Learn Hardcore Swahili: Baada ya mazoezi, mimi ninapangusa jasho kwa kitambaa safi. - After exercise, I wipe sweat with a clean cloth.

Ninapangusa jasho kwa kitambaa safi. – I wipe the sweat with a clean cloth.
Mimi ninapangusa jasho kwa kitambaa safi. – I (as opposed to someone else) wipe the sweat…
Mimi napangusa jasho kwa kitambaa safi. – same meaning; just a slightly shorter verb form.

You normally add mimi only for emphasis or contrast, for example:

Si yeye, mimi ninapangusa jasho. – Not him, I am the one wiping the sweat.

In neutral sentences, ninapangusa … without mimi is the most typical.

How is the verb ninapangusa built up, and what tense/aspect is it?

Ninapangusa is made of several parts:

ni- – subject prefix for “I” (first person singular)
-na- – present tense / present continuous marker
-pangus- – verb root pangusa (“to wipe, to wipe off”)
-a – final vowel of the verb

So ninapangusa = I am wiping / I wipe (right now or in the present time frame).

You could compare:

Ninapangusa jasho. – I’m wiping (the) sweat.
Nilipangusa jasho. – I wiped (the) sweat.
Nitapangusa jasho. – I will wipe (the) sweat.

In everyday speech, people often shorten ninapangusa to napangusa, with the same meaning in context.

What exactly does baada ya mazoezi mean, and why do we need ya there?

Baada ya mazoezi literally breaks down like this:

baada – after
ya – “of” (a linker / preposition here)
mazoezi – exercises, training, a workout

So it’s literally “after (the) exercises / after exercise.”

In Swahili, baada is normally followed by ya plus a noun or verb:

baada ya kazi – after work
baada ya chakula – after the meal
baada ya mazoezi – after exercise

The ya is needed; you would not say ✗ baada mazoezi.

Could I say baada ya kufanya mazoezi instead of baada ya mazoezi? Is there a difference?

Yes, both are correct and common:

Baada ya mazoezi, mimi ninapangusa jasho…
– After the exercise / After exercising, I wipe sweat…
Baada ya kufanya mazoezi, mimi ninapangusa jasho…
– After doing exercise, I wipe sweat…

Baada ya mazoezi treats “exercise” simply as a noun.
Baada ya kufanya mazoezi literally says “after doing exercise.”

In practice, the meaning is almost the same. Sentence (2) is a bit more explicit, but both are natural.

Swahili doesn’t show any words like “the” or “a” here. How do I know if it’s “the sweat,” “my sweat,” “a towel,” etc.?

Swahili normally has no articles like English “a / an / the.” Context does the job.

jasho – sweat (could be “the sweat,” “my sweat,” “sweat” in general)
kitambaa – (a / the) cloth, towel

Also, body parts and things closely associated with the subject often omit “my/your/etc.” if it’s obvious:

Ninauma kichwa. – My head hurts. (literally “The head hurts me.”)
Ninapiga mswaki. – I brush my teeth. (literally “I brush [with] a toothbrush.”)
Ninapangusa jasho. – I wipe (my) sweat.

If you really want to be explicit, you can add a possessive:

Ninapangusa jasho langu. – I wipe my sweat.
kwa kitambaa changu safi – with my clean towel.

Why is it kwa kitambaa safi and not na kitambaa safi? What’s the difference between kwa and na here?

Both kwa and na can sometimes be translated as “with,” but they’re used a bit differently:

kwa often marks means / instrument / method:
- Anaandika kwa kalamu. – He writes with a pen.
- Ninasafiri kwa basi. – I travel by bus.
- Ninapangusa jasho kwa kitambaa safi. – I wipe the sweat with a clean cloth (using it as a tool).
na often means “with (together with)” or “and”:
- Ninatembea na rafiki yangu. – I walk with my friend.
- Chai na sukari. – Tea with sugar / tea and sugar.

In everyday speech you will hear na kitambaa too, and it’s not wrong, but kwa kitambaa safi is a bit more clearly “using a clean cloth as the instrument.”

In kitambaa safi, why does the adjective safi come after the noun, and does it need any agreement prefix like kisafi?

