Muuguzi alinipa kidonge kimoja na sharubati ya kikohozi kabla sijaondoka kliniki.

Alinipa breaks down as a-li-ni-pa:

• a- = he/she (singular subject marker for a person)
• -li- = past tense
• -ni- = me (object marker)
• -pa = give

So alinipa literally means he/she gave me.

In this sentence, the subject is muuguzi, so the full idea is the nurse gave me.

In Swahili, object pronouns are very often built into the verb as object markers.

So instead of saying something like the nurse gave to me with a separate pronoun, Swahili commonly says:

• alinipa = he/she gave me
• alikupa = he/she gave you
• alimpa = he/she gave him/her

You can add a separate pronoun like mimi for emphasis, but it is not necessary here.

No. Muuguzi is not inherently female. It can mean nurse of any gender.

Also, the verb marker a- in alinipa means he/she and does not show gender. Swahili generally does not mark gender in the way English does.

So this sentence could refer to a male nurse or a female nurse unless the wider context tells you which one.

In Swahili, adjectives and numbers usually come after the noun.

So:

• kidonge kimoja = one pill/tablet
• not kimoja kidonge

This is very normal Swahili word order. English says one pill, but Swahili typically says pill one.

Because kimoja has to agree with the noun class of kidonge.

Kidonge belongs to the ki-/vi- noun class in the singular, so one becomes kimoja, not just moja.

Compare:

• kitabu kimoja = one book
• kiti kimoja = one chair
• kidonge kimoja = one pill

This agreement is a very important part of Swahili grammar.

Here ya links two nouns and often works like of in English.

So:

• sharubati ya kikohozi = literally syrup of cough
• natural English meaning: cough syrup

The ya agrees with the noun sharubati. This kind of structure is extremely common in Swahili.

Other examples:

• maji ya kunywa = drinking water
• chumba cha mtoto = the child’s room
• dawa ya malaria = malaria medicine

Because sharubati is being treated as an uncounted substance here, like syrup in English.

English also often says:

• a pill and cough syrup

without specifying one syrup.

If you wanted to count it more precisely in Swahili, you would usually count a container or amount, for example:

• chupa moja ya sharubati ya kikohozi = one bottle of cough syrup

So in this sentence, kidonge kimoja is counted, but sharubati is just mentioned as a substance.

Here na means and. It joins the two things the nurse gave:

• kidonge kimoja
• sharubati ya kikohozi

So the nurse gave one pill and cough syrup.

It is true that na can also mean with in other sentences, so context matters.

This is one of the things English speakers often notice.

Sijaondoka literally looks like:

• si- = I not
• -ja- = perfect marker used in negative perfect forms
• ondoka = leave

So by itself, sijaondoka usually means I have not left.

But after kabla (before), this negative-looking form is a very common Swahili pattern meaning:

• before I left
• before I had left
• before I leave

So kabla sijaondoka kliniki means before I left the clinic, even though the verb form looks negative if taken on its own.

Yes. That is also natural Swahili.

These are both possible:

• kabla sijaondoka kliniki
• kabla ya kuondoka kliniki

Both can mean before leaving the clinic or before I left the clinic, depending on context.

The version with sijaondoka is very common when the subject is understood as I. The kabla ya + infinitive structure is also very common and can feel slightly more neutral or less personal.

With verbs of movement or departure, Swahili can mention the place directly without needing a separate word that exactly matches English from.

So kuondoka kliniki can mean:

• to leave the clinic
• to depart from the clinic

This is normal and idiomatic.

Depending on style and context, speakers may also use other expressions, but the sentence as given is perfectly natural. The important idea is that kliniki is the place the speaker was leaving.

Usually it is close to pill or tablet, especially in a medical context.

In real usage, kidonge often refers to a medicine tablet. So in this sentence, kidonge kimoja is naturally understood as one pill/tablet.

The exact English word can depend on context, but the Swahili word itself is very common for this kind of medicine.