Leo ninasukuma troli polepole kwa sababu kuna ofa ya sabuni na sukari.

ninasukuma means I am pushing or I push.

It breaks down like this:

• ni- = I
• -na- = present tense marker
• sukuma = push

So ni-na-sukuma literally means I am pushing.

In Swahili, the subject is usually built into the verb, so you do not need a separate word for I unless you want emphasis.

Because Swahili verbs already include the subject.

In ninasukuma, the part ni- already means I. So the sentence does not need a separate pronoun like English does.

You could say mimi ninasukuma for emphasis, but normally just ninasukuma is enough.

• mimi ninasukuma = I am pushing / I’m the one pushing
• ninasukuma = I am pushing

It can mean either, depending on context.

The Swahili present tense with -na- often covers both:

• I push
• I am pushing

In this sentence, because of Leo and the overall situation, the natural English meaning is Today I am pushing the trolley slowly...

Leo means today.

It sets the time for the whole sentence. Swahili often puts time words near the beginning:

• Leo ninasukuma troli... = Today I am pushing a trolley...

You can think of it as giving the time frame first.

Troli means trolley, cart, or sometimes shopping cart, depending on context.

It is a borrowed word, ultimately from English. Swahili uses many loanwords, especially for modern objects.

In this sentence, troli most likely means a shopping trolley/cart.

Polepole means slowly.

It comes from repetition of pole, and this kind of repetition is very common in Swahili. Reduplication can make a word sound natural or give it an adverbial sense.

Here:

• polepole = slowly

It is one of the most common adverbs learners meet early on.

Yes. Depending on context, polepole can also suggest:

• gently
• carefully
• little by little

But in this sentence, the clearest meaning is slowly.

Kwa sababu means because.

It introduces a reason:

• ninasukuma troli polepole kwa sababu...
• I am pushing the trolley slowly because...

You can treat kwa sababu as a set phrase meaning because.

Kuna means there is or there are.

It is used to say that something exists or is available.

So:

• kuna ofa = there is an offer / there’s a sale

This is a very common Swahili structure. Kuna does not change for singular and plural the way English does.

Examples:

• kuna watu = there are people
• kuna kitabu = there is a book

Kuna ofa is the most natural way to express there is an offer in this context.

• kuna ofa focuses on existence: there is an offer
• ofa iko would sound more like the offer is there / exists, which is less natural here unless the offer has already been specifically mentioned

So kuna is preferred when introducing something new.

Ofa means offer, special deal, promotion, or sale, depending on context.

It is also a loanword. In this sentence, kuna ofa ya sabuni na sukari means there is a special deal involving soap and sugar.

A very natural English translation would be:

• there is a sale on soap and sugar
• there is a special offer on soap and sugar

Here ya links ofa with what the offer concerns.

So:

• ofa ya sabuni na sukari = an offer on soap and sugar
  literally, something like offer of soap and sugar

The word ya is a connector often translated as:

• of
• for
• on

The best English choice depends on context. Here, on sounds most natural:

• an offer on soap and sugar

Because one connector can link the head noun to a coordinated phrase.

So:

• ofa ya sabuni na sukari = offer on soap and sugar

You do not need to repeat ya before each noun.

It works like English:

• an offer on soap and sugar not
• an offer on soap and on sugar unless you want special emphasis

They can refer to the substances in a general sense, like soap and sugar in English, so a separate plural is often not needed.

Both words are commonly treated as class 9/10 nouns, and many nouns in that class do not change form between singular and plural.

So:

• sabuni can mean soap or soaps, depending on context
• sukari can mean sugar

In this sentence, they are probably mass nouns:

• soap
• sugar

The word order is actually fairly close to English:

• Leo = today
• ninasukuma = I am pushing
• troli = trolley
• polepole = slowly
• kwa sababu = because
• kuna ofa ya sabuni na sukari = there is an offer on soap and sugar

So the sentence structure is basically:

Today + I am pushing + trolley + slowly + because + there is an offer...

That is not very different from English. One key difference is that Swahili packs subject and tense into the verb.

Swahili does not have articles like a, an, and the.

So troli by itself can mean:

• a trolley
• the trolley
• the shopping cart

The exact meaning comes from context. In this sentence, English might naturally say the trolley or a trolley, depending on the situation.

Yes. That would be a natural English rendering of the same basic idea.

A very literal translation might be:

• Today I am pushing the trolley slowly because there is an offer on soap and sugar.

A more natural English version could be:

• Today I’m pushing the cart slowly because soap and sugar are on sale.

Both reflect the same Swahili sentence.

Yes. The sentence uses very common everyday grammar:

• Leo for time
• present tense ni-...-na-...
• a simple verb
• an adverb like polepole
• kwa sababu for giving a reason
• kuna for existence
• a noun-linking phrase with ya

So even if some words like troli and ofa are loanwords, the grammar is very normal and useful.