Bibi anapenda kusimulia hadithi jioni.

Grandmother likes to tell a story in the evening.

Breakdown of Bibi anapenda kusimulia hadithi jioni.

• kupenda: to like
• hadithi: the story
• jioni: in the evening
• bibi: grandmother
• kusimulia: to tell (a story)

Questions & Answers about Bibi anapenda kusimulia hadithi jioni.

Does bibi always mean grandmother, or can it mean other things?

Bibi most commonly means grandmother, but it can also mean lady or madam, depending on context and region.

• In many contexts (especially in families), bibi = grandmother.
• In more formal or older usage, bibi can be like Mrs. / Lady.

In a typical learner sentence like this, it’s usually safe to understand bibi as grandmother unless the context clearly says otherwise.

Why is it anapenda and not just penda?

In Swahili, a verb normally needs prefixes to show who is doing the action and when it happens.

• penda is the bare verb stem: to like / to love
• a- is the subject prefix for he/she (3rd person singular)
• -na- is the present tense marker (“is/does, generally now”)

So a + -na- + penda = anapenda = he/she likes / he/she loves.

You wouldn’t normally use penda alone in a sentence. It needs a subject and a tense marker.

Is anapenda “likes” or “is liking”? It looks like a continuous tense.

Anapenda is usually translated as likes (a general or habitual present), not “is liking.”

The -na- tense marker covers both:

• current, ongoing actions:
  
  • Anakula. = He/She is eating.
• general present / habits:
  
  • Anapenda kahawa. = He/She likes coffee.

With stative or preference verbs like penda, it normally means “likes” in English. So Bibi anapenda ... is understood as “Grandma likes …”, not “is liking.”

What does the ku- in kusimulia mean?

Ku- is the infinitive prefix in Swahili.

• simulia = verb root “tell (a story), narrate”
• kusimulia = to tell / to narrate

So anapenda kusimulia literally is “she likes to tell” or “she likes telling.”

Why do we say anapenda kusimulia instead of something like anapenda kusimulia hadithi with another subject marker or tense marker on simulia?

Swahili often uses the structure:

[finite verb] + [infinitive verb]
anapenda kusimulia = likes to tell / likes telling

You only conjugate the first verb (anapenda). The second verb stays in the infinitive with ku-.

This is similar to English:

• “She likes to tell stories.”
  You conjugate likes, not to tell.

Can I say Bibi anasimulia hadithi jioni? What would be the difference?

Yes, you can say Bibi anasimulia hadithi jioni.

Difference in meaning:

• Bibi anapenda kusimulia hadithi jioni.

  • Focus: her preference / habit
  • “Grandma likes telling stories in the evening.”

• Bibi anasimulia hadithi jioni.

  • Focus: the action itself
  • “Grandma tells stories in the evening” / “Grandma is telling stories in the evening.”

The first is about what she enjoys; the second is about what she does (either now or as a routine, depending on context).

What exactly does kusimulia mean compared to just kusema (to say)?

• kusema = to say, to speak, to tell (in a very general sense)
• kusimulia = to narrate, to tell a story, usually with more detail, like storytelling.

In this sentence, kusimulia hadithi is specifically “to tell stories / to narrate stories”, which fits better than kusema.

Is hadithi singular or plural? How do I say “a story” vs “stories”?

Hadithi is one of those words that often has the same form for singular and plural, especially in everyday use.

• hadithi (singular) = a story
• hadithi (plural) = stories

Context usually tells you which one is intended.
Here, Bibi anapenda kusimulia hadithi is naturally understood as “stories”, because storytelling is usually about more than one story in general. If you wanted to emphasize “one story,” you might add something like moja (one):

• anapenda kusimulia hadithi moja = she likes telling one story.

Why is the word order hadithi jioni and not jioni hadithi?

Swahili typically puts time expressions (like asubuhi, mchana, jioni) at the end of the sentence (or sometimes at the very beginning for emphasis).

So the most neutral order is:

• [Subject] [Verb] [Object] [Time]
• Bibi anapenda kusimulia hadithi jioni.
  
  • Subject: Bibi
  • Verb phrase: anapenda kusimulia
  • Object: hadithi
  • Time: jioni

You can start with Jioni, bibi anapenda kusimulia hadithi, but hadithi jioni (stories + in the evening) is more natural than jioni hadithi in that position.

Does jioni mean “this evening,” “in the evening,” or “every evening”?

Jioni by itself is a vague time expression: in the evening / evenings.

• It can mean “in the evening (generally)” → like a habitual time.
• It can also be understood as “this evening / tonight” if the context is about today.

In a generic sentence about what Grandma likes doing, jioni will usually be understood as “in the evenings” (habitually), not just one specific evening. If you need to be very specific:

• jioni hii = this evening
• kila jioni = every evening

Is there a more clearly “habitual” way to say “Grandma likes telling stories in the evening”?

Yes. Swahili has a habitual marker hu- used instead of -na- to strongly emphasize a repeated habit. For example:

• Bibi hupenda kusimulia hadithi jioni.

This strongly suggests a regular habit, like “Grandma usually / always likes to tell stories in the evening.”

Compare:

• Bibi anapenda kusimulia hadithi jioni. – neutral present (“she likes …”).
• Bibi hupenda kusimulia hadithi jioni. – clearly habitual (“she tends to like / always likes …”).

How would I say “Grandma does not like telling stories in the evening”?

You negate the verb penda using the negative present pattern. For he/she, it looks like this:

• ha- (negative subject marker for he/she)
• -pend- (verb root, note -a changes to -i in negatives)
• -i (final vowel for negative)

So:

• Bibi hapendi kusimulia hadithi jioni.
  = Grandma does not like telling stories in the evening.

How would I say “Grandma likes telling a lot of stories in the evening”?

You can add nyingi (“many / a lot of”) after hadithi:

• Bibi anapenda kusimulia hadithi nyingi jioni.
  = Grandma likes telling many stories in the evening.

Word order: noun + adjective → hadithi nyingi.

Can bibi ever refer to a young woman, or is it always older?

In modern everyday usage:

• bibi is usually associated with an older woman, especially grandmother.
• For “young woman / girl,” you’d more often hear msichana, mwanamke kijana, etc.

Historically and in some contexts, bibi could be more like lady / madam, not necessarily old, but most learners first meet bibi in the sense of “grandmother / elderly lady.”

Is Bibi capitalized like a name, or is that just because it starts the sentence?

In this sentence, Bibi is capitalized because it is at the beginning of the sentence, not because it is a proper name.

If it appears in the middle of a sentence, it would normally be:

• bibi anapenda kusimulia hadithi jioni.

It can function almost like “Grandma” as a role/title, but it’s not inherently a proper name.

Can I replace hadithi with another object, like “songs” or “poems,” and keep the same structure?

Yes. The structure [Subject] anapenda kusimulia [Object] jioni is flexible.

Examples:

• Bibi anapenda kuimba nyimbo jioni.
  
  • Grandma likes to sing songs in the evening.
• Bibi anapenda kusoma mashairi jioni.
  
  • Grandma likes to read poems in the evening.

You change the verb and object, but the overall grammar and word order stay the same.