Learn Hardcore Swahili: Watoto wanapenda hadithi zinazosimuliwa na bibi jioni. - Children love the stories that are told by grandmother in the evening.

hadithi is in noun class 9/10. In the plural (here it clearly means “stories”), it takes class 10 agreement.
Class 10 subject / relative prefix is zi-, not wa-.
wa- is for class 2 (people like watoto, walimu, etc.).

Because zinazosimuliwa refers back to hadithi, it must start with zi-, not wa-.

Why does hadithi look the same for singular and plural? How do we know it’s “stories” and not “story”?

Hadithi belongs to noun class 9/10, where many nouns have the same form in singular and plural. You work out singular vs plural from context and agreement:

The subject watoto is plural: “children.”
They like more than one story “that are told” – the verb form zinazosimuliwa uses zi- (plural agreement, class 10).

Because of that plural agreement, hadithi here must be understood as “stories,” not “a story.”

Why is it hadithi zinazosimuliwa instead of putting the verb first, like zinazosimuliwa hadithi?

In Swahili, a relative clause that describes a noun typically comes right after that noun:

hadithi zinazosimuliwa = stories that are told
Noun → Relative phrase describing it

Putting zinazosimuliwa first (zinazosimuliwa hadithi) would sound wrong or at least very unnatural, because it breaks the normal Noun + Modifier order.

Could we also say hadithi ambazo zinasimuliwa na bibi jioni? Is that different?

Yes, that is possible and grammatically correct:

hadithi ambazo zinasimuliwa na bibi jioni
ambazo = relative pronoun for class 10 (feminine-like nouns + some others) meaning “which / that”

The difference:

hadithi zinazosimuliwa… – uses the verb-internal relative (more compact, very common in spoken Swahili).
hadithi ambazo zinasimuliwa… – uses a separate relative pronoun (ambazo), somewhat more explicit and often felt a bit more formal or bookish.

Meaning-wise, they’re essentially the same here.

Why is it wanapenda and not just wapenda?

Swahili present tense normally uses the -na- marker:

wa-na-penda → wanapenda = they like / they love (present tense, often with a habitual sense).

Wapenda (without -na-) is not the normal present tense; without a tense marker, it sounds either archaic, poetic, or just incomplete in modern standard usage. For everyday speech, you want wanapenda.

What’s the nuance of wanapenda here – does it mean “like” or “love”?

The verb -penda covers both “like” and “love,” depending on context:

Watoto wanapenda hadithi… – here it’s best understood as “The children like/enjoy stories…”
For strong emotional love of people you can still use -penda, but context (and sometimes emphasis or extra words like sana = very much) clarifies it.

So in this sentence, think “like / enjoy” rather than romantic love.

Why is na bibi used to mean “by grandmother”? I thought na meant “and / with.”

Na is quite flexible in Swahili. Its common meanings include:

and: mama na baba – mother and father
with: ninakuja na rafiki – I’m coming with a friend
by (agent in a passive): zinazosimuliwa na bibi – “which are told by grandmother”

In passive constructions, na is the normal way to introduce the doer of the action:

kitabu kimeandikwa na mwalimu – the book was written by the teacher

So here na bibi = “by grandmother.”

What does bibi mean exactly? Is it only “grandmother”?

Bibi most commonly means:

grandmother

But it can also mean:

madam / Mrs. / lady (polite form of address, especially older usage)
In some regions, bibi can be used more broadly for an older woman or lady, sometimes with a respectful tone.

In a sentence about children liking stories in the evening, bibi will almost always be understood as “grandmother.”

Why is there no preposition before jioni? Why not kwa jioni or katika jioni?

Words for times of day (like asubuhi – morning, mchana – afternoon, jioni – evening, usiku – night) often act as adverbs without a preposition:

nitaondoka asubuhi – I will leave in the morning
tutakutana usiku – we will meet at night

So:

…na bibi jioni = “…by grandmother in the evening”

If you say kwa jioni or katika jioni, it sounds strange or overly literal. The simple bare form jioni is the standard natural way to express “in the evening.”

Can jioni be moved earlier in the sentence, like Watoto jioni wanapenda…?

You can move time expressions for emphasis, but the most neutral, natural place is usually near the end of the sentence. For this particular sentence:

Watoto wanapenda hadithi zinazosimuliwa na bibi jioni. – neutral, natural.

Things like:

Watoto jioni wanapenda hadithi…

are possible but sound marked, like you’re emphasizing jioni (“As for the evening, children like stories…”). For a learner, it’s safest to put jioni toward the end.

Why is the verb in the relative clause passive (simuliwa) instead of active (anasimulia)?

We want to describe the stories themselves as things that are told, not to emphasize the act of telling by the subject:

Active: bibi anasimulia hadithi – grandmother tells stories
Passive relative: hadithi zinazosimuliwa na bibi – stories that are told by grandmother

In English, we also say:

stories that are told by grandma

Using the passive keeps hadithi as the grammatical subject of the relative verb, so the agreement with zi- is straightforward.

Could we say Watoto wanapenda kusimuliwa hadithi na bibi jioni instead? How does that differ?

Yes, that is also correct, but the focus changes:

Watoto wanapenda hadithi zinazosimuliwa na bibi jioni.
- Focus: the stories (the stories that are told by grandma in the evening).
Watoto wanapenda kusimuliwa hadithi na bibi jioni.
- Focus: the activity of being told stories (they like to be told stories by grandma in the evening).

Both are natural; the original sentence emphasizes the stories; the alternative emphasizes the experience the children enjoy.

How does the agreement work between hadithi and zinazosimuliwa?

Agreement happens in two places inside zinazosimuliwa:

zi- matches hadithi (class 10 plural subject/relative prefix).
-zo- is the relative marker also agreeing with class 10.

So the relative verb zinazosimuliwa is “marked twice” for class 10:

zi-na-zo-simuliw-a
If the noun were different, the pattern would change, e.g.:
- mtoto anayesimuliwa – child who is told (class 1: a-…-ye-)
- vitabu vinavyosimuliwa – books that are told/narrated (class 8: vi-…-vyo-)

This system of agreement is central to Swahili grammar.