Learn Hardcore Swahili: Alipofungua friji, aliona maziwa na matunda. - When he/she opened the fridge, he/she saw milk and fruits.

a- = subject prefix for he/she (3rd person singular, human/animate)
-li- = past tense marker
-po- = when / at the time (that) (also sometimes “where/at the place that”)
-fungua = verb root open

So a-li-po-fungua together means “when he/she opened” (at the time he/she opened), not just “he/she opened.”

Without -po-, alifungua would simply be “he/she opened.” Adding -po- turns it into a temporal clause: “when he/she opened …”

Is alipofungua one word in writing, or can I write alipo fungua?

It should be written as one word: alipofungua.

In Swahili, tense markers and things like -po- attach directly to the verb; they are not normally written as separate words. So you write:

alipofungua friji = correct
alipo fungua friji = not standard

How do we know whether it means he or she? There’s no gender word.

Swahili verbs show person and number, but not gender. The prefix a- in alipofungua and aliona just tells us:

person: 3rd person
number: singular
noun class: class 1 (typical for people)

So a- can mean he, she, or even they (for a single person of unknown gender in English).

Gender has to be clear from context, not from the verb form itself.

Could I change the word order and say: Aliona maziwa na matunda alipofungua friji?

Yes, that is grammatically fine. You can say:

Alipofungua friji, aliona maziwa na matunda.
Aliona maziwa na matunda alipofungua friji.

Both mean essentially the same thing: “When he/she opened the fridge, he/she saw milk and fruit.”

Putting the when-clause first (with alipofungua) is very common and often sounds a bit more natural in storytelling, but both orders are acceptable.

What exactly is friji? Is it the same as fridge, and are there other Swahili words?

Friji is a loanword from English “fridge.” It means refrigerator.

There are a couple of other words you might see or hear:

jokofu – a more “pure” Swahili word for refrigerator
friza – specifically freezer, from English “freezer”

In everyday conversation, many people just say friji, especially in urban areas. In more formal or very “standard” Swahili, jokofu might be preferred for refrigerator.

Why does maziwa mean milk if it looks like a plural (ma-)? Does it have a singular?

Maziwa is indeed a plural form in noun class 6 (the ma- class), but for the meaning milk it works as a mass noun:

maziwa = milk (as a substance), with no usual singular form

There is a related singular ziwa, which can mean:

ziwa = breast
ziwa = lake

But when you’re talking about milk to drink, you almost always use maziwa and treat it as an uncountable noun, like milk in English. You don’t normally say a singular ziwa to mean “a milk.”

What about matunda – is that plural too? What is the singular?

Yes, matunda is plural; the singular is tunda:

tunda = a fruit (one piece of fruit)
matunda = fruits or fruit (in general / several kinds)

In English we often say just fruit for a general or plural meaning. Swahili tends to use the actual plural matunda, which you can translate as fruit or fruits depending on context:

Aliona matunda.
– He/She saw fruit. / He/She saw fruits.

In English we say “milk and fruit”, but sometimes we’d say “some milk and some fruit”. Why is there no word for “some” in maziwa na matunda?

Swahili often doesn’t use a separate word for “some” when the meaning is clear from context. Bare nouns like maziwa and matunda can cover several English possibilities:

maziwa = milk / some milk / the milk
matunda = fruit / some fruit / the fruit

If you really want to stress “some (but not all)”, you can add:

baadhi ya matunda = some of the fruit/fruits
baadhi ya maziwa (less common phrase) = some of the milk

But for a neutral description like this sentence, maziwa na matunda alone is natural and enough.

Does na here only mean and, or can it also mean with / have?

In this sentence, na simply means and:

maziwa na matunda = milk and fruit

However, elsewhere na can also mean:

with (accompaniment):
- Anakaa na rafiki yake. = He/She lives with his/her friend.
has/have (possession, often in spoken language):
- Ana pesa. = He/She has money.
- Literally “He/She is with money.”

So na is quite flexible, but in maziwa na matunda it is just and.

Is aliona more like “saw” or “looked at”?

Aliona comes from kuona, which primarily means to see:

aliona = he/she saw

If you specifically mean “looked at / watched / stared at”, Swahili usually uses:

kuangalia = to look at, to watch
- Aliangalia friji. = He/She looked at the fridge.

In this sentence, aliona maziwa na matunda is best understood as “he/she saw milk and fruit.”

What tense is aliona here, and how is it different from the present tense?

Aliona uses the -li- past tense marker:

a- = he/she
-li- = past
-ona = see

So aliona = he/she saw (completed action in the past).

In the present, you would use -na-:

anaona = he/she sees / is seeing
Anaona maziwa na matunda. = He/She sees milk and fruit.

What is the difference between alipofungua with -po- and forms with -ki-, like alipofungua vs alipofungua (using -ki-)?

Both -po- and -ki- can be translated as “when”, but they have different flavors:

-po- = when/at the time that, often for a specific event or time
- Alipofungua friji, aliona …
  – When he/she opened the fridge (at that moment), he/she saw …
-ki- = when/while / if, often for ongoing or repeated situations, or something that is in progress
- Alipofungua friji, aliona … (using -ki-)
  – While/whenever he/she was opening the fridge, he/she saw …

In your sentence, -po- is the most natural choice because it refers to one specific event: he/she opened the fridge once, and at that time saw milk and fruit.