Breakdown of Tunapomsikia akisali, tunahisi amani ndani ya nyumba yote.
Questions & Answers about Tunapomsikia akisali, tunahisi amani ndani ya nyumba yote.
tuna- is the normal present/habitual marker:
- tunasikia = we hear / we are hearing
When you insert -po- after -na-, you get tunapo-, which adds the idea of “when / whenever / as we …”:
- tunamsikia = we hear him / her
- tunapomsikia = when(ever) we hear him / her
So tunapo- = tuna- (we + present) + -po- (when/where relative marker).
Yes. tunapomsikia comes from the verb kusikia (to hear), and it’s built like this:
- tu- = we (subject marker, 1st person plural)
- -na- = present / habitual tense
- -po- = “when / where” relative marker (here: “when”)
- -m- = object marker, him / her (3rd person singular for people)
- -sikia = hear (verb stem)
Put together: tu-na-po-m-sikia → tunapomsikia =
“when(ever) we hear him / her.”
The -m- is the object marker for a person: him / her.
Without -m-:
- tunaposikia = when we hear (no object mentioned)
With -m-:
- tunapomsikia = when we hear him/her
It refers to the same person who is the subject of akisali (he/she is praying). Swahili doesn’t distinguish grammatical gender, so -m- can mean him or her, depending on context.
Both are correct but mean different things:
tunamsikia
- Structure: tu-na-m-sikia
- Meaning: we hear him / we are hearing him (simple statement)
tunapomsikia
- Structure: tu-na-po-m-sikia
- Meaning: when(ever) we hear him (introduces a time/condition)
The extra -po- turns it into a “when / whenever” clause, which matches the English structure “When we hear him praying, …”
Both come from kusali (to pray), but they have different roles:
anasali
- a- = he / she (subject)
- -na- = present
- -sali = pray
- Meaning: he / she is praying (a normal main-clause verb)
akisali
- a- = he / she
- -ki- = “when / while / as” (subordinate/conditional marker)
- -sali = pray
- Meaning: when he/she is praying, while he/she prays
In this sentence, akisali functions like an English “-ing” clause:
“when we hear him praying …” / “when we hear him as he prays …”
The combination tunapomsikia akisali suggests simultaneous actions:
- tunapomsikia = when we hear him / whenever we hear him
- akisali = as he is praying / while he is praying
So the sense is:
“When we hear him (at the time when he is) praying”
→ the hearing happens while he is praying.
Yes, Tunamsikia akisali is grammatically correct, but the nuance is different:
Tunamsikia akisali
- Focus: a specific moment or simple present action
- Meaning: We hear him (right now / in this situation) praying.
Tunapomsikia akisali
- Focus: a repeated / typical / whenever situation
- Meaning: Whenever we hear him praying, …
In your original sentence, the idea is more general or habitual, so tunapomsikia fits better.
Both relate to “feeling,” but they are used a bit differently:
tunahisi (from kuhisi)
- More like “we sense / we feel (emotionally or intuitively)”
- Often used for emotions, impressions, atmospheres:
- Tunahisi amani. = We feel peace.
tunajisikia (from kujisikia)
- Literally “we feel ourselves”, often physical/health or personal state:
- Tunajisikia vizuri. = We feel well (physically or emotionally).
- Najisikia mgonjwa. = I feel sick.
- Literally “we feel ourselves”, often physical/health or personal state:
In tunahisi amani ndani ya nyumba yote, tunahisi fits well because it’s about sensing an atmosphere of peace in the whole house.
ndani ya literally means “inside of / within.”
- amani ndani ya nyumba yote
= peace inside the whole house / peace within the whole house
You can usually replace it with katika, which is more neutral “in / within / inside”:
- amani katika nyumba yote
This is also correct and very natural.
Subtle nuance:
- ndani ya often emphasizes being inside the interior/space of something.
- katika is broader and often feels slightly more formal.
In everyday speech, both are widely used and often interchangeable here.
It’s about noun class agreement.
- nyumba “house/home” belongs to noun class 9/10, which often has:
- no change between singular and plural
- adjectives/pronouns often start with y- in singular
The word yote (all / whole) agrees with the noun class:
- Singular (class 9): nyumba yote = the whole house
- Plural (class 10): nyumba zote = all the houses
wote is for people (class 2: wa-), as in watu wote (all the people), so nyumba wote would be wrong.
In your sentence, nyumba is singular, so nyumba yote is correct.
Literally, nyumba yote = “the whole house.”
But in Swahili (as in English), nyumba can be used metaphorically to mean the household / family.
So amani ndani ya nyumba yote can mean:
- peace in every part of the house (physical space), and/or
- peace among everyone in the household / family.
The exact interpretation depends on context, but the phrase naturally suggests peace filling the whole home and everyone in it.
Yes, that word order is grammatically correct:
- Tunahisi amani ndani ya nyumba yote tunapomsikia akisali.
= We feel peace in the whole house when we hear him praying.
Differences:
Original: Tunapomsikia akisali, tunahisi amani ndani ya nyumba yote.
- Starts with the condition/time (“When we hear him…”), then the result.
Reordered: Tunahisi … tunapomsikia akisali.
- Starts with the result (“We feel peace…”), then explains when.
Both are fine in Swahili; the choice is mostly about emphasis and style, similar to English.