Kadiri unavyopunguza muda wa simu janja, ndivyo unavyopata muda zaidi wa kusoma vitabu.

Kadiri … ndivyo … is a paired (correlative) construction meaning “the more … the more …” / “the more … the less …” depending on context.

In the sentence:

Kadiri unavyopunguza muda wa simu janja, ndivyo unavyopata muda zaidi wa kusoma vitabu.
The more you reduce smartphone time, the more time you get to read books.

• Kadiri introduces the first part: “the more you reduce the time on the smartphone …”
• ndivyo introduces the result: “… the more you get extra time to read books.”

Very literally:

• Kadiri unavyopunguza… = To the extent that you reduce…
• ndivyo unavyopata… = to that extent you get…

This pair kadiri … ndivyo … is a standard way to express “the more X, the more Y” in Swahili.

The forms:

• unavyopunguza
• unavyopata

contain:

• u- = subject marker for wewe (you, singular)
• -na- = present tense marker
• -vyo- = relative marker (for how / the way / the extent that)
• -punguza / -pata = verb roots

So unavyopunguza is roughly “the way you are reducing / as you reduce”, not just “you reduce”.

If we removed -vyo-:

• unapunguza = you reduce / you are reducing (plain verb)
• unavyopunguza = the way you reduce / as you reduce (fits the kadiri … ndivyo … pattern)

In the kadiri … ndivyo … structure, this -vyo- is very typical; it ties the verb to the idea of degree/extent (“the more you do X…”).

Here, kadiri means something like:

• “as / to the extent that / the more”

In everyday Swahili, you will also hear:

• Kadiri unavyopunguza…
• Jinsi unavyopunguza…

Both kadiri and jinsi can be used in this comparative pattern, though kadiri is especially common in written or somewhat formal language.

So you can say:

• Kadiri unavyopunguza muda wa simu janja, ndivyo unavyopata muda zaidi wa kusoma vitabu.
• Jinsi unavyopunguza muda wa simu janja, ndivyo unavyopata muda zaidi wa kusoma vitabu.

The meaning is the same: “The more you cut down smartphone time, the more time you get to read.”

Ndivyo is a copular form roughly meaning “(it) is so / in that way / thus”.
In the kadiri … ndivyo … pattern, it functions like English “the more (it is) … then the more …”.

Structure:

• Kadiri unavyopunguza… = The more you reduce…
• ndivyo unavyopata… = (it is) in that same measure that you get…

You’ll almost always see kadiri paired with ndivyo in this kind of comparison. Dropping ndivyo here makes the sentence sound incomplete or unbalanced:

• ❌ Kadiri unavyopunguza muda wa simu janja, unavyopata muda zaidi wa kusoma vitabu.
  (Unnatural; missing the balancing ndivyo.)

So ndivyo is important to keep the standard comparative structure kadiri … ndivyo ….

The u- is the subject marker for “you” (singular) in Swahili.

Breakdown:

• u- – you (wewe)
• -na- – present tense
• -vyo- – relative marker
• -punguza / -pata – verb root

So:

• unavyopunguza ≈ “(you) as you reduce”
• unavyopata ≈ “(you) as you get”

If the subject changed, this marker would change:

• Ninavyopunguza… ninavyopata… – (I) as I reduce, (I) as I get
• Anavyopunguza… anavyopata… – (he/she) as he/she reduces, as he/she gets

Swahili -na- can express both:

1. Ongoing action now:
   
   • Ninakula. – I am eating.
2. Habitual / general present:
   
   • Ninakunywa chai kila asubuhi. – I drink tea every morning.

In this sentence:

Kadiri unavyopunguza muda wa simu janja, ndivyo unavyopata muda zaidi wa kusoma vitabu.

the -na- is best understood as habitual/general:

• “The more you (tend to) reduce your smartphone time, the more you (generally) get time to read books.”

It’s not about what you’re doing exactly right now, but about a general pattern.

Literal breakdown:

• muda – time (Class 3, m-/mi-)
• wa – “of” for Class 3 (m-/mi-) nouns
• simu janja – smartphone (literally “smart phone”)

So muda wa simu janja = “the time of the smartphone”, i.e. the time spent on the smartphone.

About wa vs ya:

• wa is the possessive/“of” agreement for Class 1/2 (people) and Class 3/4 (m-/mi-) nouns.
  
  • muda is Class 3 → needs wa.
• ya is used with other classes like Class 6 (ma-), 9/10 (N-), etc.

Compare:

• muda wa kazi – time of work
• muda wa mchezo – time of the game
• muda wa simu janja – time (spent) on the smartphone

Yes. Simu janja literally means “smart phone”:

• simu – phone
• janja – clever, smart

So simu janja = smartphone.

Other expressions you might hear:

• simu ya mkononi – mobile phone / cell phone (more general)
• simu ya kisasa – modern phone (context-dependent)

But simu janja is a very common and clear way to say “smartphone”.

Muda zaidi wa kusoma vitabu literally means:

• muda zaidi – more time / extra time
• wa kusoma vitabu – of reading books

So the structure is “more time of [doing X]”, where [doing X] is expressed by ku- + verb:

• muda wa kusoma – time to read / time for reading
• muda wa kufanya kazi – time to work / time for working
• muda wa kulala – time to sleep

Using kwa here would sound less natural:

• ❌ muda zaidi kwa kusoma vitabu – not idiomatic in this context

Wa + ku-verb is the usual pattern to express “time to/for doing X”.

Kusoma is the infinitive (“to read / reading”).

Here we are talking generally about time for the activity of reading books, not giving a command or a specific action.

• muda wa kusoma vitabu – time to read books / reading time
• muda wa usome vitabu – ungrammatical here; usome is a subjunctive form (“that you read / may you read”) and doesn’t fit as a noun-like complement.

So kusoma is correct because the infinitive acts like a verbal noun after wa:

• muda wa kuandika – time for writing
• muda wa kusafiri – time for traveling
• muda wa kusoma vitabu – time for reading books

Vitabu is the plural of kitabu:

• kitabu – book (Class 7: ki-/vi-)
• vitabu – books (Class 8: vi-/vi- in plural)

So kusoma vitabu = “to read books” (plural).
If you wanted singular:

• kusoma kitabu – to read a book.

You have a little flexibility, but not complete freedom.

The original:

… unavyopata muda zaidi wa kusoma vitabu.

You might also hear:

• … unavyopata zaidi ya muda wa kusoma vitabu. – you get more time for reading books (with zaidi ya)

But simply moving zaidi around inside muda zaidi wa kusoma vitabu too much can sound awkward or slightly off. The most natural and clear is:

• muda zaidi wa kusoma vitabu – more time to read books

The main clause order (first the kadiri part, then the ndivyo part) is standard and sounds best as given.

Yes, you could express the same idea more plainly, without the kadiri … ndivyo … construction. For example:

• Ukikata muda unaotumia kwenye simu janja, utapata muda zaidi wa kusoma vitabu.
  If you cut the time you spend on the smartphone, you’ll get more time to read books.

That’s less formal and a bit easier structurally, but the original sentence with kadiri … ndivyo … is very natural and good to learn because it’s a common pattern for expressing “the more X, the more Y.”