Msipokata kucha zenu wikendi hii, mwalimu wa usafi atawakumbusha tena.

A useful learner breakdown is:

• msi- = you (plural) ... not
• -po- = part of the conditional pattern used here
• -kata = cut / trim

So msipokata means if you do not cut or if you don't trim.

In Swahili, the idea of if is often built into the verb instead of being a separate word. Here, the pattern msipo- gives the meaning if you (plural) don't ....

So instead of saying a separate word for if, Swahili packs that meaning into msipokata. In other sentences, you may also see kama for if, and positive conditionals often use -ki-, for example mkikata = if you cut.

It is talking to several people.

You can tell from:

• msi- in msipokata
• zenu = your for plural owners
• -wa- in atawakumbusha, which here means you all as the object

If it were addressed to one person, you would expect forms like usipokata kucha zako ... atakukumbusha.

Here it means nails, so plural.

A tricky thing for English speakers is that kucha can look the same in singular and plural. It belongs to a noun class where the form often does not change. The agreement helps you understand the number.

In this sentence, zenu shows that kucha is being treated as plural: your nails.

In Swahili, possessives usually come after the noun.

So:

• kucha zenu = your nails
• literally something like nails your

That is normal Swahili word order. English puts the possessive first, but Swahili usually puts it after the noun.

Because the possessive has to agree with the noun class of kucha.

The basic possessive idea is your (plural), but the form changes depending on the noun it describes. Since kucha here is plural in class 10, the correct form is zenu.

Compare:

• kucha zenu = your nails
• kucha yenu = your nail if singular were intended

So the z- is not random; it shows agreement with the noun.

hii means this, and it agrees with wikendi.

So:

• wikendi hii = this weekend

Swahili demonstratives usually come after the noun, not before it. Also, wikendi is treated like a class 9 noun, so the correct form is hii.

Literally, it means teacher of cleanliness/hygiene.

• mwalimu = teacher
• wa = of
• usafi = cleanliness / hygiene

So mwalimu wa usafi is a natural way to say something like the hygiene teacher or the teacher responsible for cleanliness.

That wa is a linker meaning of.

It connects two nouns:

• mwalimu = teacher
• usafi = cleanliness/hygiene

So mwalimu wa usafi literally means teacher of hygiene/cleanliness. This wa is not a pronoun; it is a grammatical connector.

It breaks down like this:

• a- = he/she
• -ta- = will
• -wa- = you (plural) as the object here
• -kumbusha = remind

So atawakumbusha means he/she will remind you all.

Because Swahili verbs normally include a subject marker even when the subject noun is stated separately.

So in:

• mwalimu wa usafi atawakumbusha

the noun mwalimu wa usafi names the subject, and a- on the verb agrees with that subject. This is standard Swahili grammar, not unnecessary repetition.

No.

They look the same, but they do different jobs:

• wa in mwalimu wa usafi = of
• -wa- in atawakumbusha = object marker, meaning you all here

So they are different pieces of grammar that just happen to have the same shape.

Yes.

• kumbuka = remember
• kumbusha = remind

So kumbusha is basically cause someone to remember. This is a very common pattern in Swahili: one verb means doing something yourself, and another related form means causing someone else to do it.

Here tena means again or once more.

So it tells you that the teacher will remind them another time, not for the first time. In other contexts, tena can sometimes mean more or further, but again is the best meaning here.

Swahili does not usually use articles the way English does.

So mwalimu wa usafi can mean a hygiene teacher or the hygiene teacher, depending on context. English has to choose a or the, but Swahili usually leaves that unstated.