Learn Hardcore Swahili: Leo jioni, mimi napenda tembezi fupi karibu na nyumba. - This evening, I like a short walk near the house.

General preference / habit – “I like”
- Napenda tembezi fupi karibu na nyumba.
  I like short walks near the house (in general).
Polite desire – “I would like / I’d like to have”
In requests, especially with objects like food, drinks, etc., napenda is often closer to “I would like”:
- Ningependa chai. = I would like tea.
- Napenda chai, tafadhali. = I’d like tea, please. (polite in context)

In your sentence with leo jioni, it can sound like:

Either: This evening I (generally) like a short walk near the house
Or: This evening I’d like to take a short walk near the house.

Both are plausible; context would clarify whether it’s a habit or today’s plan.

Leo jioni literally looks like “today evening”. Is that normal Swahili? Does it just mean “this evening”?

Yes, leo jioni is completely natural and very common. Literally:

leo = today
jioni = (late) afternoon / evening

Together leo jioni = “today in the evening”, which corresponds to English “this evening”.

Other related options:

jioni – in the evening (in general or today, from context)
jioni hii – this evening (more literally “this evening”)
jioni ya leo – today’s evening (a bit more formal/explicit)

For everyday use, leo jioni is perfectly standard for “this evening.”

Could I move leo jioni to a different place, like Napenda tembezi fupi karibu na nyumba leo jioni?

Yes. Time expressions are quite flexible in Swahili. All of these are acceptable:

Leo jioni, mimi napenda tembezi fupi karibu na nyumba.
Mimi napenda tembezi fupi karibu na nyumba leo jioni.
Mimi leo jioni napenda tembezi fupi karibu na nyumba.

Putting leo jioni at the beginning is very common and puts extra focus on when:

Leo jioni, … = As for this evening, …

Why is tembezi used here instead of kutembea? What’s the difference?

Both relate to “walking,” but they’re different word types:

tembezi = a walk / an outing (a noun)
kutembea = to walk / walking (the infinitive/verb form)

In your sentence:

tembezi fupi = a short walk (noun + adjective)

If you used the verb form, you’d phrase it differently, for example:

Napenda kutembea karibu na nyumba.
I like walking near the house.

So:

napenda tembezi fupi = I like a short walk / short walks (as a thing)
napenda kutembea = I like walking (the activity in general)

How do I make tembezi plural, if I want to say “short walks”?

The plural of tembezi is matembezi.

To say “short walks”, you’d typically say:

Napenda matembezi mafupi karibu na nyumba.

Here:

tembezi → matembezi (singular → plural)
fupi → mafupi

The adjective fupi agrees with the ma- noun class in the plural by taking ma- as well: mafupi.

Why do adjectives like fupi come after the noun (tembezi fupi) and not before it?

In Swahili, descriptive adjectives normally come after the noun:

tembezi fupi – a short walk
mtoto mrefu – a tall child
nyumba nzuri – a nice house

So tembezi fupi is the standard word order. Putting the adjective before the noun would be wrong in normal Swahili:

✗ fupi tembezi – incorrect

Does fupi always look the same, or does it change with different nouns?

The base meaning “short” stays the same, but its form can change to agree with the noun class.

Examples:

mtoto mfupi – a short child (m-/wa- class)
watoto wafupi – short children
matembezi mafupi – short walks (ma- class)
tembezi fupi – a short walk (class where the agreement isn’t visible on the adjective)

In tembezi fupi, the agreement is there in grammar, but it doesn’t show up as a prefix change, so you just see fupi in its basic form.

What exactly does karibu na mean here, and how is it different from just karibu?

karibu has several uses:

“near / close” (adverb)
- Nyumba iko karibu. – The house is near/close (to here).
“near” as a preposition + na
- karibu na nyumba – near the house
  (literally “near with/and the house”)
“welcome” (as an expression to a guest)
- Karibu! – Welcome! / Come in!

In your sentence, karibu na nyumba means “near the house”.

Using just karibu without na before a noun is less natural in this structure; you typically say:

karibu na + [noun] → near [noun]
karibu na nyumba, karibu na barabara, etc.

What’s the difference between nyumba and nyumbani? Could I say karibu na nyumbani?

nyumba = house / home (as a thing or location)
nyumbani = at home / at the house (locative form)

Karibu na nyumba = near the house (correct)
Karibu na nyumbani is normally not used; it sounds odd because nyumbani already has a built-in locative meaning (“at home”), and the structure karibu na + [locative] is not usual.

Compare:

Niko nyumbani. – I am at home.
Niko karibu na nyumba. – I am near the house.

Swahili doesn’t have words like “a” or “the”. So how do we know if tembezi fupi is “a short walk” or “the short walk”?

Swahili doesn’t use articles like a/an/the; the noun phrase tembezi fupi is neutral.

Its translation depends on context:

a short walk – if you’re introducing it or speaking generally
the short walk – if both speakers already know which walk you mean

So:

Leo jioni, napenda tembezi fupi karibu na nyumba.
Can be interpreted as:
- This evening, I like a short walk near the house.
- This evening, I like the short walk near the house.

English has to choose a or the; Swahili doesn’t mark that distinction explicitly.

If I want to say “This evening I will enjoy a short walk near the house,” should I use future tense like nitapenda?

You can use the future, but you don’t have to. In Swahili:

Napenda tembezi fupi leo jioni can naturally cover the idea that this evening, I will like/enjoy a short walk, especially if it’s a plan or habit.

If you really want to emphasize future time, you can say:

Leo jioni, nitapenda tembezi fupi karibu na nyumba.
(literally: This evening, I will like a short walk…)

However, nitapenda is more often used for “I will come to like” (a future preference) rather than just a one-time enjoyment.

In practice, speakers usually keep napenda and rely on leo jioni plus context to show it’s about this evening.