Learn Hardcore Swahili: Ninapenda hadithi zinazosimuliwa na wazazi wangu nyumbani jioni. - I like the stories that are told by my parents at home in the evening.

zinazosimuliwa starts with zi-, which is the plural subject marker for noun class 10.
So hadithi zinazosimuliwa = “stories that are told.”

If it were clearly singular, you’d normally see something like:

hadithi inayosimuliwa – “the story that is being told”
- i- (singular subject marker for this class)
- -na- (present)
- -yo- (singular relative marker for this class)

So: form of the following verb tells you that hadithi is plural in this sentence.

What exactly does zinazosimuliwa mean, and how is it built?

Zinazosimuliwa can be broken down like this:

zi- = subject marker for they (class 10 plural: “they – the stories”)
-na- = present / ongoing / general time
-zo- = relative marker for “which / that” (class 10 plural)
simuli- = root from simulia – “to narrate, to tell (a story)”
-w- = passive marker “be …-ed”
-a = final verb vowel

Put together: zi-na-zo-simuli-w-a → zinazosimuliwa

Meaning: “that are (being) told / narrated.”

So hadithi zinazosimuliwa literally is:

“the stories which are being told”

English often says simply “stories that are told”, but Swahili shows the relative idea (that / which) and the tense inside the verb itself.

Why is there no separate word for “that” in “stories that are told”?

Swahili usually builds “that / which / who” into the verb, instead of using a separate word.

In zinazosimuliwa, the part that carries the “that / which” meaning is -zo-, the relative marker agreeing with hadithi:

hadithi zinazosimuliwa
= “stories that are told”

So instead of:

English: stories that are told
Swahili: hadithi zinazosimuliwa
(literally: “stories they-are-that-told”)

There is also a separate relative word ambazo (“which / that”, plural for this class), so you could say:

hadithi ambazo zinasimuliwa na wazazi wangu
= “stories that my parents are telling”

But the sentence you have uses the built‑in relative form, which is very common and very natural.

Does na in na wazazi wangu mean “and” or “by” here?

In this sentence, na functions like “by” (the agent of a passive verb), not “and”:

zinazosimuliwa na wazazi wangu
= “that are told by my parents”

In Swahili:

na can mean “and”: mama na baba – “mother and father”
but after a passive verb, na often marks who does the action:
- Hadithi zinasimuliwa na wazazi wangu.
  “The stories are told by my parents.”

So here, na introduces the doer of the passive action “are told.”

Why is it wazazi wangu, not wazazi yangu or wazazi zangu?

Swahili possessives must agree with the noun class of the thing possessed.

wazazi (“parents”) is class 2 (plural of mzazi – “parent”).
The possessive prefix for class 2 is wa-.
-angu is the base for “my.”

So:

wazazi wangu = “my parents” (class 2: wa- + -angu)

Some comparisons:

mzazi wangu – “my parent” (class 1: m-/wa-)
rafiki yangu – “my friend” (class 9: y-angu)
vitabu vyangu – “my books” (class 8: vy-angu)

So wangu is the correct possessive form agreeing with wazazi.

What does nyumbani jioni mean exactly, and why is there no preposition like “at” or “in”?

Nyumbani jioni literally combines a place word and a time word:

nyumbani = “at home” (from nyumba – house/home + locative ending -ni)
jioni = “in the evening / evenings”

Swahili often doesn’t need a separate preposition like “at / in / on” for time or place expressions:

nyumbani = at home
shuleni = at school
asubuhi = in the morning
jioni = in the evening

So:

nyumbani jioni = “at home in the evening(s)”

It’s a natural way to say where and when the stories are told, without extra prepositions.

Does nyumbani jioni describe where and when the stories are told, or when the speaker likes them?

Grammatically and naturally, nyumbani jioni belongs with the relative clause “are told by my parents,” not with “I like.”

So the structure is:

Ninapenda [hadithi [zinazosimuliwa na wazazi wangu nyumbani jioni]].
I like [the stories [that are told by my parents at home in the evening.]]

That is, the telling happens “at home in the evening,” not the liking:

“I like the stories that are told by my parents at home in the evening.”

If you really wanted to say that the liking happens at home in the evening, you’d usually move the time/place nearer to ninapenda, e.g.:

Nyumbani jioni ninapenda hadithi…
“In the evenings at home I like stories…”

But the original sentence clearly sounds like it’s modifying simuliwa (“are told”).

Could I say this in an active form instead of the passive zinazosimuliwa na wazazi wangu?

Yes. A common active version would be:

Ninapenda hadithi ambazo wazazi wangu wanasimulia nyumbani jioni.
“I like the stories that my parents tell at home in the evening.”

Differences:

Original (passive):
- hadithi zinazosimuliwa na wazazi wangu
- “stories that are told by my parents”
Active version:
- hadithi ambazo wazazi wangu wanasimulia
- “stories that my parents tell”

Both are correct and natural. The passive + na (“by”) is very common and a bit more compact; the active + ambazo is perhaps more transparent for learners because it looks closer to English “stories that my parents tell.”

Does ninapenda hadithi zinazosimuliwa… mean “I like” in general, or “I am liking” right now?

In Swahili, ninapenda with -na- usually covers both:

present continuous: “I am liking / I am enjoying (them now)”
and general / habitual: “I like (in general)”

Context decides which English tense sounds best. Here, with hadithi zinazosimuliwa na wazazi wangu nyumbani jioni, it naturally suggests a habit:

“I like the stories that are told by my parents at home in the evening.”
(i.e. whenever they do this, I like those stories.)

Similarly, zinazosimuliwa can be understood as:

“that are being told” (process, right now)
or “that are (regularly) told” (habit)

Again, the broader context would decide, but as a stand‑alone sentence it reads as a habitual preference.

How should I pronounce zinazosimuliwa? Where is the stress?

Swahili usually stresses the second‑to‑last (penultimate) syllable.

Break zinazosimuliwa into syllables:

zi‑na‑zo‑si‑mu‑li‑wa

Count from the end: wa (1), li (2) → the stress goes on li:

zi‑na‑zo‑si‑mu‑LI‑wa

So you say:

zee-nah-zo-see-mu-LI-wa (smooth and even, with stress lightly on LI)

The same penultimate‑stress rule applies to the other words:

Ninapenda → ni‑na‑PE‑nda
hadithi → ha‑DI‑thi
wazazi → wa‑ZA‑zi
nyumbani → nyu‑BA‑ni
jioni → ji‑O‑ni