Mwalimu alitukumbusha akifishaji mzuri: koma mahali pake, nukta mwishoni, na alama ya kuuliza mwishoni mwa swali.

It has several pieces packed into one verb:

• a- = he/she
• -li- = past tense
• -tu- = us
• -kumbusha = remind

So alitukumbusha means he/she reminded us.

This is very common in Swahili: subject, tense, and object often all appear inside one verb.

They are related, but not the same:

• kukumbuka = to remember
• kukumbusha = to remind

A useful way to think about it is that kukumbusha is like cause someone to remember.

For example:

• Nilikumbuka. = I remembered.
• Alinikumbusha. = He/she reminded me.

No. Mwalimu is not gender-specific.

Also, the verb prefix a- in alitukumbusha does not mean specifically he rather than she. It just marks a singular human subject. So the sentence itself does not tell you whether the teacher is male or female.

That is a common difference from English: Swahili usually does not force you to specify gender.

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

So mwalimu can mean:

• a teacher
• the teacher
• sometimes just teacher

The exact meaning depends on context. In this sentence, English naturally translates it as the teacher.

In Swahili, adjectives usually come after the noun they describe.

So:

• akifishaji mzuri = literally punctuation good
• natural English = good punctuation

That word order is normal in Swahili.

• mahali = place
• pake = its place / his place / her place, depending on context

Here, with koma, it means its place or more naturally the right place.

So koma mahali pake means:

• a comma in its proper place
• a comma where it belongs

The base word is mwisho, meaning end.

When you add -ni, you get a locative form:

• mwisho = end
• mwishoni = at the end / in the end

So in this sentence:

• nukta mwishoni = a period at the end

The ending -ni often gives a sense of location: in, at, or on.

Because mwishoni is a locative form, and after this kind of locative noun Swahili uses the linker mwa.

So:

• mwisho wa swali = the end of a question
• mwishoni mwa swali = at the end of a question

The second one is the form used in your sentence because it is talking about location: at the end.

Swahili often uses the pattern:

• noun + ya + infinitive

Here:

• alama = mark / sign
• ya = of
• kuuliza = to ask / asking

So alama ya kuuliza literally means mark of asking, which is the normal Swahili way to say question mark.

Not really; it is more like a list explaining what good punctuation means.

After the colon, we get a series of items:

• koma mahali pake
• nukta mwishoni
• na alama ya kuuliza mwishoni mwa swali

This kind of shortened list is natural. Swahili, like English, can leave out repeated words when the meaning is clear. The idea is something like:

• comma in the right place,
• period at the end,
• and question mark at the end of a question.

Because the sentence is talking about general punctuation rules, not counting separate marks.

English does this too:

• Use a comma in the right place
• Put a period at the end
• Use a question mark at the end of a question

So the singular form here sounds natural and expresses the rule in a general way.