Learn Hardcore Swahili: Ninapomaliza kazi, ninapumzika sebuleni. - When I finish work, I rest in the living room.

So ni-na-po-maliza → ninapomaliza = “when I finish / when I am finishing”.
Swahili just writes it as one word; you don’t put spaces between these parts.

What exactly does -po- mean here? Is it time or place?

In this sentence, -po- is talking about time, not place.

As a relative marker, -po- basically means “when” or “at the time that”.
The meaning is: “At the moment that I finish work, I rest in the living room.”

The same -po- can also be used for a place:

Hapo ninapofanya kazi, kuna kelele nyingi.
There where I work, there is a lot of noise.

So -po- covers both “when” (specific time) and “where” (specific place); here it’s clearly “when”.

Could I say nikimaliza kazi, ninapumzika sebuleni instead? What’s the difference between -po and -ki?

Yes, you can say:

Nikimaliza kazi, ninapumzika sebuleni.

The difference is a nuance:

-po- (as in ninapomaliza)
- Often used for a specific time: when I finish (at that time).
- Feels a bit more neutral/straightforward “when”.
-ki- (as in nikimaliza)
- Often has a more conditional / whenever feeling:
  - If/whenever I finish work, I rest in the living room.

In everyday speech, for repeated actions like this, ninapomaliza kazi… and nikimaliza kazi… will usually both be understood as:

“When(ever) I finish work, I rest in the living room.”

If you want to be very precise in formal grammar:

-po- = definite “when”
-ki- = “if / when(ever)” (conditional or repeated).

Why is ni- repeated in both ninapomaliza and ninapumzika? In English we just say “I” once.

In Swahili, every finite verb normally needs its own subject marker.

So we get:

ni-na-po-maliza = when *I finish*
ni-na-pumzika = I rest

Even though English only says “I” once:

When I finish work, Ø rest in the living room (no second “I”)

Swahili cannot drop the subject marker on the second verb.
You must say ninapumzika, not just napumzika.

So the structure is:

Ninapomaliza kazi, ninapumzika sebuleni.
When I finish work, I rest in the living room.

Does ninapomaliza kazi, ninapumzika sebuleni describe a habit, or something happening right now?

With -na- and -po- together like this, it most naturally describes a habitual or regular action:

“When(ever) I finish work, I (normally) rest in the living room.”

It can also be understood as describing a general present rule about what happens when you finish work.

If you wanted to emphasise what is happening right now, you’d normally use extra context, e.g.:

Siku hizi ninapomaliza kazi, ninapumzika sebuleni.
These days when I finish work, I rest in the living room.

Or be more explicit with time expressions (today, nowadays, etc.).

If I want to talk about the future (“When I finish work, I will rest…”), how would I change the sentence?

You change the second verb to the future tense:

Ninapomaliza kazi, nitapumzika sebuleni.
When I finish work, I will rest in the living room.

Breakdown of the second verb:

ni- = I
-ta- = future
pumzika = rest

You can also use another common pattern for a future time clause:

Nitakapomaliza kazi, nitapumzika sebuleni.
(When I have finished work, I will rest in the living room.)

Here nitakapomaliza = ni-ta-ka-po-maliza (“when I will have finished” / “when I finish” in the future).

Why does sebule become sebuleni? What does the -ni ending do?

Sebule = living room.
When you add -ni to many nouns in Swahili, it makes a locative (“in/at/on [that place]”).

So:

sebule → sebuleni = in the living room
shule → shuleni = at school
nyumba → nyumbani = at home
kazi → kazini = at work

In this sentence:

Ninapumzika sebuleni. = I rest in the living room.

There is no separate word for “in”; the -ni on sebule does that job.

Why isn’t there a word for “the” or “my” before kazi? How do I say “my work”?

Swahili does not have separate words for “a” or “the” like English.
Context decides whether kazi means “work”, “a job”, or “the job/work”.

To say “my work”, you add a possessive:

kazi yangu = my work
Ninapomaliza kazi yangu, ninapumzika sebuleni.
When I finish my work, I rest in the living room.

In the original sentence, kazi by itself can be understood as “work” or “my work” depending on context.

Can I change the word order and say Ninapumzika sebuleni ninapomaliza kazi?

Yes, you can put the main clause first:

Ninapumzika sebuleni ninapomaliza kazi.

It still means:

I rest in the living room when I finish work.

In writing, many people will put a comma to show the pause:

Ninapumzika sebuleni, ninapomaliza kazi.

Both orders are normal in Swahili:

Ninapomaliza kazi, ninapumzika sebuleni.
Ninapumzika sebuleni, ninapomaliza kazi.

The meaning stays the same; only the emphasis slightly changes (what you mention first).

Could I say Baada ya kumaliza kazi, ninapumzika sebuleni instead of Ninapomaliza kazi, ninapumzika sebuleni? Is there a difference?

Yes, that’s another correct way to express almost the same idea:

Baada ya kumaliza kazi, ninapumzika sebuleni.
After finishing work, I rest in the living room.

Differences:

Ninapomaliza kazi…
- Uses the relative marker -po- inside the verb.
- Literally: When I finish work…
Baada ya kumaliza kazi…
- Uses the preposition baada ya = after.
- Literally: After finishing work…

In everyday conversation, they are very close in meaning; both describe what you do once you have finished work.
The -po- form is a bit more compact and very common in spoken Swahili.