Muuzaji wa vitabu alinipa kamusi mpya jana.

A useful breakdown is:

• Muuzaji = seller / vendor
• wa vitabu = of books
• alinipa = he/she gave me
• kamusi = dictionary
• mpya = new
• jana = yesterday

So the full sentence means: The bookseller gave me a new dictionary yesterday or A seller of books gave me a new dictionary yesterday.

Swahili often builds this kind of meaning very literally:

• muuzaji = seller
• wa = of
• vitabu = books

So muuzaji wa vitabu is literally seller of books.

This is a very common pattern in Swahili:

• mwanafunzi wa Kiswahili = student of Swahili
• mwalimu wa watoto = teacher of children

Here, wa is a connector meaning something like of.

In muuzaji wa vitabu, it links muuzaji and vitabu:

• muuzaji wa vitabu = seller of books

This connector changes form depending on the noun class of the first noun. Because muuzaji belongs to the m-/wa- noun class, the connector is wa.

Because vitabu is plural.

• kitabu = book
• vitabu = books

So:

• muuzaji wa kitabu would mean seller of a book or seller of one book
• muuzaji wa vitabu means seller of books

In natural English, we would usually say bookseller.

Alinipa can be broken down like this:

• a- = he/she
• -li- = past tense
• -ni- = me
• -pa = give

So alinipa literally means he/she gave me.

This is one of the most important things to get used to in Swahili: a lot of grammatical information is packed into the verb itself.

In Swahili, object pronouns are often attached to the verb.

So instead of saying something like gave to me with a separate pronoun, Swahili often says:

• alinipa = he/she gave me
• alikupa = he/she gave you
• alitupa = he/she gave us

The -ni- inside alinipa is the object marker for me.

Because the subject is already shown by the verb prefix a-.

• a- = he/she
• ali- = he/she in the past

So alinipa already means he/she gave me.

Also, since the sentence begins with muuzaji wa vitabu, that noun tells you who did the action. In English we might repeat the subject with a pronoun in some contexts, but Swahili does not need that here.

Swahili does not have articles like English the and a/an.

So:

• muuzaji can mean a seller or the seller
• kamusi can mean a dictionary or the dictionary

Which one sounds best depends on context. In this sentence, English usually translates it naturally as The bookseller gave me a new dictionary yesterday, but A bookseller gave me a new dictionary yesterday is also grammatically possible if the context allows it.

In Swahili, adjectives usually come after the noun.

So:

• kamusi mpya = new dictionary
• kitabu kikubwa = big book
• watoto wadogo = small children

This is one of the basic word-order differences from English.

It actually does agree with noun class, but with kamusi the matching form happens to still be mpya.

Kamusi belongs to the N-class (often called class 9/10), and many adjectives in that class have no obvious extra prefix.

Compare:

• kitabu kipya = new book
• vitabu vipya = new books
• kamusi mpya = new dictionary
• kamusi mpya = new dictionaries

So yes, agreement is still happening, but the form may not visibly change much with this noun.

Muuzaji is in the m-/wa- noun class, which often includes people.

• singular: muuzaji = seller
• plural: wauzaji = sellers

So:

• Muuzaji wa vitabu = bookseller
• Wauzaji wa vitabu = booksellers

That also affects agreement elsewhere in the sentence.

The subject marker would change from a- to wa-.

So:

• Muuzaji wa vitabu alinipa... = The bookseller gave me...
• Wauzaji wa vitabu walinipa... = The booksellers gave me...

Breakdown of walinipa:

• wa- = they
• -li- = past
• -ni- = me
• -pa = give

Jana means yesterday, and time words often come at the end of the sentence in Swahili.

So this word order is very natural:

• Muuzaji wa vitabu alinipa kamusi mpya jana.

But Swahili word order can be somewhat flexible for emphasis. For example, you may also hear:

• Jana muuzaji wa vitabu alinipa kamusi mpya.

Still, putting jana at the end is very common and neutral.

Yes. In English, gave me and gave to me are closely related, and Swahili alinipa covers that idea.

With the verb -pa (give), the object marker often represents the recipient:

• alinipa kamusi = he/she gave me a dictionary

So the idea is gave a dictionary to me, but natural English usually says gave me a dictionary.

In this sentence, the object marker -ni- refers to the recipient, me, while kamusi mpya is expressed separately after the verb.

So:

• alinipa = gave me
• kamusi mpya = a new dictionary

Swahili commonly does this: one object is marked in the verb, and the other appears as a noun after it.

Usually yes, in a general sense. It literally means seller of books, so bookseller is a very natural translation.

Depending on context, it could also be understood as:

• book vendor
• book seller
• person who sells books

But bookseller is the neatest English equivalent.

Yes, in principle, because Swahili does not mark the and a/an.

So the sentence itself does not explicitly tell you:

• whether the seller is definite or indefinite
• whether the dictionary is definite or indefinite

English has to choose based on context. Without extra context, the most natural translation is usually:

• The bookseller gave me a new dictionary yesterday.

But other interpretations are possible if the situation supports them.