Mama alitumia kiberiti kuwasha mshumaa wakati umeme ulipokatika.

alitumia can be broken down like this:

• a- = subject prefix for he/she (class 1 singular)
• -li- = past tense
• -tumia = verb root meaning use

So alitumia literally means he/she used.

In this sentence, because the subject is Mama, we understand it as she used.

In Swahili, if the object is stated directly after the verb, you often do not need an object marker.

So:

• Mama alitumia kiberiti = Mother used a match

This is completely normal.

An object marker is more likely when the object has already been mentioned, or when you want to refer back to it:

• Mama alikitumia = Mother used it

So in your sentence, no object marker is needed because kiberiti is named explicitly.

kiberiti belongs to the ki-/vi- noun class, often called class 7/8.

• singular: kiberiti
• plural: viberiti

So:

• kiberiti kimoja = one match
• viberiti viwili = two matches

This noun class matters because adjectives, numbers, and other words may have to agree with it.

kuwasha is the infinitive form of the verb -washa, meaning to light, to switch on, or to ignite, depending on context.

Here it shows purpose:

• alitumia kiberiti kuwasha mshumaa
• literally: she used a match to light a candle

This is a very common Swahili pattern:

• kutumia X kufanya Y = to use X to do Y

So kuwasha is not a separate main action with its own subject; it tells you what the match was used for.

The m- at the beginning is a noun class prefix. It is part of the noun.

So the full noun is:

• mshumaa = candle

Its plural is:

• mishumaa = candles

Like many Swahili nouns, the noun class prefix is built into the word and affects agreement elsewhere in the sentence.

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

So mshumaa can mean:

• a candle
• the candle

The exact meaning depends on context.

That is very normal in Swahili. Learners often have to get used to the fact that definiteness is usually understood from the situation rather than marked by a separate word.

wakati means time, when, or while, depending on context.

In this sentence, it introduces a time clause:

• wakati umeme ulipokatika = when the electricity went out

So here wakati is functioning like when in English.

In other contexts, it can also feel more like while:

• Wakati nilikuwa mdogo... = When I was young...
• Wakati anasoma, usimsumbue. = While he is studying, don’t disturb him.

ulipokatika is made of several parts:

• u- = subject prefix agreeing with umeme
• -li- = past tense
• -po- = relative marker connected with time/place, often understood here as when
• -katika = verb root meaning be cut off, break, or go off

So ulipokatika means something like:

• when it went off
• when it got cut off

In this sentence, it refers to the electricity, so the natural translation is when the power went out.

Because umeme takes noun-class agreement that uses u- in the singular subject form.

You can think of it this way:

• umeme umekatika = the electricity has gone off
• umeme ulikatika = the electricity went off
• umeme ulipokatika = when the electricity went off

This is not based on natural gender like he/she/it in English. It is based on noun class agreement, which is a central part of Swahili grammar.

No. They just happen to look the same.

Here, -katika is a verb root meaning something like:

• break
• be cut off
• go off

So:

• umeme ulipokatika = the electricity went off / was cut off

But the separate word katika is a preposition meaning:

• in
• inside
• within

For example:

• katika nyumba = in the house

So these are two different words, even though they have the same spelling.

It is a normal and natural way to express that idea.

Literally, it is based on the idea that the electricity was cut off or interrupted, but in normal English the best translation is often:

• the power went out
• there was a power outage

So this is one of those cases where the most natural English translation is not a word-for-word one.

Yes. Swahili allows some flexibility, especially with time expressions.

For example, you could also say:

• Wakati umeme ulipokatika, mama alitumia kiberiti kuwasha mshumaa.

This still means the same thing.

The original sentence starts with the main clause and then adds the time clause. The reordered version starts with the time clause first. Both are natural.