Maneno tuliyojifunza jana darasani ni muhimu.

Maneno is the plural of neno, meaning word.

• neno = word
• maneno = words

It belongs to a noun class system, which is how Swahili handles many singular/plural pairs. In this case:

• singular: neno
• plural: maneno

Because the sentence is talking about more than one word, maneno is used.

Tuliyojifunza is made of several pieces joined into one verb form:

• tu- = we
• -li- = past tense
• -yo- = relative marker agreeing with maneno
• -ji- = reflexive element used in kujifunza
• -funza = learn / teach root, here part of jifunza

So tuliyojifunza means something like that/which we learned.

A very literal breakdown is:

• tu-li-yo-ji-funza
• we + past + which + self + learn

In natural English, you would not translate every piece separately; you would just understand it as which we learned.

In Swahili, relative clauses are often built into the verb instead of using a separate standalone word like English that or which.

Here, the relative idea is carried by -yo- inside tuliyojifunza.

So instead of saying something structurally like:

• words that we learned

Swahili does:

• maneno tu-li-yo-jifunza

The -yo- is what connects maneno to the verb phrase we learned.

The relative marker changes depending on the noun class of the noun being described.

Since maneno is a plural noun in the ma-/ya- class, the relative marker used is -yo-.

So:

• maneno ... tuliyojifunza = the words ... that we learned

If the noun belonged to a different class, a different relative marker would appear.

This is one of the places where Swahili noun classes affect grammar beyond just singular and plural.

-ji- is the reflexive marker, and it appears in the verb kujifunza.

You will often learn kujifunza as a vocabulary item meaning:

• to learn
• sometimes more literally, to teach oneself

In modern everyday Swahili, it is best to think of kujifunza simply as the normal verb to learn.

So in this sentence, you do not need to over-translate -ji-. Just understand tuliyojifunza as we learned in the relative clause.

Jana means yesterday, and darasani means in class.

Swahili is fairly flexible with adverb placement, especially for time and place expressions. In this sentence:

• jana = time
• darasani = place

So jana darasani means yesterday in class.

This order sounds natural, but you may also encounter other word orders in Swahili depending on emphasis and style.

Darasani means in class or in the classroom.

It comes from:

• darasa = class / classroom
• -ni = a locative ending, often meaning in, at, on

So:

• darasa = class
• darasani = in class / in the classroom

This -ni ending is very common in Swahili for places and locations.

Ni is the copula here, similar to English is/are, and muhimu means important.

So:

• ni muhimu = are important

Even though maneno is plural, Swahili still uses ni here. It does not change for singular vs. plural the way English is/are does.

That is why:

• Neno ni muhimu = The word is important
• Maneno ni muhimu = The words are important

In both cases, ni stays the same.

Some Swahili adjectives agree with the noun class, but not all descriptive words behave the same way.

Muhimu is commonly used unchanged, regardless of whether the noun is singular or plural.

So you say:

• neno muhimu = important word
• maneno muhimu = important words

And after ni:

• neno ni muhimu
• maneno ni muhimu

So yes, it is normal that muhimu stays the same.

Swahili commonly puts the noun first and then follows it with a relative clause that describes it.

So the structure here is:

• Maneno = the noun being talked about
• tuliyojifunza jana darasani = the clause describing those words
• ni muhimu = the main statement about them

So the sentence is built like this:

• [The words [that we learned yesterday in class]] are important

That is a very normal Swahili structure.

Not very naturally. A literal-style breakdown would be something like:

• Maneno = words
• tuliyojifunza = which we learned
• jana = yesterday
• darasani = in class
• ni muhimu = are important

So the overall sense is:

• The words that we learned yesterday in class are important.

A very literal translation helps you see the grammar, but the best natural English translation may rearrange things slightly.

Yes. In standard Swahili spelling, these verb elements are written together as one word.

Swahili verbs often pack a lot of information into a single written form, including:

• subject
• tense
• relative marker
• object or reflexive marker
• verb root

So even though English would use several words, Swahili often uses one long verb form instead. That is completely normal.