Mama aliniambia nikunje nguo safi vizuri kabla sijaziweka kabatini.

It is made of several pieces:

• a- = he/she
• -li- = past tense
• -ni- = me
• -ambia = tell / say to

So aliniambia means he/she told me. In this sentence, with Mama, it means Mother/Mom told me.

Nikunje is in the subjunctive, which is very common after verbs of telling, asking, ordering, wanting, or advising.

Here the idea is Mama told me to fold..., so Swahili uses:

• aliniambia nikunje... = she told me that I should fold... / she told me to fold...

Compare:

• kukunja = to fold (infinitive)
• nilikunja = I folded (simple past)
• nikunje = that I fold / I should fold

So nikunje is the correct form for an indirect command here.

The final -e is a major sign of the subjunctive in Swahili.

The verb comes from kunja = fold. In the subjunctive, the final -a usually changes to -e:

• kunja → nikunje

So nikunje literally means something like that I fold or let me fold, depending on context. Here it means that I should fold.

Nguo can be a little tricky because it can refer to:

• a garment / a piece of clothing
• clothes in general

In this sentence, it is understood as clothes, and we can see that from -zi- later in sijaziweka, which refers back to nguo as them.

So here:

• nguo = clothes
• zi- = them (referring to the clothes)

In Swahili, adjectives usually come after the noun, not before it.

So:

• nguo safi = clean clothes
• not safi nguo

That word order is normal in Swahili:

• mtoto mdogo = small child
• nyumba kubwa = big house
• nguo safi = clean clothes

Because safi is one of the adjectives that commonly stays unchanged.

Many Swahili adjectives show noun-class agreement, but some words—especially common borrowed adjectives or more fixed descriptive words—often remain the same in all contexts. Safi is usually used this way.

So you simply get:

• nguo safi
• nyumba safi
• chakula safi

without changing safi.

Vizuri describes how the folding should be done, not the clothes themselves.

So:

• nikunje nguo safi vizuri = I should fold the clean clothes properly / neatly / well

It modifies the action fold, not the noun clothes.

A learner might wrongly think it means very clean clothes, but that would be something more like:

• nguo safi sana = very clean clothes

So here vizuri means well / properly / neatly.

Here is the breakdown:

• kabla = before
• si- = negative marker for I
• -ja- = not yet
• -zi- = them
• -weka = put / place

So:

• sijaziweka literally means I have not yet put them
• kabla sijaziweka means before I put them

This is a very normal Swahili way to express before doing something.

This is a very common Swahili pattern.

After kabla, Swahili often uses a form that literally looks like before I have not yet put them, but the natural English meaning is simply:

• before I put them

The logic is basically that, at that point in time, the action has not happened yet.

So although it looks negative word-for-word, it is the normal way to express before in many sentences.

You may also hear another pattern:

• kabla ya kuziweka kabatini = before putting them in the cupboard/wardrobe

Both are possible, but kabla sijaziweka is very natural.

Zi- is the object marker meaning them, and it refers back to nguo.

So:

• sijaziweka = I have not yet put them
• them = the clothes

This is useful because Swahili often repeats the object inside the verb with an object marker.

Kabatini comes from kabati = cupboard / cabinet / wardrobe, plus the locative ending -ni.

So:

• kabati = cupboard, cabinet, wardrobe
• kabatini = in the cupboard / in the wardrobe / in the cabinet

The -ni ending often means a location such as in, at, or to depending on context.

Examples:

• nyumbani = at home
• shuleni = at school
• kabatini = in the cupboard/wardrobe

Because Swahili usually builds that information directly into the verb.

For example:

• aliniambia

  • a- = she
  • -ni- = me

• nikunje

  • ni- = I

• sijaziweka

  • si- = I in a negative form
  • -zi- = them

So Swahili verbs often carry subject and object information inside one word, where English would usually use separate pronouns. This is one reason Swahili verbs can look long at first.

Yes. Mama can mean:

• mother
• mom
• mum
• sometimes simply a mother, depending on context

In this sentence, if the speaker means their own mother, Mom or Mother is fine. The exact English choice depends on tone, not grammar.