Learn Hardcore Swahili: Kadiri unavyofanya mazoezi ya kunyoosha kila asubuhi, ndivyo mwili wako unavyokuwa mwepesi. - The more you do stretching exercises every morning, the lighter your body becomes.

Kadiri unavyofanya mazoezi... → The more / to the extent that you do exercises...
...ndivyo mwili wako unavyokuwa mwepesi. → ...to that same extent your body becomes lighter.

So the sentence is basically: The more you do stretching exercises every morning, the lighter your body becomes.

This Kadiri ... ndivyo ... pattern is very common for expressing proportional change in Swahili.

Is Kadiri ... ndivyo ... always used as a pair, or can I just use kadiri alone?

In this comparative meaning (the more … the more …), you almost always use the pair:

First clause with kadiri
Second clause with ndivyo

For example:

Kadiri unavyosoma, ndivyo unavyofaulu.
The more you study, the more you succeed.

You can use kadiri alone in some contexts to mean as / according to / to the extent that, but then it tends to sound incomplete or different in tone. In this kind of proportional comparison, native speakers expect the full pair Kadiri … ndivyo ….

How is unavyofanya formed, and why not just unafanya?

Unavyofanya is built from several parts:

u- = subject prefix for “you” (2nd person singular)
-na- = present tense marker
-vyo- = relative marker meaning roughly “in the way / to the extent that”
-fanya = verb root “do”

So unavyofanya literally suggests “as you are doing / in the way that you do / to the extent that you do”.

You could say:

Kadiri unafanya mazoezi...

and people would still understand you, but it sounds less natural and it loses some of the tight connection with Kadiri ... ndivyo .... The pattern usually wants:

Kadiri
- (verb with -vyo-)
ndivyo
- (verb with -vyo-)

Hence unavyofanya and later unavyokuwa.

Can you break down unavyokuwa in the second clause?

Yes. Unavyokuwa is parallel to unavyofanya:

u- = subject prefix agreeing with mwili (class 3 noun)
-na- = present tense marker
-vyo- = relative marker “in the way / to the extent that”
-kuwa = “to be / to become”

So unavyokuwa mwepesi is literally “as it becomes light / to the extent that it becomes light”.

Within this Kadiri ... ndivyo ... structure, using -vyo- in both halves emphasises the proportional relationship: the way you do X is matched by the way Y changes.

Why is it mazoezi ya kunyoosha and not mazoezi za kunyoosha?

Because ya / za must agree with the noun class of mazoezi.

Mazoezi is a class 6 noun (ma- class).
The genitive connector “of” for class 6 is ya, not za.

Some examples of ya with class 6:

maziwa ya ng’ombe – cow’s milk
majibu ya mtihani – answers of the exam
mazoezi ya kunyoosha – stretching exercises (literally exercises of stretching)

Za is used for class 10 plurals (N/N class), e.g.:

habari za leo – today’s news
nguo za mtoto – the child’s clothes

So mazoezi ya kunyoosha is the correct agreement.

Why is kunyoosha in the infinitive form here? Could it be a noun instead?

Kunyoosha is the infinitive (verbal noun) “to stretch / stretching”.

In Swahili, an infinitive ku- + verb can function like an English -ing noun:

kunyoosha → stretching
kuimba → singing
kufanya mazoezi → doing exercise / exercising

After a genitive connector like ya, you can use an infinitive as a noun:

mazoezi ya kunyoosha – exercises of stretching
muda wa kuoga – time to bathe / for bathing

You could theoretically create a pure noun phrase like mazoezi ya kunyoosho, but that would be very unusual and not idiomatic for this meaning. Using the infinitive kunyoosha is the normal way to express “stretching” here.

Could kila asubuhi be placed elsewhere in the sentence, like at the beginning?

Yes, its position is flexible. All of these are grammatically fine, with slightly different emphasis:

Kadiri unavyofanya mazoezi ya kunyoosha kila asubuhi, ndivyo mwili wako unavyokuwa mwepesi.
– Neutral; time phrase near the activity.
Kila asubuhi, kadiri unavyofanya mazoezi ya kunyoosha, ndivyo mwili wako unavyokuwa mwepesi.
– Emphasises “every morning” at the very start.
Kadiri kila asubuhi unavyofanya mazoezi ya kunyoosha, ndivyo mwili wako unavyokuwa mwepesi.
– Still understandable, but a bit heavier; less natural than (1) or (2).

