Learn Hardcore Swahili: Kwa kawaida mimi hutazama muhtasari wa somo kabla ya kuingia darasani. - Usually I look at the lesson summary before entering the classroom.

Kwa kawaida literally means “by habit / normally / usually / as a rule.” It sets the idea of frequency or typical behavior, like English “normally” or “as a rule.”

In this sentence it appears at the beginning:
Kwa kawaida mimi hutazama… = Normally, I watch…
You could also put it after the subject:
Mimi kwa kawaida hutazama muhtasari wa somo kabla ya kuingia darasani.

Both are natural. Putting it at the very beginning makes it sound more like you’re framing the whole statement as a general habit, just like starting with “Usually,” in English.

Why is mimi used here? Could we just say Kwa kawaida hutazama muhtasari…?

In Swahili, the verb form itself normally tells you who the subject is, so the independent pronoun (like mimi, wewe, yeye) is often optional.

Mimi hutazama… = I (emphatic) usually watch…
Hutazama… (without mimi) would still mean “I usually watch…” in context, because the verb form hu- here is used with a context-given subject, but:

In practice:

People often include mimi:
- for clarity (if several people are being discussed)
- for emphasis: “As for me, I usually watch…”

So:

Kwa kawaida mimi hutazama muhtasari wa somo… (original)
Kwa kawaida hutazama muhtasari wa somo… (possible but feels a bit bare or context-dependent)

In a neutral, standalone sentence, including mimi is very natural and clear.

What is the hu- in hutazama? Is it a tense? How is it different from ninatazama?

hu- before a verb (without any subject prefix like ni-, u-, a-) is the habitual tense/aspect in standard Swahili.

(mimi) hutazama = I usually/always watch / I habitually watch
(mimi) ninatazama = I am watching / I watch (right now or generally)

Key points:

hu- here:
- expresses a regular, characteristic action
- does not require an additional subject prefix (you don’t say ninhutazama)
It’s naturally translated with “usually,” “always,” “tend to,” etc.

Examples:

Mimi huamka saa kumi na moja asubuhi.
I usually wake up at 5 a.m.
Wewe husoma vitabu vingi.
You usually read many books.

So hutazama in this sentence means “(I) usually watch / look at” and fits perfectly with Kwa kawaida. In fact, Kwa kawaida + hu- is a bit like saying “as a general rule, I usually…” (double emphasis on habit).

If hu- already means “usually,” do we really need Kwa kawaida in the same sentence?

You don’t need both, but using both is very natural and emphasizes the habitual nature.

Compare:

Hutazama muhtasari wa somo kabla ya kuingia darasani.
I usually look at the lesson summary before entering the classroom.
(Habit is clear from hu-.)
Kwa kawaida hutazama muhtasari wa somo kabla ya kuingia darasani.
Similar meaning, but it sounds softer and more like a comment on your typical routine, as if you’re saying: As a rule, I usually do this.

You could also say:

Kwa kawaida ninatazama muhtasari…
(Using nina- instead of hu-.)
That’s also understandable and quite common in everyday speech, though from a textbook point of view hu- is the neat “habitual” form.

So:

hu- alone is enough for “usually.”
Kwa kawaida alone with ninatazama also implies a usual habit.
Using both together is acceptable and common, adding emphasis and smoothness.

Why is it hutazama and not huangalia, and is there a difference between kutazama and kuangalia?

Both kutazama and kuangalia can mean “to look at / watch.” They overlap a lot.

kutazama often feels a bit more like watching / viewing (e.g. watching TV, looking at something attentively).
kuangalia can mean look at, check, examine, inspect (e.g. check your phone, look at a document, inspect something).

In this sentence:

hutazama muhtasari wa somo = I (usually) look at / go through the summary of the lesson.

You could also say:

huangalia muhtasari wa somo
with almost the same meaning. Some speakers might prefer kuangalia when they mean “check / review” a document, but kutazama is perfectly acceptable here and commonly used.

What does muhtasari wa somo mean grammatically? Why is it wa and not ya or la?

muhtasari wa somo literally means “summary of (the) lesson.”

Breaking it down:

muhtasari = summary, outline (noun in class 3/4: m-/mi-)
wa = “of” linking word (genitive marker) that agrees with the first noun’s class (class 3 uses wa)
somo = lesson / subject (noun in class 5/6: ji-/ma-, but its form is just somo / masomo)

In a X of Y structure (muhtasari wa somo):

The linking word (wa, la, ya, cha, etc.) agrees with the first noun (muhtasari), not the second (somo).

So:

muhtasari wa somo = summary (class 3) of lesson
→ wa is the correct form because muhtasari is class 3.

For comparison:

somo la Kiswahili = Swahili lesson
Here la agrees with somo (class 5).

