Learn Hardcore Swahili: Leo tulikuwa tukitazama orodha hiyo wakati mvua ilikuwa ikianza kunyesha. - Today we were looking at that list while the rain was starting to fall.

Tulikuwa tukitazama corresponds to “we were watching / we were looking at” (past continuous), while tulitazama is more like “we watched / we looked at” (simple past).

Tulikuwa tukitazama orodha hiyo… = We were in the middle of watching that list… (focus on the ongoing action at that time).
Tulitazama orodha hiyo… = We watched that list… (a completed action, more neutral about whether it was ongoing at some specific moment).

In this sentence, we want to show that the watching and the start of the rain were overlapping ongoing events, so the past continuous form fits better.

Grammatically, how does “tulikuwa tukitazama” work? Why are there two verbs?

Tulikuwa tukitazama is a periphrastic (two-part) progressive form:

tulikuwa
- tu- = we (subject prefix, 1st person plural)
- -li- (inside -kuwa) = past tense marker
- kuwa = to be
  → tulikuwa = we were
tukitazama
- tu- = we (subject again)
- -ki- = continuous / “while doing” / ongoing aspect marker
- -tazama = to watch / to look at

Put together: tulikuwa tukitazama literally feels like we were (we-)watching, i.e. we were watching.

Swahili often uses kuwa + verb with -ki- to express the past continuous:

Nilikuwa nikiandika. – I was writing.
Walikuwa wakicheza. – They were playing.

What exactly does the -ki- in “tukitazama” and “ikianza” do? How is it different from -na-?

The -ki- marker here mainly shows an ongoing or developing action, often with a sense of “while (doing X)” or “in the process of X-ing”.

tukitazama – while we were watching / as we were watching
ikianza – as it was beginning / in the act of beginning

Compared with -na-:

-na- is the usual present/progressive marker:
- tunatazama – we are watching / we watch
- inaanza – it is beginning / it begins
-ki- is more flexible and often:
- marks simultaneous or background actions (especially with other verbs),
- is common in past progressive when combined with kuwa:
  - tulikuwa tukitazama – we were watching
  - mvua ilikuwa ikianza kunyesha – it was beginning to rain

So here -ki- helps paint a picture of two processes unfolding at the same time.

Why does the sentence start with “Leo” (“today”) but use past tense like “tulikuwa” and “ilikuwa”?

Swahili can say Leo + past tense to mean “earlier today” quite naturally.

Leo tulikuwa tukitazama orodha hiyo…
= Earlier today we were looking at that list…

“Leo” sets the time frame (today). The past tense (-li-) in tulikuwa / ilikuwa says that, within today, the action is in the past.

This is similar to English sentences like:

Today we were waiting for you when it started to rain.
You are still talking “today,” but referring to an earlier moment in the same day.

What does “wakati” do here, and can its clause be moved around?

Wakati means “when / while / at the time (that)”.

In wakati mvua ilikuwa ikianza kunyesha:

wakati introduces the time situation,
the clause mvua ilikuwa ikianza kunyesha tells us what was happening then.

You can move the wakati-clause to the front without changing the basic meaning:

Leo tulikuwa tukitazama orodha hiyo wakati mvua ilikuwa ikianza kunyesha.
Wakati mvua ilikuwa ikianza kunyesha, leo tulikuwa tukitazama orodha hiyo.

Both mean: Today, we were looking at that list when it was beginning to rain.
Difference is just focus or style; starting with wakati… makes the timing a bit more prominent.

Why say “mvua ilikuwa ikianza kunyesha” when “mvua” already means rain and “kunyesha” means to rain? Isn’t that redundant?

In Swahili, certain weather verbs usually appear with a weather noun + verb combination:

mvua kunyesha – (literally) rain to-fall → it rains / to rain
theluji kunyesha – snow falls / to snow
jua kuchomoza – sun rises / the sun comes out

So mvua ilikuwa ikianza kunyesha is basically:

mvua – the rain
ilikuwa ikianza – was beginning
kunyesha – to rain

Altogether: “the rain was beginning to fall / it was beginning to rain.”

It’s not considered redundant in Swahili; it’s just the natural pattern for talking about rain starting, stopping, etc.

