Learn Hardcore Swahili: Anapokuja baba nyumbani, mimi ninamsaidia kuandaa meza. - When father comes home, I help him set the table.

a- = he/she (3rd person singular subject marker)
-na- = present/“usually”/ongoing tense marker
-po- = “when / at the time that” (also “at the place where,” but here it’s temporal)
-kuja = to come

So anapokuja ≈ “when he comes / whenever he comes / as he comes”, not just “he comes.”

By contrast:

anakuja = a- + -na- + -kuja = “he is coming / he comes” (simple present/ongoing), with no “when” idea built into the verb.

In your sentence, anapokuja baba nyumbani… means “When Dad comes home…”, not merely “Dad comes home…”.

Why is it anapokuja baba nyumbani instead of baba anapokuja nyumbani at the beginning?

Both orders are possible in Swahili, but they aren’t used in quite the same way:

Baba anapokuja nyumbani, mimi ninamsaidia…
→ Grammatically fine and clear: “When Dad comes home, I help him…”
Anapokuja baba nyumbani, mimi ninamsaidia…
→ Sounds a bit more like you’re foregrounding the event (“when (he) comes home, dad…”) and then specifying that the subject is baba. It is still understood as “When Dad comes home…”, and is acceptable in normal speech/writing.

Swahili word order is quite flexible. The verb + subject order here doesn’t change the basic meaning, but shifts the rhythm/emphasis slightly toward the action/time (“when he comes”) rather than starting with “Baba…”.

For a learner, it’s safer and more typical to say:

Baba anapokuja nyumbani, mimi ninamsaidia kuandaa meza.

What exactly does the -po- in anapokuja do? Could we use -ki- instead?

-po- is a relative/locative marker that often means “when (at the specific time that)” in temporal clauses.

Anapokuja baba nyumbani…
→ “When Dad comes home…”

If you use -ki- instead:

Anapokuja → with -po- (time/point: when)
Anapokuja (hypothetical: this would normally be akija / atakapokuja, but as a pattern)
Akija baba nyumbani, mimi ninamsaidia…
→ using -ki- in akija: “Whenever/if Dad comes home, I help him…”

Rough tendencies:

-po-: “when(ever) [a specific time or situation]” – more neutral/point-in-time.
-ki-: “when(ever)/if [as a condition]” – often more conditional or ongoing.

In many everyday contexts, -po- and -ki- can both translate as “when,” but they have slightly different nuances. For now, you can remember: -po- is very common in “when X happens, Y happens” sentences.

Why is mimi there if ninamsaidia already shows “I” in the verb?

In Swahili, the subject is normally built into the verb through a subject prefix (here, ni- = I). So grammatically you can just say:

Ninamsaidia kuandaa meza. → “I help him to set the table.”

Adding mimi makes the subject explicit and emphatic:

Mimi ninamsaidia kuandaa meza.
→ “I help him set the table.” (implying I do it, not someone else.)

So mimi is not required; it is used for emphasis/contrast, just like stressing “I” in English.

How is ninamsaidia built up, and where is “him” inside that word?

Ninamsaidia is a single verb form with several pieces:

ni- = I (1st person singular subject marker)
-na- = present/continuous tense marker
-m- = object marker for him/her (person, class 1/2)
-saidia = verb root “help”

So:

ni-na-m-saidia → ninamsaidia = “I help him/her.”

In your full sentence:

Mimi ninamsaidia kuandaa meza.
= “I help him to prepare/set the table.”

The “him” is the -m- in the verb, referring to baba.

Could I just say namsaidia instead of ninamsaidia?

Yes, in colloquial speech people very often contract ninamsaidia to namsaidia:

Ninamsaidia → full, careful form
Namsaidia → common spoken form

Both mean “I help him/her.”

For clear, standard written Swahili, textbooks often teach and prefer ninamsaidia, but you will hear namsaidia all the time in conversation.

Why is it nyumbani with no word for “to” or “at”? How does nyumbani work?

