Dada yangu anapendelea losheni kuliko krimu, lakini bado hutumia shampuu ya maua.

In Swahili, possessives usually come after the noun they belong to. So dada yangu is literally sister my, which is the normal Swahili order.

You see the same pattern in phrases like:

• mama yangu = my mother
• baba yake = his/her father
• kitabu changu = my book

a- is the subject marker for a single animate person, so it can mean he or she.

It is not inherently feminine. In this sentence, we understand she because the subject is dada yangu.

Swahili verbs often pack several pieces of information into one word.

anapendelea can be broken down like this:

• a- = he/she
• -na- = present tense
• pendelea = prefer / favor

So one Swahili word can correspond to several English words.

Because kupendelea means to prefer or to favor over something else, while kupenda usually means to like or to love.

Since the sentence compares losheni and krimu, kupendelea is the right choice:

• anapendelea losheni kuliko krimu = she prefers lotion to cream

If you used kupenda, the comparison would be weaker or less exact.

-na- is the common present-tense marker in Swahili.

It often covers meanings like:

• is preferring
• prefers
• does prefer

The exact English translation depends on context. In this sentence, it gives a present-time meaning for her preference.

kuliko means than in comparisons.

The pattern is:

• A anapendelea X kuliko Y = A prefers X to/over Y

So here, kuliko krimu shows what the lotion is being compared against.

hu- usually marks a habitual or customary action.

So hutumia suggests something like:

• she still uses it habitually
• she still tends to use
• she still uses as a usual practice

By contrast, anatumia would more naturally suggest a present action or a more neutral present statement. In this sentence, hutumia fits the idea of an ongoing habit.

In the affirmative habitual form, hu- is normally used without a separate subject marker.

So:

• hutumia = uses habitually / usually uses

The subject is understood from the noun already given, dada yangu, or from context.

That is why Swahili says hutumia, not ahutumia.

bado means still here.

It shows continuation: even though she prefers lotion over cream, that does not stop the other action. She still uses the flower shampoo.

So lakini bado hutumia gives the sense of:

• but she still uses...

ya is a connector often meaning of or with, and it agrees with the noun shampuu.

maua means flowers, so:

• shampuu ya maua = shampoo of flowers / flower shampoo

In natural English, this often means:

• flower shampoo
• floral shampoo
• flower-scented shampoo

They are borrowed words that have been adapted to Swahili spelling and pronunciation.

They come from forms like:

• lotion → losheni
• cream → krimu
• shampoo → shampuu

This is very common in Swahili, especially for modern products and international items.

Swahili does not use articles the way English does.

So a noun like losheni can mean:

• lotion
• a lotion
• the lotion

The exact meaning is understood from context rather than from a separate article word.