Learn Hardcore Swahili: Mimi na dada yangu wote wawili tunapenda kusoma vitabu vya hadithi za kusisimua. - My sister and I both like to read exciting storybooks.

Mimi na dada yangu wote wawili tunapenda kusoma vitabu vya hadithi za kusisimua.

My sister and I both like to read exciting storybooks.

Breakdown of Mimi na dada yangu wote wawili tunapenda kusoma vitabu vya hadithi za kusisimua.

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Questions & Answers about Mimi na dada yangu wote wawili tunapenda kusoma vitabu vya hadithi za kusisimua.

Why do we say Mimi na dada yangu and not just dada yangu na mimi? Are both correct?

Both word orders are grammatically correct:

Mimi na dada yangu = My sister and I
Dada yangu na mimi = My sister and I (literally my sister and me in order)

Swahili is quite flexible with coordination using na (and). You can say:

Mimi na dada yangu tunapenda...
Dada yangu na mimi tunapenda...

Both are acceptable. Many speakers naturally put mimi first when emphasizing themselves, but it’s not a strict rule.

Also, in natural speech, people would often drop mimi entirely if the context is clear and just say:

Mimi na dada yangu tunapenda... → more explicit
Mimi na dada yangu tunapenda... → full phrase
Mimi na dada yangu can be replaced in another context by sisi (we).

Why is yangu after dada, and does it agree with gender?

In Swahili, possessive adjectives (my, your, his, etc.) usually come after the noun:

dada yangu = my sister
rafiki yangu = my friend

The form yangu is not about male/female gender; it follows the noun class of the word dada (which is class 9/10).

For my you get:

kitabu changu (my book – class 7)
vitabu vyangu (my books – class 8)
dada yangu (my sister – class 9/10)
marafiki wangu (my friends – class 2, people)

So yangu here is correct because dada is a class 9 noun, and in class 9 the “my” form is yangu, the same for singular and plural in that class. It doesn’t change for male/female.

What is the role of wote wawili? Why do we need both words?

Wote wawili adds the idea of “both of us / the two of us” and emphasizes that each one of the two people shares the same preference.

wote = all / all of them
wawili = two (for people / class 1–2)

Together:

Mimi na dada yangu wote wawili tunapenda...
= My sister and I, both of us, like...

You could say:

Mimi na dada yangu tunapenda kusoma vitabu...
= My sister and I like to read books... (no explicit “both”)

Adding wote wawili just stresses “both of us,” similar to saying in English:
We both really like reading…

Why is it wote wawili and not something like sote wawili or wao wote?

This is about agreement with the type of subject:

wote – “all/both” for people (class 2, pronoun-like)
wawili – “two” for people (class 2 number)

You could see:

sisi wote = all of us
sisi wawili = we two / the two of us
sisi wote wawili = all both of us (emphatic “both of us”)

In your sentence, the subject is Mimi na dada yangu (two people). So it’s natural to refer back to them with:

wote wawili = those two people, both of them.

Wao wote would usually refer to “they all,” and wouldn’t be used here for “my sister and I.”

Why is the verb tunapenda and not something like wanapenda? How does agreement work here?

Swahili verbs agree with the person of the subject when it’s a pronoun (I, you, we, etc.):

ni-napenda = I like
u-napenda = you (sg) like
a-napenda = he/she likes
tu-napenda = we like
m-napenda = you (pl) like
wa-napenda = they like

Even though you see two nouns (Mimi na dada yangu), the logical subject is “we”, so the verb takes tu- (we):

Mimi na dada yangu tunapenda...
Literally: I and my sister, we like...

We don’t say:

✗ Mimi na dada yangu wanapenda...
because wa- is the “they” marker, not “we.”

What does the -na- in tunapenda mean? Is this a specific tense?

Yes. The verb tunapenda can be broken into:

tu- = we (subject marker)
-na- = present tense (often “currently / generally”)
penda = like / love

So tunapenda means we like / we love / we are fond of in the present habitual or general present sense.

Compare:

tulipenda = we liked (past)
tutapenda = we will like (future)
tunapenda = we like / we love (present, general or ongoing)

Why is there ku- before soma, i.e., kusoma? Is that like “to read”?