Nyumbani comes from nyumba (house, home) + -ni (a locative suffix):

nyumba = house/home
nyumbani = “at home / in the house / to home” (depending on context)

Swahili often does not use a separate preposition like “to” or “at” where English does. Instead, the -ni ending on the noun covers that idea.

So:

Baba anakuja nyumbani.
→ literally: “Dad comes homewards/at-home,”
→ natural English: “Dad comes home.”

You don’t need a separate word for “to” before nyumbani.

Could I say kwa nyumba instead of nyumbani?

You generally would not say kwa nyumba here.

Nyumbani = (to/at) home / the house (as a place you live)
Kwa nyumba literally = “at/by/with the house” – sounds odd in this sense.

Kwa + person or place often means “to/at someone’s place”:

Anaenda kwa baba. = He is going to Dad’s place.
Anaenda kwa rafiki yake. = He is going to his friend’s (place).

But with house/home itself, nyumbani is the natural idiomatic form for “home.”

So in this sentence you want:

Anapokuja baba nyumbani… = “When Dad comes home…”

Why do we say kuandaa meza for “set the table”? Doesn’t kuandaa just mean “to prepare”?

Yes, kuandaa literally means “to prepare, to get something ready.”
But in context, kuandaa meza is the normal phrase for “to set the table”:

kuandaa meza = to prepare the table (for a meal) → set the table

Other common uses:

kuandaa chakula = prepare food
kuandaa mpango = prepare a plan
kuandaa safari = prepare for a trip / arrange a trip

So “help him prepare the table” is the literal meaning, and “help him set the table” is the natural English translation.

Why do we say kuandaa meza and not kuandaa meza with -ni, like mezani?

meza = table
mezani = “on/at the table” (locative, from meza + -ni)

In this sentence, you are preparing the table itself (laying plates, cutlery, etc.), not doing something at the table.

So:

kuandaa meza = to prepare/set the table
mezani would be used in things like:
- Kula mezani. = Eat at the table.
- Kitabu kiko mezani. = The book is on the table.

Therefore, kuandaa meza (without -ni) is correct.

Why is the second verb kuandaa in the infinitive? Could we say ninamsaidia na naandaa meza?

In Swahili, when one verb involves helping, wanting, starting, managing to do another action, the second verb is normally in the infinitive (ku‑form):

Ninamsaidia kuandaa meza.
= I help him (to) prepare the table.
Ninataka kuandaa meza.
= I want to prepare the table.

Saying something like:

Mimi ninamsaidia na naandaa meza.

…would mean roughly: “I help him and I prepare the table,” as two separate actions, not “I help him to prepare the table.”

So for “help him set the table,” the natural structure is:

kumsadia + kuandaa (help him + to prepare).

Do we need to say baba yangu (“my father”), or is just baba enough?

In many contexts, Swahili uses family terms without possessives when the person is clear from context, especially for your own close family:

Baba anakuja. = (My) dad is coming.
Mama yuko nyumbani. = (My) mom is at home.

So:

Anapokuja baba nyumbani…
is normally understood as
→ “When (my) dad comes home…”

If you need to be explicit or contrast people, you can add the possessive:

Baba yangu anapokuja nyumbani… = When my father comes home…
Baba yake anapokuja nyumbani… = When his/her father comes home…

But it’s not required unless the context demands clarity.

What tense or time idea does anapokuja carry here? Is it more like “when he comes” or “whenever he comes”?

Anapokuja with -na- (present) + -po- (when) usually covers both:

repeated/general events (“whenever/each time he comes”), and
a typical or current situation (“when he comes”).

So:

Anapokuja baba nyumbani, mimi ninamsaidia kuandaa meza.
can be understood as:
- “When Dad comes home, I help him set the table,” or
- “Whenever Dad comes home, I (always) help him set the table.”

Context decides whether you hear it as a general habit or a currently typical event. Swahili here is a bit less specific than English; both translations are natural.