Learn Hardcore Swahili: Kadiri tunavyofanya mazoezi ya kupumua polepole, ndivyo pumzi yetu inavyokuwa tulivu. - The more we do slow breathing exercises, the calmer our breath becomes.

Kadiri tunavyofanya mazoezi ya kupumua polepole, ndivyo pumzi yetu inavyokuwa tulivu.

The more we do slow breathing exercises, the calmer our breath becomes.

Breakdown of Kadiri tunavyofanya mazoezi ya kupumua polepole, ndivyo pumzi yetu inavyokuwa tulivu.

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Questions & Answers about Kadiri tunavyofanya mazoezi ya kupumua polepole, ndivyo pumzi yetu inavyokuwa tulivu.

What is the overall function of the Kadiri … ndivyo … structure in this sentence?

The pattern Kadiri … ndivyo … expresses a correlative comparison, like English:

“The more X happens, the more Y happens.”

So in:

Kadiri tunavyofanya mazoezi ya kupumua polepole, ndivyo pumzi yetu inavyokuwa tulivu.

the structure means:

“The more we do the slow breathing exercises, the calmer our breath becomes.”

Kadiri introduces the first side of the comparison (the “the more we X…” part), and ndivyo introduces the second side (“the more Y…” / “that’s how Y…”).

Why do the verbs have -vyo- inside them (tunavyofanya, inavyokuwa)? What does -vyo- mean?

The -vyo- inside tunavyofanya and inavyokuwa is a relative marker meaning roughly:

“in the way / to the extent that / as”

It’s used together with words like kadiri or jinsi to show “the way in which” something happens.

Breakdown:

tunavyofanya
- tu- = we
- -na- = present tense marker
- -vyo- = “as / in the way that”
- -fanya = do
- → “as we do / in the way we do (it)”
inavyokuwa
- i- = it (class 9, here: pumzi “breath”)
- -na- = present
- -vyo- = “as / to the extent that”
- -kuwa = be / become
- → “as it becomes / to the extent that it becomes”

In this Kadiri … ndivyo … structure, using -vyo- is normal and expected; it ties each verb to the idea “to the degree that…”.

What tense or aspect is used in tunavyofanya and inavyokuwa?

Both verbs use the present marker -na-, which in Swahili usually covers:

present continuous (what is happening now)
general / habitual present (what generally happens)

In this sentence it’s more like a general truth / habitual meaning:

tunavyofanya – “as we (generally) do / whenever we do”
inavyokuwa – “as it (generally) becomes / tends to become”

So the idea is:

“Whenever / as we do slow breathing exercises, our breath tends to become calm.”

Why is it mazoezi ya kupumua and not something like mazoezi ya pumzi?

Because Swahili usually says “exercises of breathing” (verb) rather than “exercises of breath” (noun).

mazoezi = exercises / practice
ya = “of” (agreeing with mazoezi, class 6)
kupumua = to breathe / breathing (infinitive used as a noun)

So mazoezi ya kupumua is literally:

“exercises of breathing” → “breathing exercises”

Pumzi is the noun “breath”, so mazoezi ya pumzi would sound odd, like “exercises of breath” instead of “breathing exercises”.

What kind of word is polepole, and why is it placed after kupumua?

polepole is an adverb meaning “slowly” or “gently”.

In Swahili, adverbs like polepole commonly come after the verb or after the verb phrase, so:

kupumua polepole = “to breathe slowly”
nafanya kazi polepole = “I work slowly.”

Here the whole phrase mazoezi ya kupumua polepole means:

“exercises of breathing slowly” → “slow breathing exercises.”

You could also say kupumua kwa polepole, but kupumua polepole is natural and common.

What does ndivyo mean here? Is it just “so”?

ndivyo is a form of the copula ni + hivyo (“thus / like that / in that way”). Together they collapse to ndivyo.

