Baada ya hotuba, mwalimu alisema kila mwanafunzi aandike hoja mbili kuhusu kazi anayoipenda.

Baada means after. When it is followed by a noun, Swahili normally uses ya:

• baada ya hotuba = after the speech

So ya is the linker between baada and the noun that follows. You also see this pattern with verbs:

• baada ya kuzungumza = after speaking

Swahili does not have articles like a, an, or the. A noun like hotuba can mean:

• a speech
• the speech
• sometimes just speech

The exact meaning comes from context.

Alisema means he/she said.
Aliambia means he/she told and usually needs an object showing who was told:

• aliwaambia wanafunzi... = he/she told the students...

In this sentence, the focus is on what the teacher said, not on naming the listener, so alisema is a natural choice.

Aandike is a subjunctive form. Swahili often uses the subjunctive after verbs of saying, ordering, wanting, requesting, or telling someone what should happen.

So:

• mwalimu alisema kila mwanafunzi aandike...

means something like:

• the teacher said that each student should write...

It is not simply describing an action that is happening; it is expressing what the students are supposed to do.

It comes from the verb kuandika = to write.

Breakdown:

• a- = he/she
• -andik- = verb stem
• -e = subjunctive ending

So aandike means that he/she write or he/she should write.

The double aa happens because the subject marker a- comes before a stem that begins with a.

Because kila means each or every, and in Swahili it normally takes a singular noun and singular agreement.

So:

• kila mwanafunzi aandike = each student should write

Even though the meaning involves many students, the grammar is singular because Swahili treats each student one by one.

Hoja can mean:

• point
• argument
• reason
• idea
• issue

In this sentence, hoja mbili most naturally means two points or two reasons.

Also, number words usually come after the noun in Swahili:

• hoja mbili = two points

not

• mbili hoja

Hoja is a noun that belongs to a class where the singular and plural often have the same form. So:

• hoja moja = one point
• hoja mbili = two points

The noun itself does not change; the number word tells you whether it is singular or plural.

Kuhusu means about, regarding, or concerning.

So:

• hoja mbili kuhusu kazi... = two points about the work/job...

It is a very common way to say about in Swahili.

It can mean either one. Kazi is a broad word that can mean:

• work
• job
• task
• sometimes even occupation/profession

In this sentence, it probably means the kind of work or job the student likes. The best English choice depends on context.

It can be broken into parts like this:

• a- = he/she
• -na- = present/habitual
• -yo- = relative marker agreeing with kazi
• -i- = object marker referring to kazi
• -pend- = like/love
• -a = final vowel

So anayoipenda literally means something like:

• that he/she likes it

But in natural English we simply say:

• that he/she likes

They do two different jobs.

• -yo- is the relative marker: it gives the meaning that/which
• -i- is the object marker: it refers back to kazi as the thing being liked

So in kazi anayoipenda, the word kazi is both:

1. the noun being described by the relative clause, and
2. the object of kupenda inside that clause

That is why both markers appear.

Because it refers back to kila mwanafunzi, and kila mwanafunzi is grammatically singular.

So Swahili uses:

• a- = he/she

If the sentence were about students in the plural as a group, you would get plural agreement, for example:

• wanafunzi wanayoipenda = the work/job that they like

Yes. You could say:

• Mwalimu alisema kwamba kila mwanafunzi aandike hoja mbili kuhusu kazi anayoipenda.

This means the same thing. Kwamba means that, but Swahili often leaves it out when the meaning is already clear.

A fairly literal version would be:

• After the speech, the teacher said each student should write two points about the work/job that he or she likes.

If you go even more literally, the last part is closer to:

• the work/job that he/she likes it

But natural English drops that extra it.