Learn Hardcore Swahili: Bibi hupenda kusali sala fupi kabla ya kula na baada ya kula. - Grandmother likes to say a short prayer before eating and after eating.

anapenda = she likes / she is liking (present; can be general, but not specifically marked as “habitual”).
- Example: Bibi anapenda chai. – Grandma likes tea.
hupenda = she usually likes / she tends to like / she is in the habit of liking.
- Example: Watoto hupenda kucheza. – Children (typically) like to play.

In your sentence, praying before and after meals is a regular practice, a routine. So Bibi hupenda kusali… naturally suggests:

Grandma is in the habit of / usually likes to say a short prayer…

That’s why hu- is used instead of -na- here.

What is the difference between kusali and sala?

They are related but different parts of speech:

kusali
- ku- = infinitive marker (“to”)
- -sali = verb root “pray”
- So kusali = to pray.
sala
- noun meaning a prayer.

Compare with English:

kusali ≈ “to pray”
sala ≈ “a prayer”

So in the sentence:

kusali sala fupi

literally: to pray a short prayer / to say a short prayer.

Isn’t kusali sala fupi redundant? Why use both the verb and the noun for “prayer”?

In Swahili it is very natural to have a verb plus its related noun as an object:

kusali sala – to pray a prayer / say a prayer
kuimba wimbo – to sing a song
kucheza mchezo – to play a game

So kusali sala fupi is not considered clumsy; it simply means:

to say a short prayer

You could shorten it to:

Bibi hupenda kusali kabla ya kula na baada ya kula.
– Grandma likes to pray before and after eating.

This is also correct, but it is less specific about what she prays (it could be anything, for any length). Adding sala fupi highlights that it’s a short fixed kind of prayer, like grace before meals.

Why is it sala fupi and not fupi sala, when in English we say “short prayer”?

In Swahili, descriptive adjectives normally come after the noun:

mtoto mdogo – small child
kitabu kizuri – good book
chakula kitamu – tasty food

So:

sala fupi = short prayer

Also, sala is a class 9 noun, and the adjective fupi has the same form in this class, so the agreement is:

noun: sala
adjective: fupi (agrees with class 9)

You don’t say fupi sala; that order would be ungrammatical.

What exactly does Bibi mean here? Is it just “grandmother,” or could it mean “lady,” “Mrs,” etc.?

Bibi can mean several related things, depending on context:

Grandmother / grandma – very common everyday meaning.
- Bibi yangu – my grandmother.
Old lady / elderly woman – polite(ish) term for an older woman.
Madam / Mrs / Ms – in forms of address, especially as Bi before a name:
- Bi Asha – Mrs/Ms Asha.

In your sentence, with no name attached:

Bibi hupenda kusali…

the most natural reading is “Grandma likes to say a short prayer…” or “Grandmother likes…”.

If you wanted to make it explicit that it’s my grandmother:

Bibi yangu hupenda kusali sala fupi… – My grandmother likes to say a short prayer…

Why is there no separate word for “to” before kusali and kula, like in English “to pray,” “to eat”?

In Swahili, the ku- at the beginning of a verb is already the “to”-form (the infinitive):

kusali = to pray
kula = to eat
kusoma = to read, to study

So:

hupenda kusali literally: “(she) habitually-likes to-pray”
kabla ya kula literally: “before eating / before to-eat”

You don’t need (and can’t add) a separate word for “to” in front of kusali or kula. The ku- prefix is doing that job.

Why do we say kabla ya kula and baada ya kula? What is the ya doing there?

kabla and baada behave like nouns meaning roughly “the time before” and “the time after.” To link them to what they refer to, Swahili uses the possessive connector ya (“of”):

kabla ya kula
- literally: the before of eating → before eating
baada ya kula
- literally: the after of eating → after eating

The pattern is:

kabla ya + noun/verb – before …
- kabla ya chakula – before the meal
- kabla ya kuondoka – before leaving
baada ya + noun/verb – after …
- baada ya kazi – after work
- baada ya kusali – after praying

So ya is required here; you wouldn’t normally say kabla kula or baada kula in standard Swahili.

Why is kula repeated: kabla ya kula na baada ya kula? Could we avoid saying kula twice?

The repetition is mainly for clarity and rhythm; it is not grammatically required.

The original:

kabla ya kula na baada ya kula
before eating and after eating

Other natural options include:

kabla na baada ya kula – before and after eating
kabla ya kula na baada yake – before eating and after that

So yes, you can avoid repeating kula, but repeating it is perfectly normal and very clear, especially for learners, and it nicely parallels the two time expressions.

Where is the subject “she” in this sentence? Why don’t we see yeye or a subject prefix like a-?

Swahili usually marks the subject on the verb:

anapenda – a- (she/he) + -na- (present) + penda (like)

But with the habitual marker hu-, you don’t use a separate subject prefix on the verb:

hupenda – hu- (habitual) + penda (like)

The subject is supplied by the noun in front:

Bibi hupenda… – Grandma usually likes…

If you want to emphasise “she,” you can add the pronoun:

Yeye hupenda kusali sala fupi kabla ya kula na baada ya kula.
– She likes to say a short prayer before and after eating.

But it’s not necessary; the sentence Bibi hupenda… already has a clear subject.

Can the time phrase kabla ya kula na baada ya kula go at the beginning of the sentence instead?

Yes. Time expressions are quite flexible in Swahili. All of the following are grammatical, with slightly different emphasis:

Bibi hupenda kusali sala fupi kabla ya kula na baada ya kula.
– Neutral order; focus starts with “Grandma likes…”
Kabla ya kula na baada ya kula, bibi hupenda kusali sala fupi.
– Emphasises the times (before and after eating) first.

You can also split the time phrases:

Bibi hupenda kusali sala fupi kabla ya kula, na pia baada ya kula.
– Grandma likes to say a short prayer before eating, and also after eating.

The core grammar doesn’t change; only the emphasis and style do.

Could we use kuomba instead of kusali? Is there a difference between kusali and kuomba?

Both verbs can relate to prayer, but they have slightly different typical uses:

kusali
- literally “to pray (perform prayers)”, often for set or formal prayers (e.g., Christian or Muslim ritual prayers).
- pairs naturally with sala (“prayer”): kusali sala.
kuomba
- literally “to ask, to request, to beg, to pray (to God)”
- very common in everyday religious language: kuomba Mungu – to pray to God.

So you could also say:

Bibi hupenda kuomba sala fupi kabla ya kula na baada ya kula.
Or just: Bibi hupenda kuomba kabla ya kula na baada ya kula.

These are understandable and natural. Using kusali sala fupi leans slightly more toward the idea of saying a set, short prayer (like a fixed grace) rather than just any kind of asking or talking to God.