Kiti hiki kinatikisika, tafadhali kaza skrubu zake.

In Swahili, the normal order is noun + demonstrative.

So:

• kiti hiki = this chair
• not usually hiki kiti

This is one of the first word-order differences English speakers notice, because English puts this before the noun, while Swahili usually puts the matching demonstrative after it.

Hiki means this, but specifically for the noun class of kiti.

Kiti belongs to the ki-/vi- noun class:

• singular: kiti = chair
• plural: viti = chairs

Because kiti is singular in that class, the correct demonstrative is hiki:

• kiti hiki = this chair
• viti hivi = these chairs

So hiki is not a general word for this in all situations. It has to agree with the noun class.

The ki- at the beginning is the subject marker that agrees with kiti.

Breakdown:

• kiti = chair
• ki- = it, for a class 7 singular noun like kiti
• -na- = present tense
• tikisika = wobble / shake / be shaky

So kinatikisika literally works like:

• ki-na-tikisika
• it-is-wobbling / it-is-shaky

Since kiti is class 7 singular, the verb must also use the class 7 subject marker ki-.

It means something like is shaking, wobbles, or is shaky/unstable, depending on context.

The verb is built from the idea of shaking, but here it describes the chair as being loose or unstable. In natural English, that is often translated as:

• This chair is wobbly
• This chair shakes
• This chair is shaky

So the Swahili form is verbal, but the best English translation may sound more like an adjective.

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

So:

• kinatikisika = it is wobbling / it wobbles

In many contexts, -na- can sound like:

• present ongoing: is wobbling
• general present: wobbles

The exact English translation depends on context, but the core idea is present time.

Tafadhali means please.

It makes the command more polite:

• tafadhali kaza skrubu zake = please tighten its screws

You can often place tafadhali before or after the command, depending on style:

• Tafadhali kaza skrubu zake
• Kaza skrubu zake, tafadhali

Both are polite.

Yes. Kaza is the imperative singular form of the verb -kaza, meaning tighten, make tight, or tighten up.

So:

• kaza! = tighten!

In this sentence, it is telling one person to tighten the screws.

If you were speaking to more than one person, you would usually say:

• kazeni = tighten! (plural)

So:

• tafadhali kazeni skrubu zake = please tighten its screws (to several people)

Skrubu means screw and is a loanword borrowed from English.

That is very common in Swahili, especially for tools, technology, and modern objects.

In this sentence:

• skrubu zake = its screws

Like many loanwords in Swahili, skrubu does not change shape in the obvious English way. Singular and plural can often look the same, and the grammar around the noun shows how it is being used.

This is a very common learner question.

The possessive in Swahili agrees with the thing being possessed, not with the owner.

Here, the thing being possessed is skrubu = screws, not kiti = chair.

So:

• skrubu zake = its screws

The za- part agrees with skrubu as a plural noun.

Even though the screws belong to the chair, the possessive form follows skrubu, because that is the noun directly attached to the possessive.

A useful way to think about it:

• English: its screws
• Swahili: screws its
  but with agreement on screws

It can mean his, her, or its, depending on context.

The base possessive ending -ake is third-person singular. English forces you to choose between his, her, and its, but Swahili often does not.

So:

• zake can mean his, her, or its
• here it clearly means its, because the owner is the chair

The za- part is not telling you who owns it. It is only matching the noun skrubu.

Swahili does not have an article system like English a/an/the.

So a noun like kiti can mean:

• a chair
• the chair
• just chair

The context tells you which one is meant.

In kiti hiki, the demonstrative hiki already makes it definite enough:

• this chair

So there is no need for a separate word meaning the.

You would need to change the noun-class agreement to the plural vi- class:

• Viti hivi vinatikisika, tafadhali kaza skrubu zake.

Key changes:

• kiti → viti = chair → chairs
• hiki → hivi = this → these
• kinatikisika → vinatikisika = it is shaky → they are shaky

Notice that skrubu zake can stay the same, because skrubu is still plural and zake is agreeing with skrubu, not with viti.

Yes. It has two parts joined by a comma:

1. Kiti hiki kinatikisika = This chair is wobbly
2. tafadhali kaza skrubu zake = please tighten its screws

So the full sentence is:

• statement first
• polite instruction second

This is a very natural way to say it in Swahili.