Learn Hardcore Swahili: Watoto bado wanacheza, ingawa jua linazama. - The children are still playing, although the sun is setting.

This still makes sense, but you lose the idea that they are continuing to play longer than expected. Bado adds the nuance that the action is ongoing when, perhaps, you would expect it to have stopped.

How is the verb wanacheza built, and why is it one word instead of wana cheza?

Wanacheza is one word made of several parts:

wa- = subject prefix for they (or class 2 nouns like watoto)
-na- = present tense marker (roughly “are / do”)
-chez- = verb root “play”
-a = final vowel (required for most Swahili verb forms)

So: wa-na-chez-a → wanacheza = they are playing / they play.

In Swahili, subject prefix + tense marker + verb root are written as one word, not separated, so wana cheza is incorrect in standard spelling.

Why do we have wa- in wanacheza but li- in linazama?

The prefixes wa- and li- are subject markers that agree with the noun class of the subject.

Watoto (children) is plural of mtoto and belongs to noun class 1/2.
Class 2 (plural) subject prefix is wa- → wanacheza.
Jua (sun) belongs to noun class 5/6.
Class 5 subject prefix is li- → linazama.

So:

Watoto bado wanacheza = The children are still playing.
Jua linazama = The sun is setting.

The verb prefix must match the noun class of the subject.

Does wanacheza mean “are playing” or “play”? How do you express the progressive in Swahili?

Wanacheza with -na- can mean both:

They are playing (right now).
They play (regularly / habitually).

Swahili’s -na- form covers both the English present simple and present continuous. Context usually makes the meaning clear.

If you really want to show “right now” or “ongoing”, you can add time expressions:

Watoto bado wanacheza sasa – The children are still playing now.
Kwa kawaida watoto wanacheza jioni – The children normally play in the evening.

But grammatically, wanacheza itself can be understood either way.

Why is it linazama and not inazama or something else?

Because jua is in noun class 5, whose subject prefix is li- in the present tense:

jua → li-na-zam-a → linazama

If the subject were in a different noun class, the prefix would change:

Mto unazama – The river is sinking (class 3: mto, subject prefix u-)
Gari linazama – The car is sinking (class 5: gari, subject prefix li-)

So linazama is dictated by the noun class of jua.

Are there other natural ways to say “the sun is setting” in Swahili?

Yes, the two most common are:

Jua linazama. – The sun is setting.
Jua linatua. – The sun is going down / setting.

Both are widely used and understood.
-zama literally means “to sink”, and -tua can mean “to set” or “to land/come down”.

So you could also say:

Watoto bado wanacheza, ingawa jua linatua.

The meaning is practically the same here.

Can ingawa go at the beginning of the sentence instead of in the middle?

Yes. Both of these are correct:

Watoto bado wanacheza, ingawa jua linazama.
Ingawa jua linazama, watoto bado wanacheza.

The difference is only in emphasis:

Version 1 starts with the main fact (children still playing) and then adds the contrast.
Version 2 starts by highlighting the surprising condition (the sun is setting) and then says what still happens.

Both are natural and common.

What is the difference between ingawa and lakini? Could I say lakini here?

Ingawa = although / even though (subordinating conjunction).
Lakini = but / however (coordinating conjunction).

In this sentence:

Watoto bado wanacheza, ingawa jua linazama.
= The children are still playing, although the sun is setting.

You could also say:

Jua linazama, lakini watoto bado wanacheza.
= The sun is setting, but the children are still playing.

They both express contrast, but with a slightly different structure:

Ingawa introduces a subordinate clause (although X, Y).
Lakini links two main clauses (X, but Y).

Can bado go in a different place in the sentence?

The standard and most natural position is:

Watoto bado wanacheza.

You might also hear:

Bado watoto wanacheza. (emphasis on “still”)
Watoto wanacheza bado. (less common, more colloquial-sounding emphasis)

But Watoto bado wanacheza is the clearest and most neutral.
Placing bado right after the subject is a good general rule.

How would I say “The children are not playing yet, although the sun is setting”?

Use bado with a negative verb:

Watoto bado hawachezi, ingawa jua linazama.

Breakdown:

Watoto – children
bado – still / yet
hawa- – negative subject prefix for “they” (class 2)
-chez- – play
-i – final vowel in the negative present → hawachezi – they are not playing / they do not play

With bado + negative, the meaning is usually “not yet”.

Why is there a comma before ingawa? Is it necessary?

The comma reflects normal punctuation for complex sentences, especially in written Swahili:

Watoto bado wanacheza, ingawa jua linazama.

It marks a pause between the main clause and the “although” clause. In practice:

In informal writing, some people might omit the comma.
In careful writing (books, exams, formal texts), the comma is recommended.

So it’s not a grammatical rule of Swahili itself, but a matter of standard punctuation style.

If the meaning “although the sun is setting” is clear from context, can we drop ingawa?

You can drop ingawa, but the meaning changes:

Watoto bado wanacheza, jua linazama.
Literally: The children are still playing, the sun is setting.

Now it’s more like two separate statements. The contrast (“although / even though”) is no longer explicit. Listeners might still infer it, but ingawa makes that relationship very clear.

Why is the subject watoto (plural) instead of the singular mtoto? How would the verb change if it were singular?

Watoto is the plural of mtoto:

mtoto – child (class 1)
watoto – children (class 2)

With mtoto, you must use the singular subject prefix a-:

Mtoto bado anacheza, ingawa jua linazama.
= The child is still playing, although the sun is setting.

Compare:

Mtoto bado anacheza… – a-na-cheza
Watoto bado wanacheza… – wa-na-cheza

The verb must always agree in number (singular/plural) and noun class.