Learn Hardcore Swahili: Atakapokuja mwalimu, tutamwonyesha kazi yetu mpya. - When the teacher comes, we will show him/her our new work.

In Atakapokuja, the a- at the beginning tells you the subject is he/she (class 1).
So Atakapokuja mwalimu is literally something like: “When he/she will-come, the teacher…”
The mwalimu is added afterwards to specify who that he/she is.

You could also say:

Mwalimu atakapokuja, …

Both Atakapokuja mwalimu, … and Mwalimu atakapokuja, … are grammatical. The version that starts with the verb is very typical Swahili style and feels natural in many contexts.

What exactly is going on inside the form Atakapokuja?

Atakapokuja is a single verb form that means “when he/she comes (in the future)”. It combines subject, tense, and a “when”‑type relative marker into one word.

A simple breakdown is:

a- = subject prefix “he/she” (class 1)
-ta- = future tense (“will”)
-kapo- = a relative marker meaning roughly “when/where (in the future)”
-kuja = verb root “come”

So:

atakuja = a- (he/she) + -ta- (future) + -kuja (come) → “he/she will come”
atakapokuja = a-
- -ta-
  - -kapo-
    - -kuja → “when he/she comes (future)”

Although you can analyze it this way, in practice you should just learn atakapokuja as the standard future “when he/she comes” form.

What is the difference between Atakapokuja and Akija or Mwalimu akija?

Both can be translated “when the teacher comes”, but there is a nuance:

Atakapokuja mwalimu, …
- Uses the future relative form.
- Focuses clearly on a future event: “When the teacher comes (at that future time), …”
- Often feels a bit more definite or planned.
Mwalimu akija, …
- Uses aki-, which often marks a more general “when/whenever/if” idea.
- Can feel slightly less tied to a specific future moment, depending on context.

In many everyday contexts, both will be understood as future “when”. If you want to be explicitly future and a bit more formal/precise, Atakapokuja is very good.

Why is the future marker -ta- used in both clauses: Atakapokuja … tutamwonyesha …, when in English we say “When he comes, we will show…”?

Swahili tense usage does not always match English.

In English: we usually use present in the “when” clause:
- “When he comes, we will show him …”
In Swahili: both the “when” clause and the main clause often use future:
- Atakapokuja mwalimu, tutamwonyesha kazi yetu mpya.
  - Atakapokuja → future relative (“when he will come”)
  - tutamwonyesha → future (“we will show him”)

So it is normal and correct in Swahili to mark future in both parts of the sentence, even though English only marks it in the main clause.

How is tutamwonyesha built up, and what does each part mean?

Tutamwonyesha means “we will show him/her” (or “we will show [it] to him/her”, depending on context).

Breakdown:

tu- = subject prefix “we”
-ta- = future tense (“will”)
-mw- = object prefix “him/her” (class 1 person)
-onyesha = verb stem “show”

So:

tutaonyesha = we will show
tutamwonyesha = we will show him/her

The full clause tutamwonyesha kazi yetu mpya is then:

we will show him/her our new work

Why is the object prefix mw- used here, and not just m-?

The object prefix for a class 1 person (he/she) sometimes appears as m- and sometimes as mw-. The shape changes for ease of pronunciation.

General pattern:

Before a vowel-initial verb stem, it usually appears as mw-.
- mw-
  - -onyesha → mwonyesha
Before many consonant-initial stems, you will just see m-.
- m-
  - -penda → mpenda (“love him/her”)

So in tutamwonyesha:

tu-ta-mw-onyesha → the mw- is used because onyesha starts with a vowel sound.

Can I leave out the object prefix and say tutaonyesha mwalimu kazi yetu mpya instead? Is that correct?

Yes, that is also grammatically correct:

Tutaonyesha mwalimu kazi yetu mpya.
= “We will show the teacher our new work.”

There are two common patterns:

With an object prefix (as in your sentence):
- Tutamwonyesha mwalimu kazi yetu mpya.
- Literally “We will him-show (the) teacher our new work.”
- Very natural, especially with animate objects like people.
- Often used when the person is already known in the conversation or is in focus.
Without an object prefix, using only the noun:
- Tutaonyesha mwalimu kazi yetu mpya.
- Also correct; tends to sound a bit more like straightforward “we will show the teacher …”

In practice, Swahili frequently uses both a noun and the object prefix for people (like mwalimu). Your original sentence is very typical and natural.

In tutamwonyesha kazi yetu mpya, how do we know who is the direct object and who is the indirect object?

Swahili handles this differently from English:

The object prefix (mw- here) usually refers to the indirect object (the person you give/show something to) when there are two objects.
- tutamwonyesha … kazi yetu mpya → “we will show him/her … our new work”
The bare noun that follows the verb (without object prefix) is typically the direct object (the thing being given, shown, etc.).
- kazi yetu mpya → “our new work”

So:

tutamwonyesha = we will show him/her
kazi yetu mpya = what we will show (direct object)

English uses a preposition “to” (“show it to him”). Swahili often uses the object prefix instead of a preposition.

Why is the phrase kazi yetu mpya, and not kazi mpya yetu?

The normal order of modifiers after a noun in Swahili is:

Possessive (my, your, our, etc.)
Descriptive adjectives (new, big, good, etc.)

So the order is:

kazi (work)
yetu (our)
mpya (new)

→ kazi yetu mpya = “our new work”

Putting the adjective before the possessive, like kazi mpya yetu, is not the standard word order and sounds wrong in most contexts.

(There are some special stylistic or poetic variations in Swahili, but the safe, normal pattern is Noun + Possessive + Adjective.)

What does mpya mean, and why does it start with m-?

Mpya means “new”.

The underlying adjective is -pya (“new”).
With many noun classes, it appears as mpya (with an m- in front). For class 9/10 nouns like kazi, the agreeing form is mpya.

So:

kazi mpya = new work / new job
nguo mpya = new clothes
habari mpya = new news / a new development

The m- is part of the agreement pattern of the adjective and is not a separate word.

Why is there no separate word for “he/she” (like yeye) in Atakapokuja mwalimu?

In Swahili, the subject pronoun is usually built into the verb as a prefix, so a separate pronoun is not needed unless you want extra emphasis.

Atakapokuja
- a- = he/she
- -takapokuja = will-when-come

Because a- already tells you “he/she”, it is enough, especially when the noun mwalimu follows and clarifies who he/she is.

You could say something like:

Yeye atakapokuja, tutamwonyesha kazi yetu mpya.
This adds emphasis to “he/she” (more like “As for him/her, when he/she comes, …”), but it is not necessary in normal speech.

Can I switch the order and say Mwalimu atakapokuja, tutamwonyesha kazi yetu mpya? Does it change the meaning?

Yes, you can absolutely say:

Mwalimu atakapokuja, tutamwonyesha kazi yetu mpya.

This is also correct and has essentially the same meaning:

Atakapokuja mwalimu, …
Mwalimu atakapokuja, …

The difference is mainly one of style and emphasis:

Starting with Atakapokuja puts more focus first on the time/condition (“When he comes…”).
Starting with Mwalimu puts initial focus on the teacher as the topic.

Both are natural; word order in Swahili is fairly flexible as long as the verb agrees properly with its subject and objects.