Dereva alisema ati breki zitakaguliwa kabla daladala haijatoka stendi tena.

Yes, here ati introduces reported speech or reported information, so it works a lot like English that in the driver said that...

So:

• Dereva alisema ati... = The driver said that...

A few useful notes:

• In many contexts, ati is more conversational than kwamba.
• kwamba is also very common for that:
  • Dereva alisema kwamba breki zitakaguliwa...
• In some situations, ati can also suggest hearsay, quotation, or even skepticism, depending on tone and context. But in this sentence, it simply introduces what was said.

Because breki is being treated as a plural noun here, so the verb agrees with a plural noun class.

Breakdown of zitakaguliwa:

• zi- = subject agreement for a plural noun of this class
• -ta- = future
• -kaguliwa = be inspected / be checked

So:

• breki zitakaguliwa = the brakes will be checked

Even though breki comes from English, in Swahili it still has to follow noun-class agreement. Here it behaves like a plural noun, so zi- is used.

It is a passive verb form.

Breakdown

• zi- = they (for the noun class of breki)
• -ta- = will
• -kaguliw- = be inspected / be examined
• -a = final vowel

Base verb:

• kagua = inspect, check

Passive:

• kaguliwa = be inspected / be checked

So:

• breki zitakaguliwa literally = the brakes they-will-be-inspected

This is a very common Swahili pattern:

• active: Wataangalia breki = They will check the brakes
• passive: Breki zitakaguliwa = The brakes will be checked

Haijatoka is the negative perfect form of kutoka (to leave / to come out / to depart) agreeing with daladala.

Breakdown

• ha- = negative
• i- = subject marker for daladala (singular noun of the N-class)
• -ja- = perfect
• -tok- = root from kutoka
• -a = final vowel

So literally:

• haijatoka = it has not left

Because daladala is singular here, the agreement is i-.

This is a very common and important Swahili pattern.

After kabla, Swahili often uses a negative perfect form to express before something happens.

So:

• kabla daladala haijatoka literally = before the bus has not yet left
• natural English = before the bus leaves / before the bus has left

This may feel strange to an English speaker, but it is normal Swahili grammar.

Other examples:

• Kabla sijala, nitanawa.
  = Before I eat, I will wash my hands.
  Literally: before I have not yet eaten

• Kabla hajarudi, tuondoke.
  = Before he/she returns, let’s leave.

So in your sentence, kabla daladala haijatoka stendi tena is the expected structure.

Because daladala here refers to one bus/minibus, not several.

Although many Swahili nouns in the N-class look the same in singular and plural, the verb agreement tells you whether the noun is singular or plural.

Singular

• daladala haijatoka = the minibus has not left

Plural

• daladala hazijatoka = the minibuses have not left

So the sentence is talking about one daladala, and that is why the verb uses singular agreement.

Daladala is a common East African term, especially in Tanzania, for a public minibus or shared urban bus.

So depending on the translation style, it could be rendered as:

• minibus
• city bus
• public minibus
• sometimes just left as daladala

A learner should know that this is not just any vehicle; it refers to a specific kind of public transport.

Stendi is a loanword from English stand, and in East African Swahili it commonly means a bus stand, station, or terminal.

So:

• stendi = stand / station / terminal

You could also hear kituo in some contexts, but the nuance is a bit different:

• kituo often means station, stop, or post
• stendi often sounds more specifically like the main bus stand or terminal area

In everyday speech, especially with transport vocabulary, loanwords like stendi are very common.

Here tena means again or once more.

So the idea is:

• the brakes will be checked before the bus leaves the station again

This suggests the bus had either already been at the stand, or was preparing to depart another time after some interruption or delay.

Tena is a very common word and can mean:

• again
• once more
• sometimes also, depending on context

But in this sentence, again is the natural meaning.

Because alisema is the past tense: he/she said.

Breakdown

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

So:

• anasema = he/she says / is saying
• alisema = he/she said

Since the sentence reports something the driver said earlier, the past tense is appropriate.

Yes. A very natural alternative is:

• Dereva alisema kwamba breki zitakaguliwa kabla daladala haijatoka stendi tena.

Both are grammatical.

Very roughly:

• kwamba can sound a bit more neutral or standard in many contexts
• ati often sounds more speech-like or report-like

But in everyday Swahili, both are common, and a learner should understand both.

In actual use, breki often refers to brakes as a set, like English the brakes, and speakers usually show the intended number through agreement.

In this sentence, it is clearly being treated as plural because of:

• zi- in zitakaguliwa

So here:

• breki zitakaguliwa = the brakes will be checked

This is a good example of how Swahili agreement often tells you more than the noun form itself, especially with loanwords.

A fairly literal breakdown is:

• Dereva = driver
• alisema = said
• ati = that
• breki = brakes
• zitakaguliwa = will be checked / will be inspected
• kabla = before
• daladala = minibus
• haijatoka = it has not left
• stendi = station / stand
• tena = again

So a literal reading is something like:

• The driver said that the brakes will be checked before the minibus has not yet left the station again.

That literal English sounds odd, but it helps show the structure. Natural English would be:

• The driver said that the brakes would be checked before the minibus left the station again.
• or ...before the minibus leaves the station again.

The unusual part for English speakers is especially the kabla + negative perfect pattern.