Learn Hardcore Swahili: Zamani, mimi niliishi katika kijiji cha babu. - Long ago, I lived in grandfather's village.

Zamani broadly means “long ago / in the past / a long time ago.” It refers to an unspecified time in the past, often quite distant or “back then.”

In terms of position:

Zamani, mimi niliishi… (with a comma) – very natural. The time expression is at the beginning for emphasis: “Long ago, I used to live…”
Zamani niliishi… – also fine; in speech you might or might not pause slightly.
Niliishi zamani katika kijiji cha babu. – also grammatical. Here zamani comes after the verb, like “I lived long ago in my grandfather’s village.”

So zamani is quite flexible in position, but putting it at the start sounds especially natural when telling a story or giving background.

Why do we have mimi and also ni- in niliishi? Isn’t that saying “I” twice?

Swahili normally marks the subject on the verb with a prefix. In niliishi:

ni- = I (first person singular subject prefix)
-li- = past tense marker
-ishi = verb stem “live, reside”

So niliishi already means “I lived / I used to live.”

Adding mimi is:

not grammatically necessary; you can say Zamani niliishi katika kijiji cha babu.
often used for emphasis or clarity, like stressing “I (as opposed to someone else) lived there.”

Compare:

Niliishi katika kijiji cha babu. – “I lived in my grandfather’s village.”
Mimi niliishi katika kijiji cha babu. – “I lived in my grandfather’s village.” (with emphasis on I)

Can you break down the verb niliishi morphologically?

Yes. Niliishi is made up of:

ni- = subject prefix for “I”
-li- = past tense marker (simple past)
-ishi = verb stem meaning “live, reside”

So ni-li-ishi = “I lived / I used to live.”

Other forms:

Ninaishi – ni- (I) + -na- (present/continuous) + -ishi → “I live / I am living.”
Nitaishi – ni- (I) + -ta- (future) + -ishi → “I will live.”

What is the nuance of niliishi here? Is it like “I lived” or “I used to live”?

Niliishi is the simple past, but in context it can carry a “used to” sense, especially with zamani.

Literally, it’s “I lived.”
Because the time is clearly in the past (and not true anymore), in natural English we often translate it as “I used to live.”

So:

Zamani, mimi niliishi katika kijiji cha babu.
- Literal: “Long ago, I lived in my grandfather’s village.”
- Natural: “Long ago, I used to live in my grandfather’s village.”

What does katika mean, and could we use something else like kwenye or just omit it?

Katika is a preposition meaning roughly “in / inside / within.”

Katika kijiji cha babu = “in my grandfather’s village.”

Alternatives:

kwenye – also widely used for “in/at/on” in many contexts:
- Niliishi kwenye kijiji cha babu. – Very natural in spoken language.
Sometimes you can omit the preposition and use the locative suffix -ni:
- Niliishi kijijini kwa babu. – “I lived in the village at my grandfather’s place.”

In this exact sentence, katika is a very standard, “textbook” choice. Kweye is more colloquial and very common; both are correct. You normally wouldn’t drop all location marking here; you’d either keep katika/kwenye or use -ni on the noun.

What does kijiji cha babu literally mean, and why is it cha and not some other form?

Kijiji cha babu literally is “village of grandfather.”

kijiji = “village”
cha = possessive/genitive form “of” that agrees with the noun class of kijiji
babu = “grandfather”

In Swahili, possessive connectors like “of” change form according to the noun class:

Class 7 (singular ki- / plural vi-) uses cha (singular) and vya (plural).

Since kijiji is a class 7 noun:

kijiji cha… = “village of…”
vijiji vya… = “villages of…”

Contrast with:

mtu wa… (person of…) – class 1, uses wa
kitabu cha… (book of…) – class 7, uses cha
meza ya… (table of…) – class 9, uses ya

So cha is there because kijiji is in the ki-/vi- noun class.

Why doesn’t it say babu yangu (“my grandfather”)? How do we know it’s “my” grandfather?

Literally, kijiji cha babu is just “village of grandfather.”

In many real contexts, speakers would very often say:

kijiji cha babu yangu – “my grandfather’s village.”

Here, yangu = “my,” and it agrees with babu (class 1): wa → yangu.

The version kijiji cha babu can be understood in a few ways:

It might assume context where “the grandfather” is already known (and presumably yours).
It might be simplified for learners.
In some storytelling contexts, babu can be a kind of “the grandfather” figure that is obviously the speaker’s.

To be completely clear and explicit, kijiji cha babu yangu is the safest and most natural way to say “my grandfather’s village.”

Could this also be said as kijijini kwa babu? What’s the difference between that and katika kijiji cha babu?

Yes, you can say:

Zamani, niliishi kijijini kwa babu.

Breakdown:

kijijini = kijiji
- -ni (locative suffix) → “in the village”
kwa babu = literally “at grandfather’s (place)” → “at my grandfather’s home/place”

Nuance:

katika kijiji cha babu stresses the village itself as a place that belongs to your grandfather.
kijijini kwa babu sounds more like “in the village, at my grandfather’s place,” with kwa babu highlighting the home/place of the grandfather.

Both are natural, but they are structured slightly differently: one uses a possessive cha, the other uses kwa for “at someone’s place.”

Is the comma after Zamani required?

No, it’s not strictly required, but it is stylistically common and helpful.

Zamani, mimi niliishi katika kijiji cha babu.
The comma marks a natural pause after the time expression, similar to English: “Long ago, I used to live…”

You can also write:

Zamani mimi niliishi katika kijiji cha babu. – still correct; the pause may still happen in speech even without the comma.

In informal writing (texts, chats), people might omit it. In more careful writing, putting the comma after initial time expressions like zamani is quite standard.

Could we drop mimi and just say Zamani niliishi katika kijiji cha babu?

Yes, and that is probably the most typical version a native speaker would say in neutral context.

Zamani niliishi katika kijiji cha babu.

This is fully grammatical and natural. Subject pronouns like mimi, wewe, yeye are only added for emphasis, contrast, or clarity. So:

With mimi = more emphasis on I
Without mimi = normal, unmarked sentence

Is there a difference between niliishi and nilikaa here?

Both can sometimes be translated as “I lived”, but they’re not identical:

niliishi (from kuishi) – literally “I lived / resided.”
It focuses on residing somewhere as your living place.
nilikaa (from kukaa) – literally “I stayed / sat / remained.”
It can mean “lived” in context, but it can also just mean “stayed there for some time,” possibly more temporary.

So:

Zamani niliishi katika kijiji cha babu.
Implies that was your actual place of residence for a period.
Zamani nilikaa katika kijiji cha babu.
Could mean you stayed there (maybe short- or medium-term), not necessarily that you fully “lived” there permanently. Context would clarify, and people often do use nilikaa to describe where they lived, but niliishi is more directly “resided.”

Can zamani come at the end, like Niliishi katika kijiji cha babu zamani?

Yes, it’s grammatically possible:

Niliishi katika kijiji cha babu zamani.

However, in storytelling and narrative, it’s more natural to put zamani at or near the beginning:

Zamani niliishi katika kijiji cha babu.
Zamani, mimi niliishi katika kijiji cha babu.

Putting zamani at the end is not wrong, but it sounds a bit less like a classic narrative opening and more like an afterthought, similar to saying in English: “I lived in my grandfather’s village, long ago.” Both are correct; initial zamani is stylistically stronger.