Learn Hardcore Swahili: Jana usiku, simu yangu iliibiwa sokoni. - Last night, my phone was stolen at the market.

You may also hear usiku wa jana (literally “the night of yesterday”), which means the same thing. Jana usiku is a bit shorter and very common. Both are correct.

Why is it simu yangu and not yangu simu for “my phone”?

In Swahili, possessive words like -angu (my), -ako (your), -ake (his/her), etc. normally come after the noun they describe:

simu yangu = phone my = my phone
rafiki yako = friend your = your friend

You cannot say yangu simu; that word order is wrong in standard Swahili.

Also notice that -angu appears as yangu here. The y- at the beginning agrees with the noun class of simu (class 9). So:

simu yangu (class 9 agreement)
kitabu changu (class 7 agreement, ch-)
mtoto wangu (class 1 agreement, w-)

How is iliibiwa built, piece by piece?

iliibiwa comes from the verb kuiba = to steal.

Breakdown of iliibiwa:

i- = subject marker for class 9 (here: simu, “phone”)
-li- = past tense marker (completed past)
-ibiw- = passive form of the root ib- (“steal”)
-a = final vowel (marks normal indicative verb form)

So:

kuibiwa = to be stolen / to be robbed
iliibiwa = it was stolen (it = the phone)

Putting it together:
simu yangu iliibiwa ≈ “my phone was stolen.”

What is the difference between iliibiwa and iliiba?

Both are past tense, but:

iliiba = it stole (active voice)
- subject did the stealing
- e.g. paka aliiba nyama = the cat stole meat
iliibiwa = it was stolen (passive voice)
- subject received the action
- simu yangu iliibiwa = my phone was stolen

In this sentence, the phone did not steal anything; it was the object of theft. So you must use the passive iliibiwa, not iliiba.

Why is the passive used here instead of an active form like “someone stole my phone”?

The passive in Swahili works very much like in English: you use it when:

you don’t know who did the action, or
who did it is not important, or
you want to focus on the victim or the affected thing/person

Jana usiku, simu yangu iliibiwa sokoni.
= Last night, my phone was stolen at the market.

This focuses on my phone and the fact that it was stolen.

If you want to use an active sentence, you could say, for example:

Jana usiku, mtu aliiba simu yangu sokoni.
= Last night, someone stole my phone at the market.

Here mtu (“a person, someone”) is the subject doing the stealing.

Why does the verb start with i- (iliibiwa) and not a- (aliibiwa)?

In Swahili, the subject prefix on the verb must agree with the noun class of the subject.

simu (“phone”) is a class 9 noun.
- Class 9 subject marker: i-
- So: simu yangu iliibiwa = my phone was stolen
mtu (“person”) is class 1.
- Class 1 subject marker: a-
- So: mtu aliiba simu yangu = a person stole my phone

So:

simu yangu iliibiwa (phone = it was stolen)
mtu aliiba simu yangu (a person = he/she stole my phone)

The change i- vs a- is just agreement with different noun classes.

Could I say Niliibiwa sokoni jana usiku instead, and what would that mean?

Yes, that is a correct sentence, but the meaning changes:

Niliibiwa sokoni jana usiku.
- ni- = I (subject marker)
- -li- = past
- -ibiwa = be robbed / be stolen from

This means: “I was robbed at the market last night.”

Compare:

Simu yangu iliibiwa sokoni. = My phone was stolen at the market.
Niliibiwa sokoni. = I was robbed at the market.

In the original sentence, the phone is the grammatical subject. In niliibiwa, I am the subject.

What exactly does sokoni mean, and how is it different from soko?

soko = market (the basic noun)
sokoni = at the market / to the market / in the market

The ending -ni is a locative suffix, often meaning “at / in / on (that place).”

Similar patterns:

nyumba (house) → nyumbani (at home, to home)
shule (school) → shuleni (at school)
kanisa (church) → kanisani (at church)

So in the sentence:

… sokoni. = … at the market.

Can I say katika soko or kwenye soko instead of sokoni?

Yes, you can, and they are understandable, but there are nuances:

sokoni
- most natural and common way to say “at the market”
- simple locative, very idiomatic
kwenye soko / katika soko
- also mean “at/in the market”
- often feel a bit more explicit or formal, or used when contrasting locations or being very precise

For everyday speech, sokoni is usually the best and most natural choice:

Jana usiku, simu yangu iliibiwa sokoni. ✅ (very natural)
Jana usiku, simu yangu iliibiwa kwenye soko. ✅ (correct, a bit less idiomatic)

Why is the word order Jana usiku, simu yangu iliibiwa sokoni? Could I move the time to another position?

Swahili is quite flexible with adverbs of time and place.

Jana usiku is put first for emphasis and flow:

Jana usiku, simu yangu iliibiwa sokoni.
- Time → Subject → Verb → Place

You could also say:

Simu yangu iliibiwa jana usiku sokoni.
Simu yangu iliibiwa sokoni jana usiku.

All are grammatically correct. Putting Jana usiku at the beginning highlights when it happened, similar to English:

“Last night, my phone was stolen at the market.” (time first for emphasis)

How would I say “My phone was not stolen at the market last night”?

You negate the verb by changing the subject marker and the tense marker:

Simu yangu haikuibiwa sokoni jana usiku.

Breakdown of haikuibiwa:

ha- = negative marker for class 9 subject
-ku- = negative past marker (replaces -li-)
-ibiwa = be stolen

Compare:

iliibiwa = it was stolen
haikuibiwa = it was not stolen

So the full negative sentence is:

Jana usiku, simu yangu haikuibiwa sokoni.
= Last night, my phone was not stolen at the market.

How do you pronounce iliibiwa with all those i sounds?

iliibiwa has four syllables. You can break it as:

i-li-i-bwa

Helpful pronunciation guide (approximate English sounds):

i = “ee” as in see
li = “lee”
i again = “ee”
bwa = “bwa” (like b-waa, with the bw cluster)

So you say something like:

ee-LEE-ee-bwa

In normal speech, the two i sounds (li-i) often flow together, sounding like a slightly longer ee sound, but it is fine (and clear) if you separate them a bit when you’re learning.