Nilipofika nyumbani jana usiku, nilivua viatu na soksi mara moja.

Nilipofika can be broken down like this:

• ni- = I
• -li- = past tense
• -po- = a marker often used here for when
• fika = arrive

So nilipofika means when I arrived.

This is a very common Swahili pattern for saying when something happened in the past.

• Nilifika = I arrived
• Nilipofika = when I arrived

So:

• Nilifika nyumbani. = I arrived home.
• Nilipofika nyumbani, ... = When I arrived home, ...

The -po- adds that sense of when and makes the verb part of a time clause.

Nyumba means house/home.

Nyumbani is a locative form, meaning something like:

• at home
• home
• to the house
  depending on the context.

The ending -ni often turns a noun into a place/location expression.

So:

• nyumba = house
• nyumbani = at home / home

With fika (arrive), nyumbani naturally means home or at home.

In English, we say arrive at home or go to the house, so learners often expect a separate preposition.

In Swahili, the locative idea is often built into the noun itself. That is what -ni is doing in nyumbani.

So instead of a separate word for to/at/in, Swahili often uses a locative noun form.

That is why nilipofika nyumbani already means when I arrived home.

Jana usiku means last night.

Word by word:

• jana = yesterday
• usiku = night

Together, they mean yesterday night, which in natural English is usually last night.

Usiku by itself just means at night or during the night.

Adding jana makes the time more specific:

• usiku = at night
• jana usiku = last night

So the sentence is specifically talking about something that happened last night, not just at night in general.

Nilivua breaks down like this:

• ni- = I
• -li- = past tense
• vua = remove / take off

So nilivua means I took off.

In this sentence, the things being taken off are named after the verb:

• viatu = shoes
• soksi = socks

So nilivua viatu na soksi = I took off my shoes and socks.

Usually, vua is used for removing things worn on the body, such as:

• clothes
• shoes
• socks
• hat

So in everyday use, vua often means take off in the sense of removing clothing or accessories.

It can also have other meanings in other contexts, but for learners, take off / remove (clothing) is the main meaning to remember here.

Swahili often leaves out possessives like my when they are obvious from context.

If you say:

• Nilivua viatu na soksi

it is naturally understood as I took off my shoes and socks, because they are the shoes and socks I am wearing.

If you want to be more explicit, you can say:

• Nilivua viatu vyangu na soksi zangu.

That means I took off my shoes and my socks.

So the possessive is not required when the meaning is already clear.

The singular is:

• kiatu = shoe

The plural is:

• viatu = shoes

This is a common noun class pattern in Swahili:

• ki- singular
• vi- plural

Examples:

• kitabu = book
• vitabu = books
• kiatu = shoe
• viatu = shoes

Soksi is a loanword, and in everyday Swahili it is often used for both singular and plural depending on context.

So:

• soksi can mean sock
• soksi can also mean socks

In this sentence, because it is paired with viatu and the meaning is clear, soksi is understood as socks.

Because the objects are stated directly after the verb:

• nilivua viatu na soksi

In Swahili, if the noun object is explicitly present, an object marker is often not necessary.

You can think of this as similar to saying:

• I took off shoes and socks

The verb does not need extra marking because the objects are already named.

Object markers are more likely when the object is already known, emphasized, or mentioned earlier.

Mara moja literally means one time, but very often it means:

• immediately
• right away
• at once

In this sentence, mara moja means right away / immediately.

So the idea is:

When I got home last night, I took off my shoes and socks immediately.

Yes, it can, depending on context.

For example:

• Nilimwona mara moja. = I saw him once.

But in a sentence like this one, where it describes how quickly the action happened after arriving home, mara moja is understood as immediately / right away.

Context tells you which meaning is intended.

Swahili often puts a time clause first, just like English can:

• When I arrived home last night, I took off my shoes and socks right away.

This order is very natural because it sets the scene first and then gives the main action.

You could think of the sentence as:

1. When I arrived home last night
2. I took off my shoes and socks immediately

That sequence sounds normal in both Swahili and English.

The comma is mainly a writing choice. It helps separate the time clause from the main clause:

• Nilipofika nyumbani jana usiku, nilivua viatu na soksi mara moja.

You may also see it written without a comma, especially in less formal writing. The meaning does not change.

That would sound unnatural.

Jana usiku belongs naturally with nilipofika nyumbani as part of the time setting:

• Nilipofika nyumbani jana usiku, ...

Keeping jana usiku together with the first clause makes the sentence flow more naturally.

Yes.

The sentence shows a clear order:

1. I arrived home last night
2. I took off my shoes and socks immediately

So nilipofika introduces the earlier event, and the main clause tells what happened next.

In theory, mara moja can mean once, but in this sentence that reading is very unlikely.

Because the sentence is about what happened right after arriving home, the natural meaning is immediately.

A native speaker would understand it as I took off my shoes and socks right away, not one time.

You would say:

• Nilivua viatu vyangu na soksi zangu mara moja.

Here:

• vyangu = my for viatu
• zangu = my for soksi

The possessive changes to match the noun class of the noun it describes. That is why my does not stay the same form for every noun in Swahili.

Because adjectives and possessives in Swahili usually agree with the noun class of the noun.

So:

• viatu takes vyangu
• soksi takes zangu

This agreement system is one of the big differences between Swahili and English. English uses just my, but Swahili changes the form to match the noun.

A very natural translation is:

When I got home last night, I took off my shoes and socks right away.

Other good translations are:

• When I arrived home last night, I took off my shoes and socks immediately.
• After I got home last night, I took off my shoes and socks at once.

They all capture the same basic meaning.