What is the difference between “mvua ilikuwa ikianza kunyesha”, “mvua ilianza kunyesha”, and “mvua ilikuwa ikinyesha”?

They differ in aspect (how the action is viewed in time):

mvua ilikuwa ikianza kunyesha
- the rain was beginning to fall / it was beginning to rain
- Focus: the process of beginning; it hadn’t fully started yet, it was just starting up.
mvua ilianza kunyesha
- it began to rain / the rain started
- More punctual, like a single event: first we have no rain, then boom, it started raining.
- No special emphasis on it being a drawn-out process.
mvua ilikuwa ikinyesha
- it was raining / the rain was falling
- The rain is already fully in progress, not just beginning.

In your sentence, ikianza fits well because the rain is just starting while you are still in the middle of looking at the list.

How do the subject markers “tu-” and “i-” work in these verbs?

Swahili verbs usually start with a subject prefix that agrees with the subject:

tu- = we (1st person plural)
i- = class 9/10 subject prefix (used with many nouns including mvua)

In your sentence:

tulikuwa: tu- (we) + -li- (past) + kuwa → we were
tukitazama: tu- (we) + -ki-
- tazama → we were watching

So everything referring to “we” uses tu-.

For mvua (noun class 9):

ilikuwa: i- (class 9 “it”) + -li- (past) + kuwa → it was
ikianza: i- (class 9 “it”) + -ki-
- anza → it was beginning

This kind of agreement is essential in Swahili verb forms; it shows who or what is doing the action.

What does “orodha hiyo” mean exactly, and why “hiyo” instead of “hii”?

Orodha hiyo means “that list” (the one already known in the conversation).

orodha = list (class 9 noun)
hiyo = that (class 9 demonstrative, relatively “far” or previously mentioned)

Swahili has different demonstratives for “this/that”:

hii – this (near me/us)
hiyo – that (already mentioned / somewhat further / near you or contextually known)
ile – that over there / more distant

So:

orodha hii – this list (right here, close to us)
orodha hiyo – that list (the one we’ve been talking about / that one over there)

In a narrative, hiyo often refers to something already introduced or understood in the story.

Can “tazama” be replaced with “angalia” here? Is there a difference?

You can say either tazama or angalia here; both are common verbs for “look / watch / observe.”

tazama – often a bit more formal/literary, but very widely used
angalia – very common in everyday speech; can also mean pay attention, check

In this sentence:

tulikuwa tukitazama orodha hiyo
tulikuwa tukiangalia orodha hiyo

Both are acceptable and natural. The difference in meaning is very small; angalia might feel slightly more like “we were looking over / examining that list,” but context usually makes them interchangeable.

Can we simplify the verb phrases, for example by removing one of the “kuwa” forms or changing the tense?

Yes, there are several simpler variants that are still correct, each with slightly different feel:

Remove the progressive in one clause:
- Leo tulikuwa tukitazama orodha hiyo wakati mvua ilianza kunyesha.
  → Today we were looking at that list when it began to rain.
  (Rain-starting is seen as a single event.)
Use a simpler structure in both clauses:
- Leo tulitazama orodha hiyo wakati mvua ilianza kunyesha.
  → Today we looked at that list when it began to rain.
  (Less emphasis on “ongoing,” more on a sequence of events.)
Use a different construction for “when”:
- Leo tulipokuwa tuna(t)azama orodha hiyo, mvua ilianza kunyesha.
  - tulipo-kuwa: when we were
  - tunatazama: present/progressive form (but under tulipokuwa, it becomes past progressive in meaning)
    → When we were looking at that list today, it began to rain.

Your original sentence simply gives a rich, continuous picture of two actions happening at once; shorter versions are possible but slightly change the nuance.

Could “wakati” be replaced with “wakati ambapo”, and would that change the meaning?

You can say either:

wakati mvua ilikuwa ikianza kunyesha
wakati ambapo mvua ilikuwa ikianza kunyesha

Ambapo is a relative pronoun (“when/where/that”) that makes the structure a bit more explicit and formal, like saying:

at the time *when it was beginning to rain*

Meaning-wise, they are effectively the same.
The version without ambapo is shorter and very common in everyday speech; adding ambapo is more formal or written style.