Mwalimu anasema ni bora kukariri msamiati kwa kutumia sentensi kuliko kukisia maana yake.

A useful breakdown is:

• Mwalimu = teacher
• anasema = says / is saying
• ni bora = it is better / it is best
• kukariri = to memorize
• msamiati = vocabulary
• kwa kutumia sentensi = by using sentences
• kuliko = than / rather than
• kukisia = to guess
• maana yake = its meaning

So the structure is basically:

The teacher says [it is better to memorize vocabulary by using sentences rather than guessing its meaning].

Because a- is the subject marker for a singular person in noun class 1, which is the class mwalimu belongs to here.

anasema can be split like this:

• a- = he/she
• -na- = present or ongoing/habitual tense
• -sema = say

So anasema literally works like he/she says or he/she is saying.

Since mwalimu is singular, the verb takes the singular class 1 subject marker a-.

In Swahili, after verbs like say, know, or think, the word kwamba or kuwa can be used, but it is often omitted when the meaning is clear.

So these are both possible:

• Mwalimu anasema ni bora...
• Mwalimu anasema kwamba ni bora...

Both are natural. The version without kwamba is very common and more streamlined.

bora means better or preferable.
With ni, it forms an impersonal expression:

• ni bora = it is better

This is a very common pattern in Swahili:

• Ni bora kusoma sasa. = It is better to study now.
• Ni bora kuuliza. = It is better to ask.

So in your sentence, ni bora kukariri... kuliko... means it is better to memorize... than to...

Because ku- is the infinitive marker in Swahili, similar to English to in to memorize, to use, to guess.

So:

• kukariri = to memorize
• kutumia = to use
• kukisia = to guess

In Swahili, infinitives are often used where English also uses infinitives, especially after expressions like ni bora.

So:

• ni bora kukariri = it is better to memorize
• kuliko kukisia = than to guess

Literally, it means by using sentences.

Breakdown:

• kwa = by / with / through
• kutumia = to use
• sentensi = sentence / sentences

So kwa kutumia sentensi expresses the method or means: by using sentences.

This is a very common Swahili pattern:

• kwa kusoma = by reading
• kwa kufanya mazoezi = by practicing
• kwa kutumia mifano = by using examples

Because sentensi is a loanword that usually belongs to noun class 9/10, where singular and plural often have the same form.

So:

• sentensi can mean sentence
• sentensi can also mean sentences

The number is often understood from context.

That is very normal in Swahili with many borrowed nouns.

Because msamiati is often used like an uncountable or collective noun, much like English vocabulary.

English says:

• Vocabulary is important
• not usually vocabularies in this kind of sentence

Swahili does the same thing here:

• kukariri msamiati = to memorize vocabulary

If you wanted to focus on individual words, you might use something like maneno depending on context, but msamiati is very natural here.

kuliko means than and is used in comparisons.

Here the pattern is:

• ni bora X kuliko Y = it is better to do X than Y

So:

• ni bora kukariri msamiati ... kuliko kukisia maana yake
• it is better to memorize vocabulary ... than to guess its meaning

You can use kuliko after other comparatives too:

• Huyu ni mrefu kuliko mimi. = This person is taller than me.
• Ni rahisi zaidi kuliko nilivyodhani. = It is easier than I thought.

This is a very important Swahili grammar point.

In Swahili, the possessive form agrees with the thing being possessed, not with the owner.

Here:

• maana = meaning
• yake = his/her/its/their, agreeing with maana

So maana yake means its meaning.

The key point is that yake matches maana, which is in class 9. That is why you get yake.

Even though the meaning belongs to msamiati, the possessive still agrees with maana, not with msamiati.

In this sentence, it refers to msamiati as a whole concept, so the phrase means something like guessing its meaning.

Because msamiati can behave like a collective noun, Swahili can treat it as a single idea, much like English vocabulary.

In real use, the exact interpretation comes from context:

• it could mean the meaning of a vocabulary item
• or the meaning of vocabulary being studied

The sentence is still natural because the general idea is clear: understanding vocabulary through sentence context is better than just guessing.

Yes. A few natural alternatives are:

• Mwalimu anasema kwamba ni bora kukariri msamiati kwa kutumia sentensi kuliko kukisia maana yake.
• Mwalimu anasema ni afadhali kukariri msamiati kwa kutumia sentensi kuliko kukisia maana yake.

The original sentence is already natural. These alternatives mainly differ in style:

• kwamba makes the clause boundary more explicit
• afadhali can also express preference, similar to better / preferable

It is best understood as a general present or present habitual here.

The marker -na- often covers both ideas that English separates:

• is saying
• says

So anasema can mean either, depending on context.

In this sentence, English usually translates it as says, because it expresses a general statement:

• The teacher says it is better...

rather than a one-time action happening right this second.