Akiwa na wivu, Asha hujaribu kutania wengine kimakusudi.

Akiwa na wivu literally means “being with jealousy” or “when she is jealous”.

• akiwa = a- + -ki- + -wa
  
  • a- = “he/she” (3rd person singular subject)
  • -ki- = a tense/aspect marker meaning “when / while / in the state of”
  • -wa = the verb kuwa (to be), without the infinitive ku-

So akiwa means “when/while he or she is”.
Adding na wivu (“with jealousy”) gives: “when she is with jealousy” → “when she is jealous.”

Yes. In Swahili, kuwa na + [noun] often expresses possession or having a quality.

• kuwa na wivu = “to have jealousy / to be jealous”
• kuwa na hofu = “to have fear / to be afraid”
• kuwa na furaha = “to have joy / to be happy”

So akiwa na wivu is literally “when she is with jealousy”, but idiomatically it means “when she is jealous.” The na here acts like English “with”, but “to have” / “to be (adjective)” is usually how it’s translated.

hu- before a verb (in a positive sentence like this) marks habitual or general actions.

• Asha anajaribu kutania… = “Asha is trying to tease…” (right now / around this time)
• Asha hujaribu kutania… = “Asha tends to try to tease… / Asha usually tries to tease…” (a habit or repeated behavior)

So hu- here is not a subject prefix; it is a tense/aspect marker meaning habitually / generally / usually. The subject Asha is given by the noun, so the verb itself doesn’t take a separate subject prefix in this construction.

You can use the habitual hu- with any subject, but it does not combine with a separate subject prefix:

• Mimi husoma vitabu = I usually read books.
• Wewe huchelewa kazini = You usually arrive late to work.
• Asha hujaribu kutania wengine = Asha tends to try to tease others.
• Wao huenda sokoni Jumamosi = They usually go to the market on Saturdays.

Note that you don’t say *mimihu-, *wahujaribu, etc.
You put the noun or pronoun before the verb with hu-.

Because in Swahili, when one verb takes another verb as its complement (like “try to do,” “want to do,” “begin to do”), the second verb is usually in the infinitive (ku- form).

• kujaribu = to try
• kutania = to tease

Pattern: [verb 1] + ku- + [verb 2]

Examples:

• Ninajaribu kusoma = I am trying to read.
• Alianza kucheka = He/she started to laugh.
• Asha hujaribu kutania wengine = Asha tends to try to tease others.

So kutania is in the infinitive because it is the action that is being tried.

kutania means “to tease, to joke with, to make fun of.”

The tone (friendly vs hurtful) depends on context:

• Friendly:
  
  • Walikuwa wakitaniana tu = They were just teasing each other (playfully).
• Negative:
  
  • Usiwatanie wengine kuhusu makosa yao = Don’t tease others about their mistakes.

In your sentence, because it’s linked with wivu (jealousy) and kimakusudi (intentionally), it leans toward malicious teasing—teasing on purpose to hurt or annoy others.

wengine means “others / other people / some people”, depending on context.

• As a pronoun: Wengine walisema hapana = Others said no.
• As an adjective: watu wengine = other people / some people.

In your sentence:

• kutania wengine = “to tease others”
  The “others” are other people (not Asha herself).

So here wengine is functioning as “other people” and is the object of kutania.

In Swahili, if the object noun or pronoun is explicitly mentioned after the verb, an object prefix is often optional and frequently left out in everyday speech, especially in simple sentences.

• kutania wengine = to tease others
• kuwatania wengine = to tease them, the others

kuwatania contains -wa-, an object marker for “them” (class 2 / people).
Using kuwatania wengine would put extra emphasis on “them”, like saying “to tease those others”.

In your sentence, kutania wengine (without the object prefix) is natural and sufficient. The object wengine is already clear right after the verb.

kimakusudi means “deliberately / intentionally / on purpose.”

Structure:

• makusudi = intention(s), deliberateness
• ki- + makusudi = kimakusudi

The prefix ki- here turns a noun into an adverb-like form, often meaning “in an X way / in a manner characterized by X.”

A few parallels:

• utani (joke) → kijuujuu is not directly from utani, sorry—better example:
• furaha (joy) → kifuraha (in a joyful way – less common, but same idea)
• sharti (condition) → kisharti (conditionally)

So kimakusudi = “in an intentional way” → “intentionally / on purpose.”

Yes, very naturally.

• kimakusudi = intentionally, on purpose
• kwa makusudi = intentionally, on purpose

Both are common and correct. Differences:

• kimakusudi feels a bit more compact and adverb-like.
• kwa makusudi literally means “with/by intention(s)” and is maybe slightly more neutral in style.

In your sentence, both are fine:

• …kutania wengine kimakusudi.
• …kutania wengine kwa makusudi.

They convey the same meaning here.

You can move it; Swahili word order is fairly flexible with such clauses.

Original:

• Akiwa na wivu, Asha hujaribu kutania wengine kimakusudi.
  = When she is jealous, Asha tends to try to tease others on purpose.

Alternative (also correct):

• Asha hujaribu kutania wengine kimakusudi akiwa na wivu.

Placing Akiwa na wivu at the beginning highlights the condition or situation first (“whenever she’s jealous…”). Putting it at the end is more like an afterthought or background detail (“…when she is jealous”).

Both are grammatically fine; it’s just a matter of emphasis and style.

Akiwa na wivu can cover both “when” and “if”, but in context with a habitual verb (hujaribu), it is usually understood as “whenever / when”.

• Akiwa na wivu, Asha hujaribu…
  → “When(ever) she is jealous, Asha tends to try…”

If you strongly want the conditional “if” idea, you could also say:

• Akikuwa na wivu, Asha hujaribu…
• Kama akiwa na wivu, Asha hujaribu…

But in everyday speech, Akiwa na wivu with a habitual main verb very naturally means “whenever she is jealous.”