Ikifika saa nne, tutaanza mkutano.

Ikifika can be broken down as i-ki-fika:

• i- = it
• -ki- = if / when
• -fika = arrive / reach

So ikifika saa nne literally means when it reaches four o'clock. In natural English, that becomes when it is four o'clock or at four o'clock.

Here, i- is an impersonal it. It refers to something understood from context, like time or the clock.

So the idea is:

• it reaches four
• meaning: the time reaches four o'clock

English does something similar with it is four o'clock, where it does not point to a specific object.

Because Swahili often builds that meaning into the verb itself. In ikifika, the marker -ki- gives the sense of if or when.

So instead of using a separate word before the clause, Swahili can say it inside the verb:

• i-ki-fika = when it reaches

This is very common in Swahili.

It can mean either if or when, depending on context.

In this sentence, when is the natural meaning because the clause refers to a time that is expected to arrive:

• Ikifika saa nne, tutaanza mkutano.
• When it gets to four o'clock, we will start the meeting.

So although -ki- can sometimes be conditional like if, here it is best understood as a time clause: when.

Tutaanza breaks down as:

• tu- = we
• -ta- = future tense
• anza = begin / start

So tutaanza means we will start.

This is a very common Swahili pattern:

• nitaenda = I will go
• utakuja = you will come
• tutaanza = we will start

Because Swahili usually puts the subject inside the verb. In tutaanza, the prefix tu- already means we.

So tutaanza by itself already includes the subject:

• tu- = we
• -ta-anza = will start

You could add sisi for emphasis, but it is not necessary:

• Sisi tutaanza mkutano. = We will start the meeting.

That sounds more emphatic, like we will start it.

This is an important cultural point. In standard East African Swahili time-telling, counting often starts from 6:00 rather than 12:00.

So:

• saa moja = 7:00
• saa mbili = 8:00
• saa nne = 10:00

This means saa nne often corresponds to 10 o'clock on the Western clock, not 4 o'clock.

Context tells you whether it is morning or night. If the meaning shown to you says 10:00, that is why.

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

So mkutano can mean:

• a meeting
• the meeting

The exact meaning depends on context. In this sentence, English often uses the meeting because both speaker and listener probably know which meeting is being discussed.

Yes. That is a perfectly natural alternative.

The difference is mostly in emphasis:

• Ikifika saa nne, tutaanza mkutano.
  = When it reaches four o'clock, we will start the meeting.
  This highlights the time clause first.

• Tutaanza mkutano saa nne.
  = We will start the meeting at four o'clock.
  This is more direct and simple.

Both are fine, but the original version sounds a little more like Once it gets to that time, then we start.

Yes. They are related.

• kukutana = to meet
• mkutano = meeting

So mkutano is a noun built from the idea of people meeting together.

This is a useful pattern in Swahili: many nouns are related to verbs, so learning one often helps you recognize the other.