Dereva alisema breki zinahitaji kukaguliwa kabla hajatoka stendi tena.

Dereva means driver.

It is a loanword, but when it refers to a person it normally takes class 1/2 agreement, like other nouns for human beings. That is why the verb is alisema with the a- subject marker for he/she.

So even though dereva does not visibly look like many class 1 nouns, it still behaves like one in agreement.

It can mean either he said or she said. Swahili verbs do not normally show gender.

alisema breaks down like this:

• a- = he/she
• -li- = past tense
• -sema = say

So alisema literally means he/she said.

After verbs like -sema (to say), kwamba (that) is often optional.

So both of these are natural:

• Dereva alisema breki zinahitaji kukaguliwa...
• Dereva alisema kwamba breki zinahitaji kukaguliwa...

In English, we also often omit that in similar sentences, and Swahili works similarly here.

Breki is a loanword that usually behaves like a class 9/10 noun. In this sentence, it is treated as plural, so the verb uses the class 10 plural subject marker zi-.

That is why you get:

• breki zinahitaji = the brakes need

A very common feature of class 9/10 nouns is that the noun form often stays the same in singular and plural, and the agreement tells you the number.

zinahitaji breaks down as:

• zi- = they for class 10 nouns
• -na- = present tense
• -hitaji = need

So zinahitaji literally means they need.

Because the subject is breki, the whole part means the brakes need...

This is very normal in Swahili. Swahili does not always do the same kind of tense backshift that English often does in reported speech.

So:

• Dereva alisema breki zinahitaji kukaguliwa
  can mean
• The driver said the brakes need to be inspected

The idea is that, at the time of speaking, the need is still true or relevant. If you used a past form like zilihitaji, that would sound more like the need belonged only to the past.

Because the brakes are the thing being inspected, not the thing doing the inspecting.

• kukagua = to inspect
• kukaguliwa = to be inspected

So:

• breki zinahitaji kukaguliwa = the brakes need to be inspected

If you said breki zinahitaji kukagua, it would sound like the brakes need to inspect..., which is not the intended meaning.

This is a very common Swahili pattern.

hajatoka literally looks negative:

• ha- = negative
• -ja- = perfect / yet type meaning
• -toka = leave, go out, depart

So hajatoka literally means something like he/she has not left yet.

After kabla (before), Swahili very often uses this negative form where English would use a positive one. So:

• kabla hajatoka = before he/she leaves / before he/she has left

It does not mean before he doesn't leave. This is just the normal Swahili structure after kabla.

Yes, you could say kabla ya kutoka stendi tena.

That version means before leaving the station/stand again. It is a little less explicit about the subject, because kutoka is just an infinitive (to leave), not a full finite verb with a subject.

So the difference is roughly:

• kabla hajatoka... = before he/she leaves...
• kabla ya kutoka... = before leaving...

Also note:

• kabla ya is used before a noun or infinitive
• kabla by itself can be followed by a full clause

Yes, kutoka can have several related meanings depending on context, including:

• to come from
• to leave
• to go out

Here, with stendi, it means to leave or to depart from the stand/station.

So hajatoka stendi means he/she has not left the stand/station.

Stendi is a loanword from English stand, and in East African Swahili it commonly refers to a bus stand, taxi stand, or station area where vehicles wait for passengers.

So in this sentence, stendi is the place the driver would depart from.

Tena means again or once more.

Here it modifies the idea of leaving the stand:

• kabla hajatoka stendi tena = before he leaves the stand again

Putting tena at the end is very natural in Swahili. It adds the sense that this is another departure, not the first one.

Yes:

• Dereva = driver
• alisema = he/she said
• breki = brakes
• zinahitaji = they need
• kukaguliwa = to be inspected
• kabla = before
• hajatoka = he/she has not left yet
• stendi = stand/station
• tena = again

A more literal reading is:

Driver said brakes they-need to-be-inspected before he/she-has-not-left stand again

Natural English: The driver said the brakes need to be inspected before he leaves the stand again.