Ankara hiyo isipofika leo, mhasibu hatakubali hundi kesho.

isipofika is one verb made of several pieces:

• i- = subject marker for a class 9 singular noun, referring to ankara
• -si- = negative
• -po- = conditional marker, often giving the sense of if or when
• fika = arrive

So isipofika leo means if it does not arrive today.

A very common learner surprise is that Swahili can pack it + not + if + arrive into one word.

Because in this sentence, the idea of if is built into the verb through -po-.

So instead of having a separate word like English if, Swahili often uses a verbal form:

• isipofika = if it does not arrive

This is very normal Swahili structure. English tends to separate these ideas into several words, but Swahili often combines them inside the verb.

In Swahili, demonstratives usually come after the noun, not before it.

So:

• ankara hiyo = that ankara
• compare with English that ankara

This same pattern is very common:

• mtu huyu = this person
• kitabu hicho = that book

So the order noun + demonstrative is expected.

hiyo is the class-9 form of that.

It agrees with ankara, which is being treated as a class 9 noun here. It usually refers to something already mentioned, known in the conversation, or relatively near the listener rather than the speaker.

Very roughly, the contrast is:

• hii = this
• hiyo = that
• ile = that over there / that more distant one

In this sentence, hiyo is simply the correct agreeing form for that with ankara.

Here ankara is behaving like a class 9 singular noun.

You can tell from the agreement:

• hiyo = class 9 that
• i- in isipofika = class 9 subject marker

So the grammar around the noun tells you its class.

This is especially common with borrowed nouns in Swahili: the noun itself may not visibly change much, but the agreement words show you the noun class.

hatakubali can be broken down like this:

• ha- = negative for third-person singular
• -ta- = future
• kubali = accept

So hatakubali means he/she will not accept.

Because the subject is mhasibu, the full sense is:

• mhasibu hatakubali = the accountant will not accept

If it were positive, it would be:

• atakubali = he/she will accept

They are built into the verbs.

• In isipofika, the i- means it, referring back to ankara
• In hatakubali, the subject is third-person singular, understood from the verb form and from mhasibu

This is a key feature of Swahili: verbs usually show who or what the subject is, even when the noun is also stated separately.

So Swahili often has both:

• the noun itself
• agreement on the verb

That is completely normal.

Because Swahili does not have articles like English a and the.

So:

• mhasibu can mean an accountant or the accountant
• hundi can mean a check or the check

The context decides which English article sounds right.

In this sentence, English naturally tends to use the accountant, because it sounds like a specific person already known in the situation.

Yes. A sentence with kama would be understandable, for example:

• Kama ankara hiyo haitafika leo, mhasibu hatakubali hundi kesho.

That also means If that ankara does not arrive today, the accountant will not accept the check tomorrow.

But the original sentence is very natural because Swahili often prefers to express the conditional directly in the verb:

• isipofika

So the original is compact and idiomatic.

Yes, in context that is very close in English.

The literal structure is:

• if it does not arrive today

But English often prefers to rephrase this as:

• unless it arrives today

So the idea is similar, even though Swahili is using a straightforward negative conditional form rather than a special separate word meaning unless.

Yes. Swahili word order is somewhat flexible, especially with time words.

For example, these are also possible patterns:

• Kesho mhasibu hatakubali hundi
• Mhasibu hatakubali hundi kesho

And similarly with leo.

The version in your sentence sounds natural because the time words sit at the ends of their clauses:

• isipofika leo
• hatakubali hundi kesho

That makes the contrast between today and tomorrow especially clear.