In this specific structure Kadiri …, ndivyo …, ndivyo is not just a filler; it’s part of the correlative construction:

Kadiri …, ndivyo … = “The more …, the more …” / “To the extent that …, that’s how …”

So in:

… ndivyo pumzi yetu inavyokuwa tulivu.

you can understand:

“that is how / to that degree our breath becomes calm.”

You normally keep ndivyo in this pattern; dropping it would break the standard structure.

Why is it pumzi yetu inavyokuwa tulivu and not pumzi yetu inakuwa tulivu?

You could say:

Pumzi yetu inakuwa tulivu. – “Our breath becomes calm.”

But in the original sentence, inavyokuwa is chosen to match the structure on the first side:

tunavyofanya … ↔ inavyokuwa …

Both use -vyo- (“as / in the way that / to the extent that”), which fits the pattern:

Kadiri X tunavyofanya …, ndivyo Y inavyokuwa …
“The more X we do, the more Y becomes …”

So inavyokuwa emphasizes the parallelism: “As (to the extent that) we do breathing exercises, that’s how our breath becomes calm.”

Why does the verb for “breath” start with i- (inavyokuwa) and not a- or ya-?

Because pumzi belongs to noun class 9 in Swahili, and class 9 takes the subject prefix i- in the present tense:

pumzi (class 9)
- singular subject prefix: i-
- plural (if needed) would be class 10: zi-

So:

pumzi yetu inavyokuwa tulivu
→ i- (it, class 9) + -na-
- -vyo-
  - -kuwa

You wouldn’t use:

anavyokuwa – that would be for a class 1 noun (person) like mtu.
yanavyokuwa – that would typically be for class 6 (e.g. ma- nouns like majani).

Can kadiri be replaced with kadri or with jinsi? Do they mean the same thing here?

kadiri and kadri are essentially the same word; kadiri is more common in modern standard Swahili, but kadri is widely understood.
jinsi means “how / the way in which”.

In this pattern, you can often hear:

Kadiri tunavyofanya …, ndivyo …
Kadri tunavyofanya …, ndivyo …
Jinsi tunavyofanya …, ndivyo …

All can work with ndivyo and -vyo- to give a similar “the more …, the more …” meaning.
Kadiri … ndivyo … is a very standard textbook example of this structure.

Can I leave out ndivyo and just say: Kadiri tunavyofanya …, pumzi yetu inavyokuwa tulivu?

That would sound off in standard Swahili.

The Kadiri … ndivyo … pattern is usually two-part:

Kadiri
- clause
ndivyo
- clause

If you remove ndivyo, you lose the neat correlative feel (“the more X, the more Y”) and it will sound incomplete or awkward to many speakers.

So it’s better to keep:

Kadiri tunavyofanya …, ndivyo pumzi yetu inavyokuwa tulivu.

What is the difference between zoezi and mazoezi, and how would I say “to do breathing exercises” in general?

zoezi = one exercise, one practice (singular, class 5)
mazoezi = exercises / practice (plural, class 6)

In real usage, mazoezi is very common, even when English might use an uncountable “practice”:

Nafanya mazoezi. – “I’m doing exercises / I’m practicing.”

To say “to do breathing exercises”, you’d say:

kufanya mazoezi ya kupumua
or more specifically
kufanya mazoezi ya kupumua polepole – “to do slow breathing exercises.”

Could I move polepole somewhere else in the sentence, like to the front?

There is some flexibility, but changes can sound more or less natural.

Most natural:

Kadiri tunavyofanya mazoezi ya kupumua polepole, …
(“as we do exercises of breathing slowly”)

You could say for emphasis:

Kadiri tunavyofanya polepole mazoezi ya kupumua, …
(emphasizing the slowness of doing the exercises)

Putting polepole right at the very front, e.g.:

Polepole, kadiri tunavyofanya mazoezi ya kupumua, …

is possible, but then polepole sounds more like a separate comment (“slowly, as we do the breathing exercises…”). For a straightforward “slow breathing exercises,” the given position after kupumua is the most natural.