Baada ya mvua, kokoto zilianguka kutoka kwenye toroli, kwa hiyo tulichukua koleo jingine.

In Swahili, baada ya is the normal way to say after before a noun or noun-like expression. The ya links baada to what follows.

So you get patterns like:

• baada ya mvua = after the rain / after rain
• baada ya kazi = after work
• baada ya chakula = after the meal / after food

It is best to learn baada ya as a set phrase.

Yes. It can be followed by an infinitive, which works like -ing in English.

For example:

• baada ya kula = after eating
• baada ya kusoma = after studying / reading

In your sentence, though, it is followed by the noun mvua.

Because kokoto belongs to noun class 9/10, and here it is being treated as plural. In Swahili, many nouns in class 9/10 look the same in singular and plural, so the verb agreement helps show the number.

Here:

• zi- shows a class 10 plural subject
• so zilianguka means they fell

That tells you kokoto here is plural in meaning.

It can be broken down like this:

• zi- = subject marker for class 10 plural
• -li- = past tense marker
• anguka = verb root meaning fall

So zilianguka literally means something like they fell.

Often, yes. That is common with many class 9/10 nouns: the noun itself may stay the same, while agreement elsewhere shows whether it is singular or plural.

So:

• kokoto ilianguka = a pebble fell
• kokoto zilianguka = pebbles fell

Also, depending on context, kokoto can refer to pebbles or gravel.

Because kutoka usually introduces movement from a place, and Swahili commonly expresses that place with a locative form.

Here:

• kutoka = from
• kwenye toroli = in/on/at the wheelbarrow

Together, kutoka kwenye toroli is the natural way to say from the wheelbarrow.

Kwenye is a locative word. It can mean in, on, or at, depending on context.

So with toroli, kwenye toroli can mean something like:

• in the wheelbarrow
• on the wheelbarrow
• at the wheelbarrow

English usually chooses one specific preposition, but Swahili locatives are often broader.

Kwa hiyo means therefore, so, or for that reason. It connects the first part of the sentence to the result in the second part.

So it signals a cause-and-effect relationship:

• first event: the pebbles fell
• result: we took another shovel

It is a very common connector in both speech and writing.

It breaks down like this:

• tu- = we
• -li- = past tense
• chukua = take

So tulichukua means we took.

This is the same tense pattern as in zilianguka:

• subject marker + past marker + verb root

The word -ngine means other or another, but in Swahili it changes form to agree with the noun it describes.

In this sentence, the form used is jingine, agreeing with koleo.

So:

• koleo jingine = another shovel

The important idea for learners is that adjectives and adjective-like words often change their form to match the noun class.

It can mean another, other, or sometimes different, depending on context.

In this sentence, the most natural sense is another:

• tulichukua koleo jingine = we took another shovel

So the idea is not just a different shovel in the abstract, but one more shovel / another one.

Swahili normally does not use articles like the and a/an. Whether something is definite or indefinite is usually understood from context.

So a noun like toroli can mean:

• the wheelbarrow
• a wheelbarrow

And koleo jingine can mean:

• another shovel
• another spade

The context tells you which English article is most natural.