In Swahili, adjectives normally come after the noun:

mtoto mdogo – small child
gari kubwa – big car
kitambaa safi – clean cloth

Adjectives usually agree with the noun class via a prefix (like m-/wa-, ki-/vi-, etc.):

mtu mzuri – good person
watu wazuri – good people
kiti kikubwa – big chair
viti vikubwa – big chairs

However, safi is a borrowed adjective (from Arabic) that is normally invariant in modern Swahili; it doesn’t take the class prefix in common usage. So you say:

kitambaa safi – clean cloth
vitambaa safi – clean cloths
mto safi – clean pillow

You don’t normally say ✗ kitambaa kisafi in everyday Swahili.

What’s the difference between ninapangusa jasho and using the reflexive form najipangusa jasho?

Both can appear, but the focus is slightly different:

Ninapangusa jasho.
– I wipe (the) sweat.
It just states the action on “sweat”; it implies I’m wiping my own sweat, but that’s from context.
Najipangusa jasho.
– I wipe myself (of) sweat / I wipe the sweat off myself.
Here, ji- in najipangusa is the reflexive marker (“do to oneself”), making it explicit that I’m wiping my own body.

More examples of the reflexive:

Ninaoga. – I bathe / I shower.
Najifuta. – I wipe myself dry.
Najikausha kwa taulo. – I dry myself with a towel.

Your sentence is natural as is. Adding ji- is optional but can emphasize that the action is on your own body.

Why is it mazoezi and not zoezi? What’s the difference?

Zoezi and mazoezi are related but not identical:

zoezi – an exercise, a drill, an activity (singular, class 5/6)
mazoezi – exercises, practice, training, a workout (plural, or “exercise” in a general sense)

In context like this, mazoezi often means “exercise” or “a workout” in general, even if you did one session:

Nimefanya mazoezi. – I have exercised / I did a workout.
Baada ya mazoezi… – After exercising / After the workout…

You would usually not say ✗ baada ya zoezi when talking about “after working out”; mazoezi is the standard form in that context.

Could I move baada ya mazoezi to the end and say: Mimi ninapangusa jasho kwa kitambaa safi baada ya mazoezi?

Yes. Swahili word order is fairly flexible for adverbial phrases like time and place.

All of these are grammatical and natural:

Baada ya mazoezi, ninapangusa jasho kwa kitambaa safi.
Ninapangusa jasho kwa kitambaa safi baada ya mazoezi.
Baada ya mazoezi ninapangusa jasho kwa kitambaa safi. (comma optional in normal writing)

Changing the position slightly shifts the rhythm, but not the basic meaning. Starting with Baada ya mazoezi puts more emphasis on the time (“After exercise, I…”).

Does ninapangusa mean something I do habitually every time, or just right now?

The -na- tense/aspect (as in ninapangusa) can cover both:

an action happening right now:
Ninapangusa jasho sasa. – I am (right now) wiping the sweat.
a present/habitual action (depending on context):
Baada ya mazoezi, ninapangusa jasho. – After exercise, I (usually) wipe sweat.

If you want to make a general habit very explicit, Swahili also uses hu-:

Baada ya mazoezi, hupangusa jasho kwa kitambaa safi.
– After exercise, I usually wipe sweat with a clean cloth. (stating a habit or routine)

But your original ninapangusa is perfectly fine for a typical routine description, especially with baada ya… as a cue.

Is there any difference between pangusa and another verb like futa in this kind of sentence?

Both can be used, but they’re not identical in nuance:

pangusa – to wipe, wipe off, often with a cloth, hand, etc.
futa – to wipe out, erase, delete, rub off, sometimes “to dry by wiping”

In your sentence:

Ninapangusa jasho kwa kitambaa safi. – I wipe the sweat with a clean cloth.
Ninafuta jasho kwa kitambaa safi. – I wipe off / remove the sweat with a clean cloth.

Pangusa sounds very natural for physically wiping sweat from the body.
Futa can sound a bit more like removing or erasing something, and is also common in contexts like:

Anafuta ubao. – He/She wipes/erases the board.
Futa maandishi. – Erase the writing.

In everyday speech, though, many speakers might use them almost interchangeably for wiping sweat.