So:

muhtasari wa somo (summary of the lesson)
somo la Kiswahili (Swahili lesson)

What is the role of wa in muhtasari wa somo? Is it just “of”?

Yes, wa is a genitive connector meaning “of”. It links two nouns in a possessive/associative relationship.

Pattern:

[Noun 1] + [appropriate “of” word] + [Noun 2]

Here:

muhtasari (Noun 1, class 3) → takes wa as its genitive
somo (Noun 2) → being “of what?”

So:

muhtasari wa somo = summary of (the) lesson

Other examples:

mti wa embe – mango tree (tree of mango)
mwili wa binadamu – the human body (body of a human)

How does kabla ya work? Why is there a ya after kabla?

kabla means “before”.
When it’s followed by a noun or a verb in the infinitive (ku- form), it typically takes ya:

kabla ya
- noun:
- kabla ya chakula – before food / before the meal
- kabla ya mtihani – before the exam
kabla ya
- infinitive verb:
- kabla ya kula – before eating
- kabla ya kuingia – before entering

In this sentence:

kabla ya kuingia darasani = before entering the classroom

You almost always say kabla ya (not just kabla) when it directly links to a following noun or verb phrase like this.

Why is it kuingia after kabla ya and not niingie or ninapoingia?

After kabla ya, the infinitive verb form (ku- + verb) is very common and natural:

kabla ya kuingia – before entering
kabla ya kusoma – before reading

This structure:

treats the action like a noun phrase: “the entering,” “the eating,” etc.
is simpler and very widely used in everyday Swahili.

You can also use a finite clause with kabla (without ya):

kabla sijaingia darasani – before I have entered the classroom
kabla hujaanza somo – before you begin the lesson

Differences:

kabla ya kuingia darasani – more neutral; “before entering the classroom” as a general condition or routine.
kabla sijaingia darasani – focuses more on a specific time point, often in narrative or more careful speech.

For a habitual statement like the one in this sentence, kabla ya kuingia darasani is the most straightforward and natural choice.

What does darasani mean exactly, and why is there an -ni at the end?

darasa = classroom / class (as a place)
darasani = in class / in the classroom

The -ni ending is a common locative suffix in Swahili, meaning roughly “in / at / on.”

So:

darasa – classroom (just the noun)
darasani – in the classroom / in class

Other examples:

nyumba – house
nyumbani – at home
kanisa – church
kanisani – at church
shule – school
shuleni – at school

In context:

kabla ya kuingia darasani = before entering (into) the classroom / before going into class

Could we say kabla ya kuingia darasa instead of darasani?

You can hear kabla ya kuingia darasa, and people would understand it, but darasani is more idiomatic here.

Subtle difference:

kuingia darasa – emphasizing entering the room (bare noun)
kuingia darasani – emphasizes entering into the state/place of being in class
→ This is what people normally say in everyday language when talking about going to class.

So kabla ya kuingia darasani is the more natural phrase for “before entering the classroom / before going into class.”

Is the word order fixed? Could we say Mimi kwa kawaida hutazama muhtasari wa somo kabla ya kuingia darasani or Hutazama mimi kwa kawaida…?

Word order in Swahili is fairly flexible for adverbial phrases, but not completely free.

These are natural:

Kwa kawaida mimi hutazama muhtasari wa somo kabla ya kuingia darasani. (original)
Mimi kwa kawaida hutazama muhtasari wa somo kabla ya kuingia darasani.
(Just moves kwa kawaida after mimi; still very natural.)

This is not natural:

Hutazama mimi kwa kawaida muhtasari…
You normally don’t split things that way; the subject pronoun mimi doesn’t usually come after the finite verb in neutral word order.

Basic pattern:

[Adverbial phrase] + [Subject] + [Verb] + [Object] + [Other phrases]
→ Kwa kawaida mimi hutazama muhtasari wa somo kabla ya kuingia darasani.

Or:

[Subject] + [Adverbial phrase] + [Verb] …
→ Mimi kwa kawaida hutazama…

Can this sentence be changed for a plural subject, like “we usually…”? How would it look?

Yes. Just change the subject to sisi (we), and keep hu- for the habitual:

Kwa kawaida sisi hutazama muhtasari wa somo kabla ya kuingia darasani.
We usually look at the lesson summary before entering the classroom.

Note:

With hu- (habitual), you don’t change the verb form for different persons:
- mimi hutazama – I usually watch
- wewe hutazama – you (sg) usually watch
- yeye hutazama – he/she usually watches
- sisi hutazama – we usually watch
- ninyi hutazama – you (pl) usually watch
- wao hutazama – they usually watch

The person is indicated by the independent pronoun (mimi, wewe, etc.) or understood from context, not from a subject prefix on the verb in this habitual pattern.