yesterday), kesho (tomorrow) often appear at the beginning of the sentence to set the time frame:

Leo kocha anazungumza… – Today the coach is talking…
Jana kocha alizungumza… – Yesterday the coach talked…

You can also move leo without changing the basic meaning:

Kocha leo anazungumza na mzazi…
Kocha anazungumza na mzazi leo.

Putting leo at the beginning just sounds very natural and neutral, like “Today, the coach is talking…” in English.

What does anazungumza literally consist of, and what does each part mean?

anazungumza is made of three parts:

a- = subject marker for he/she (3rd person singular)
-na- = present tense marker (roughly “is/does” in the present)
-zungumza = verb root meaning to talk / to converse

So a-na-zungumza literally is “he/she – present – talks/is talking.”

Some more examples with the same pattern:

Ninazungumza – I am talking / I talk (ni- = I)
Tunazungumza – We are talking / we talk (tu- = we)
Wanakimbia – They are running (wa- = they, -kimbia = run)

What is the difference between anazungumza, anaongea, and anasema?

All three are common, but they’re not identical:

anazungumza – to talk, to converse, often implies a two-way conversation.
anaongea – to speak, to talk; very common in everyday speech, sometimes a bit more casual.
anasema – to say; focuses more on what is being said rather than the act of conversing.

In this sentence, anazungumza fits well because the coach is having a discussion with the parent. You could also say:

Leo kocha anaongea na mzazi wa msichana mmoja kuhusu nidhamu.

That would still sound natural. Anasema na is possible but less common in this context; anasema is often followed by what someone says, e.g. anasema kwamba… (“he/she says that…”).

What does na mean in anazungumza na mzazi?

na here means with, so anazungumza na mzazi = is talking with the parent.

Common meanings of na:

and: mwalimu na mwanafunzi – the teacher and the student
with: anatembea na rafiki – he/she is walking with a friend
in/using/by (instrumental sense): anaandika na kalamu – he/she is writing with a pen

The meaning is decided by context. In this sentence, na clearly links the person who is talking to the person they are talking with.

What does kocha mean exactly? Is it the same as mwalimu?

kocha is a borrowed word from English coach and usually means a sports coach (football coach, athletics coach, etc.).

mwalimu means teacher in a more general, school/teaching sense.

So:

kocha – coach (typically sports)
mwalimu – teacher (school, classroom, teaching profession)

Sometimes, depending on context (like a sports academy), kocha may also feel like a kind of teacher, but the basic idea is “coach.”

How does mzazi wa msichana mmoja work grammatically? Which part means “of”?

The phrase mzazi wa msichana mmoja literally is:

mzazi – parent
wa – of (possessive connector)
msichana – girl
mmoja – one

So it means “the parent of one girl.”

The key part that means “of” is wa. In Swahili, the possessive connector agrees with the possessed noun (here: mzazi):

Noun: mzazi (class 1)
Possessive connector for class 1: wa
→ mzazi wa … = parent of …

Compare:

kitabu cha mtoto – the child’s book
(book (kitabu, class 7) → cha)
gari la mwalimu – the teacher’s car
(car (gari, class 5) → la)

In mzazi wa msichana mmoja, wa corresponds to mzazi, and msichana mmoja tells us “of (a/one) girl.”

Why is it wa and not ya in mzazi wa msichana mmoja?

Because the possessive connector has to match the noun class of the possessed noun:

mzazi is in noun class 1 (singular person → prefix m-).
Class 1 uses wa as the possessive connector.
Therefore: mzazi wa …

If the possessed noun were in another class, the connector would change:

mtoto wa kocha – the coach’s child (mtoto = class 1 → wa)
vitabu vya kocha – the coach’s books (vitabu = class 8 → vya)
nyumba ya kocha – the coach’s house (nyumba = class 9/10 → ya)

So ya would be correct if the possessed noun were class 9/10, for example nyumba ya msichana (“the girl’s house”), but here it’s mzazi, so we need wa.

What does mmoja add to msichana mmoja? Could I just say msichana?

mmoja is the class-1 form of moja (one). It can mean:

one (in number) – explicitly one, not two or three.
a certain / a particular – “one (specific) girl.”

So msichana mmoja can be understood as:

one girl (numerically one), or
a certain girl / one of the girls (when the speaker wants to single her out).

If you just say mzazi wa msichana, it’s more like “the parent of a girl” in a general sense, without stressing one or a particular girl.

In this sentence, msichana mmoja hints that the coach is not talking about all the girls, but about one specific girl.

Why does mmoja come after msichana, not before it?

In Swahili, numbers usually come after the noun they describe:

msichana mmoja – one girl
wasichana watatu – three girls
vitabu viwili – two books

So the pattern is: noun + number.

Only a few words like mwingine (another/other), yeyote (any), etc. might appear in slightly different positions in some contexts, but ordinary cardinal numbers (one, two, three…) normally follow the noun.

What does kuhusu mean, and how is it used?

kuhusu means about / concerning / regarding.

Structure:

[verb] kuhusu [topic]

In this sentence:

anazungumza kuhusu nidhamu – is talking about discipline.

More examples:

Tulijadili kuhusu mpango wa kazi. – We discussed the work plan.
Wanazungumza kuhusu siasa. – They are talking about politics.

You don’t need a preposition like “about” plus an extra word; kuhusu itself carries that meaning of “about/regarding.”

What does nidhamu mean exactly, and is it specific (the discipline) or general (discipline in general)?

nidhamu means discipline, often in the sense of behavior, self-control, following rules, etc. It comes from the English word discipline (via another language).

Swahili does not have articles like a, an, the, so nidhamu on its own is neutral; the context decides whether it is general or specific:

General: talking about the concept of discipline
→ They are talking about discipline (as a topic).
Specific: a particular issue of discipline (e.g., this girl’s behavior)
→ They are talking about the girl’s discipline.

If you wanted to be more explicit about “her discipline,” you could say:

…kuhusu nidhamu ya msichana huyo. – about that girl’s discipline.

What tense is anazungumza, and how is it different from something like huzungumza?

anazungumza uses the present tense marker -na-, which typically describes:

an action happening right now, or
something happening in the present time frame.

So kocha anazungumza ≈ the coach is talking / the coach talks (now).

huzungumza, with -hu-, marks habitual actions:

Kocha huzungumza na wazazi kila mwisho wa mwezi.
The coach talks with parents at the end of every month.

So:

anazungumza – present/progressive: happening now.
huzungumza – habitual: something that happens regularly or usually.

Is the word order fixed? Could I change the order of some parts of the sentence?

The basic structure is:

[Time] [Subject] [Verb] [Prepositional phrase(s)]

Here:

Time: Leo
Subject: kocha
Verb: anazungumza
Prepositional phrases:
- na mzazi wa msichana mmoja (with the parent of one girl)
- kuhusu nidhamu (about discipline)

Some natural variations:

Leo kocha anazungumza na mzazi wa msichana mmoja kuhusu nidhamu.
Kocha leo anazungumza na mzazi wa msichana mmoja kuhusu nidhamu.
Kocha anazungumza leo na mzazi wa msichana mmoja kuhusu nidhamu.

You generally keep:

Subject before verb,
Objects and prepositional phrases after the verb,

but time expressions like leo are quite flexible and can move around. The original word order is very natural and clear.