Yes. ku- here marks the infinitive form of the verb:

kusoma = to read / to study
kupenda = to like / to love
kuimba = to sing

In this sentence, tunapenda kusoma... is literally:

tunapenda = we like
kusoma = to read

So tunapenda kusoma = we like to read or we like reading.

Swahili infinitives (ku- + verb) also behave like nouns, which is why they can act as the object of tunapenda.

Does kusoma mean “to read” or “to study”? Which one is intended here?

Kusoma can mean both:

to read (e.g. kusoma kitabu – to read a book)
to study / to go to school (e.g. Yuko shule anasoma – He is studying / in school)

In the context kusoma vitabu vya hadithi, it clearly means “to read books”, because:

vitabu = books
hadithi = stories

So here the natural translation is:
“We like reading exciting story books.”

Why is it vitabu vya hadithi and not vitabu ya hadithi?

This is about noun class agreement for the possessive/“of” construction.

kitabu (book) is class 7
vitabu (books) is class 8

For “of” / “’s”, Swahili uses a possessive particle that changes with the head noun (the first noun):

Class 7: cha
- kitabu cha hadithi = a storybook
Class 8: vya
- vitabu vya hadithi = storybooks (books of stories)

So you must use vya (class 8 form) with vitabu:

✗ vitabu ya hadithi – wrong agreement
✓ vitabu vya hadithi – correct

The word hadithi (stories) is being linked to vitabu (books), so the possessive particle follows the class of vitabu, not hadithi.

Why is it hadithi za kusisimua and not hadithi ya kusisimua?

Again, this is noun class and number agreement:

hadithi is usually class 9/10:
- singular: hadithi (a story)
- plural: hadithi (stories) – same form, but grammatically plural

The possessive/“of” particle for:

singular class 9 is often ya
plural class 10 is za

In your sentence:

vitabu vya hadithi za kusisimua

There are many stories in the books, not one single story, so hadithi is plural and takes za:

hadithi za kusisimua = exciting stories / stories of excitement

If you were clearly talking about a single story, you might see:

hadithi ya kusisimua = an exciting story

What exactly does kusisimua mean here? Is it an adjective like “exciting” or a verb like “to excite”?

Kusisimua is the infinitive form of the verb -sisimua = to excite, to thrill.

In hadithi za kusisimua, it’s literally:

hadithi = stories
za = of
kusisimua = (of) exciting / of excitement

So the structure is something like “stories of exciting” or “stories of excitement.” Functionally, in English we simply translate this as an adjective:

hadithi za kusisimua = exciting stories
vitabu vya hadithi za kusisimua = books of exciting stories or exciting storybooks

Could we instead say hadithi zinazosisimua? What’s the difference from hadithi za kusisimua?

Yes, you could say:

hadithi zinazosisimua = stories that excite / stories which are exciting

Differences:

hadithi za kusisimua
- literally “stories of exciting / of excitement”
- uses a “of + infinitive” structure
- slightly more compact and more common in everyday speech
hadithi zinazosisimua
- zinazo- is a relative marker: “that/which” for class 10 plural
- literally “stories that excite”
- has more of a relative clause feel and can sound a bit more formal or explicit

In many contexts, both will be understood as “exciting stories”, but hadithi za kusisimua is simpler and very natural.

The whole phrase vitabu vya hadithi za kusisimua seems long. What is the internal structure, step by step?

You can unpack it layer by layer:

hadithi = stories
hadithi za kusisimua = stories of excitement → exciting stories
vitabu vya hadithi za kusisimua
- vitabu = books
- vya hadithi za kusisimua = of exciting stories

So:

vitabu vya hadithi = books of stories / storybooks
vitabu vya hadithi za kusisimua = books of exciting stories → exciting storybooks

Swahili typically puts the main noun first and then adds descriptive/“of” phrases after it. English often flips it and uses adjectives before nouns, so you end up with:

Swahili: books of stories of excitement
English: exciting storybooks

Could we drop wote wawili and still be correct? How would the meaning change?

Yes, you can drop it:

Mimi na dada yangu tunapenda kusoma vitabu vya hadithi za kusisimua.

This still means:

My sister and I like reading exciting storybooks.

You just lose the extra emphasis on “both of us.”

With wote wawili, you’re highlighting that each of the two people shares the preference:

With wote wawili: “My sister and I both really like reading exciting storybooks.”
Without it: “My sister and I like reading exciting storybooks.” (neutral statement)