Usipoonyesha ulimi wako, daktari hatajua kwa nini unaanza kutapika.

Swahili often packs several grammatical pieces into one verb form.

usipoonyesha can be broken down as:

• u- = you (singular subject)
• -si- = negative
• -po- = conditional/time marker, often giving the sense if/when
• onyesha = show

So usipoonyesha means if you do not show.

This is very normal in Swahili: subject, tense/condition, negation, and the verb root are usually combined into a single word.

In this sentence, -po- helps create a conditional idea: if.

So:

• usipoonyesha = if you do not show

You will often see -po- in forms that refer to a situation or condition tied to time or circumstance. In sentences like this one, the most natural English translation is simply if.

Because possessives in Swahili agree with the noun being possessed, not with the person who owns it.

• ulimi belongs to noun class 3 (singular)
• The possessive stem for -ako (your) takes the class agreement for ulimi
• That gives wako

So:

• ulimi wako = your tongue

Even though the owner is you, the form of the possessive changes to match ulimi, not you.

Yes. In both verbs, u- marks second person singular: you (talking to one person).

• u-si-po-onyesha = if you do not show
• u-na-anza = you are beginning / you begin

So the sentence is speaking to one person. If it were addressing more than one person, the verb forms would change.

hatajua breaks down like this:

• ha- = negative subject marker for he/she
• -ta- = future
• jua = know

So:

• hatajua = he/she will not know

Since daktari can refer to either a male or female doctor, hatajua can mean he will not know or she will not know.

Because the subject is already clear from the noun daktari and from the verb form itself.

In Swahili, once you have a noun like daktari, you usually do not need to repeat a separate subject pronoun. The verb already shows the agreement.

So:

• daktari hatajua = the doctor will not know

A separate pronoun would usually only be added for emphasis or contrast.

Yes, kwa nini is a very common way to say why.

Literally, it is something like:

• kwa = by/for
• nini = what

So the literal sense is roughly for what reason?

In this sentence:

• kwa nini unaanza kutapika = why you are starting to vomit

It works both in direct questions and in embedded clauses like this one.

Because after anza (begin/start), Swahili normally uses an infinitive with ku-.

So:

• unaanza = you are beginning / you begin
• kutapika = to vomit

Together:

• unaanza kutapika = you are starting to vomit

This is similar to English start to vomit.

They are related, but not the same.

• unatapika = you are vomiting / you vomit
• unaanza kutapika = you are starting to vomit / you begin to vomit

So unaanza kutapika focuses on the beginning of the action, not just the action itself.

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

So:

• ulimi wako can mean your tongue
• daktari can mean a doctor or the doctor

The exact meaning is understood from context. In this sentence, English naturally uses the doctor, but Swahili does not need a separate word for that.

Yes, historically and structurally it is related.

• ona = see
• onyesha = show

You can think of onyesha as something like cause to see or make visible, which is close to the idea of show. This relationship can help learners remember the word.

You would change the you forms from singular to plural.

A plural version would be:

Msipoonyesha ulimi wenu, daktari hatajua kwa nini mnaanza kutapika.

Changes:

• u- → m- for plural you
• wako → wenu for your (plural)
• unaanza → mnaanza

So the original sentence is clearly directed at one person, while this version addresses more than one person.