Usichovye mkate kwenye chai ya mtu mwingine mezani.

It is a negative command or prohibition addressed to one person.

• usi- = negative command marker for singular you
• -chovye = the verb form used after that marker

So grammatically, it works like English Don’t dip ...

The basic verb is -chovya, meaning to dip.

In this kind of negative command, Swahili uses the subjunctive verb form, which changes the final -a to -e:

• chovya → basic form
• chovye → subjunctive form

So:

• Usichovya would be wrong here
• Usichovye is the correct form for Don’t dip

It is singular: you are telling one person not to do something.

If you were speaking to more than one person, or using a polite plural, you would say:

• Msichovye mkate kwenye chai ya mtu mwingine mezani.

So:

• usi- = don’t you (singular)
• msi- = don’t you (plural)

Because Swahili usually puts the subject information inside the verb.

In usichovye:

• usi- already tells you the command is aimed at you (singular)

So a separate pronoun like wewe is not necessary.

You could add wewe for emphasis, but it would sound like extra stress:

• Wewe, usichovye mkate...
• You — don’t dip the bread...

Kwenye is a locative word. Depending on context, it can mean in, on, at, or into.

Here, with chai, it means something like:

• in the tea
• into the tea

So kwenye chai is the place where the dipping would happen.

Ya is the possessive linker here. It connects chai with mtu mwingine:

• chai ya mtu mwingine
• literally: tea of another person
• natural English: another person’s tea

A very important point for English speakers: the possessive linker agrees with the thing possessed, not the possessor.

Here:

• chai takes ya
• so you get chai ya mtu mwingine

Because in Swahili, adjectives and adjective-like words usually come after the noun.

So:

• mtu mwingine = another person
• mkate mwingine = another loaf/piece of bread
• meza nyingine = another table

That is normal Swahili word order.

Mezani comes from:

• meza = table
• -ni = a locative ending

So mezani means:

• on the table
• at the table

The exact English translation depends on context.

This -ni ending is very common in Swahili for locations:

• nyumbani = at home
• shuleni = at school
• mezani = on/at the table

Because Swahili normally does not use articles the way English does.

So:

• mkate can mean bread, the bread, or a piece of bread
• chai can mean tea, the tea, or some tea

The exact meaning is understood from context.

This is very normal in Swahili, so learners have to get used to not seeing direct equivalents of a/an/the.

Not completely, but this order is very natural.

The sentence follows a common pattern:

• command verb
  • object
    • place/location phrase

Here that gives:

• Usichovye = don’t dip
• mkate = bread
• kwenye chai ya mtu mwingine = in another person’s tea
• mezani = on/at the table

Swahili can move things around more than English for emphasis, but this version sounds straightforward and clear.