Native speakers will often put kila asubuhi either right after the verb phrase it belongs to (as in the original) or at the very beginning of the sentence.

Why is it mwili wako unavyokuwa with u- as the subject prefix? I thought u- was for “you”.

Good question about agreement:

U- is used both:
- as 2nd person singular subject prefix (for “you”), and
- as the subject prefix for certain noun classes, including class 3 (m-/mi-).

Here, the verb is agreeing with mwili (body), not with you:

mwili – class 3 singular
Class 3 subject prefix (singular) on verbs = u-
So we get: mwili wako unavyokuwa mwepesi

Contrast:

Wewe unavyofanya mazoezi... – u- = you
Mwili wako unavyokuwa mwepesi... – u- = it (your body), by class agreement

Context tells you whether u- means “you” or “it (class 3)”.

How does wako in mwili wako work? Why not something like yaako?

Possessive adjectives in Swahili also agree with noun class.

The basic possessive stem for “your (singular)” is -ako, and you attach a class prefix to it. For some noun classes, that prefix is w-, giving wako.

For mwili (class 3, m-/mi-):

Class 3: wangu, wako, wake, wetu, wenu, wao
(my, your, his/her, our, your (pl), their)

So:

mwili wako – your body
mwili wake – his/her body

There is no form yaako; for ya- you would still only have yako (e.g. saa yako, your watch, class 9), not yaako.

What is the nuance of mwepesi here? Does it mean physically light in weight, or more like “feeling light / energetic”?

Mwepesi can cover both physical and figurative lightness, depending on context.

Literally, it can mean:

“light (not heavy)” – e.g. mzigo mwepesi (a light load)

Figuratively, especially with mwili, it often implies:

“feeling light / flexible / less heavy / more agile”

In this sentence, with stretching exercises, the natural interpretation is:

“your body feels lighter / looser / more agile”, not that you are literally losing a lot of weight each morning.

So it leans toward feeling light and flexible rather than strict kilogram weight.

What is the difference between mwepesi, wepesi, and nyepesi?

They are related but used differently:

mwepesi
- Adjective form used with m-/wa- and m-/mi- noun classes.
- Examples:
  - mwili mwepesi – a light body
  - mzigo mwepesi – a light load
nyepesi
- Adjective form used with N-class nouns (class 9/10).
- Examples:
  - chai nyepesi – weak / light tea
  - barua nyepesi – a light letter (by weight, or easy)
wepesi
- More of a noun or abstract quality: “lightness / easiness”.
- Example:
  - wepesi wa somo hili – the easiness of this subject

So in our sentence, because mwili is in class 3, the correct adjective form is mwepesi.

What tense or aspect is being expressed by unavyofanya and unavyokuwa here? Is it habitual?

Yes, it is essentially present habitual.

The key elements:

-na- = present tense marker, often used for current, ongoing, or habitual actions.
kila asubuhi = “every morning”, which strongly suggests a repeated habit.

So:

unavyofanya mazoezi ya kunyoosha kila asubuhi
→ as you (regularly) do stretching exercises every morning
mwili wako unavyokuwa mwepesi
→ your body (tends to) become light / feels lighter (as a regular result)

Altogether, it describes a general rule or repeated pattern, not a one-time event.

Are there simpler or alternative ways to say the same idea without the full Kadiri ... ndivyo ... structure?

Yes, you can simplify while keeping essentially the same meaning. For example:

Ukifanya mazoezi ya kunyoosha kila asubuhi, mwili wako unakuwa mwepesi.
– If you do stretching exercises every morning, your body becomes light.
Unapofanya mazoezi ya kunyoosha kila asubuhi, mwili wako unakuwa mwepesi.
– When(ever) you do stretching exercises every morning, your body becomes light.

These avoid kadiri and ndivyo, so they feel more straightforward.
The original Kadiri ... ndivyo ... version is a bit more advanced and emphasizes the proportional relationship: the more you do it, the lighter you feel.