Mhasibu ametuma ankara kwa barua pepe, lakini mteja bado hajailipa.

Swahili normally does not use articles like the, a, or an.

So:

• mhasibu can mean accountant or the accountant
• ankara can mean invoice or the invoice
• mteja can mean customer or the customer

Context tells you which one is meant.

Because Swahili verbs usually show subject agreement.

In ametuma:

• a- = he/she (or a singular human noun)
• -me- = perfect aspect
• -tuma = send

So even when the subject noun is stated explicitly as mhasibu, the verb still agrees with it. This is normal in Swahili.

Ametuma can be broken down as:

• a- = subject marker for he/she
• -me- = perfect aspect, often like has/have
• -tuma = send

So ametuma means has sent.

This is different from alituma, which is more like a simple past sent.

Kwa often means by, with, through, or via, depending on context.

Here it introduces the means/method:

• kwa barua pepe = by email / via email

So the idea is that the invoice was sent using email as the method.

It is written as two words: barua pepe.

It functions as the normal Swahili expression for email. Learners should treat it as a fixed phrase, just like English has multi-word expressions such as post office.

Lakini means but or however.

It connects the two clauses:

• Mhasibu ametuma ankara kwa barua pepe
• lakini mteja bado hajailipa

So it shows a contrast: the invoice has been sent, but payment has not happened yet.

Bado often means still or yet, depending on the sentence.

With a negative verb, it often gives the sense of:

• still not
• not yet

So:

• bado hajailipa = still hasn’t paid it / hasn’t paid it yet

Hajailipa can be broken down like this:

• ha- = negative subject marker for he/she
• -ja- = negative perfect, often giving the sense has not yet
• -i- = object marker meaning it
• -lipa = pay

So hajailipa means he/she has not paid it yet.

That -i- is the object marker meaning it.

It refers back to ankara.

So:

• hajalipa = hasn’t paid
• hajailipa = hasn’t paid it

This is very common in Swahili: the verb can include a small object marker that refers to something already mentioned.

Both patterns are possible, but they work a little differently.

• hajailipa = hasn’t paid it
• hajalipa ankara = hasn’t paid the invoice

In your sentence, ankara was already mentioned earlier, so Swahili naturally uses the object marker -i- to refer back to it.

Ankara is treated as a noun in the N-class (often called class 9/10).

That matters because noun class affects agreement, including object markers. For a singular noun like ankara, the object marker is -i-.

That is why you get:

• hajailipa = hasn’t paid it

If the object were plural, the marker would usually change accordingly.

The noun forms and the verb agreement would change.

For example:

• mhasibu → wahasibu
• mteja → wateja

Then the verb agreement also changes:

• wahasibu wametuma...
• wateja bado hawaja...

A possible plural version is:

• Wahasibu wametuma ankara kwa barua pepe, lakini wateja bado hawajazilipa.

Here -zi- refers to plural ankara (them).