Tuliketi pwani tukitazama mawimbi yakija na kurudi tena.

Tuliketi can be split like this:

• tu- = we
• -li- = past tense
• -keti = sit

So tuliketi means we sat. In a sentence like this, it can also feel like we were sitting, because the next part describes what was happening at the same time.

Yes, there is a difference.

• kuketi = to sit, especially the act or state of being seated
• kukaa = to stay, to remain, to live, and sometimes to sit/be seated in a broader sense

So tuliketi focuses more specifically on being seated.
If you used tulikaa, it could sound broader, like we stayed or we were there.

Pwani means coast, shore, or beach area.

Swahili often does not need a separate preposition the way English does. A place noun can function directly as a location.

So:

• Tuliketi pwani = We sat at/on the beach

You may also see more explicitly locative forms in other contexts, such as ufukweni, which means on the shore/beach.

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

That means:

• pwani can mean the beach, a beach, or just beach/coast
• mawimbi can mean the waves or simply waves

Context tells you which meaning is intended.

Tukitazama means while we were watching or as we watched.

It breaks down like this:

• tu- = we
• -ki- = a marker often used for an action happening at the same time
• -tazama = look at / watch

So:

• tukitazama mawimbi = while we were watching the waves

This is a very common way in Swahili to link two actions happening together.

Here, -ki- shows a simultaneous or accompanying action, often translated as:

• while
• as
• when
• sometimes just -ing

So in this sentence:

• tukitazama = while we watched / watching
• yakija = as they came / coming

It is not exactly the same as an English tense. It is more of a connector showing that one action is happening alongside another.

Because mawimbi belongs to a noun class that takes ya- agreement.

In Swahili, verbs must agree with the noun class of their subject.

• wimbi = wave (singular)
• mawimbi = waves (plural)

For this plural class, the subject marker is ya-, so:

• mawimbi yakija = the waves coming / as the waves came

If it were singular, you would get:

• wimbi likija = the wave coming

So ya- is there because of noun-class agreement, not because it means they in a general English sense.

Yes:

• ya- = subject marker agreeing with mawimbi
• -ki- = while/as
• -ja = come

So yakija literally means something like:

• as they come
• while they are coming
• coming

With mawimbi, the full phrase mawimbi yakija means the waves coming in or as the waves came.

This is a shortening that Swahili often allows.

After the subject and first action are already clear, the next action can be added with na + infinitive:

• yakija na kurudi tena = coming and returning again

The subject of kurudi is still understood to be mawimbi.

A fuller, more parallel version like yakija na yakirudi tena is also possible and makes the repeated subject agreement more explicit. But the version with kurudi is perfectly natural and lighter in style.

Tena usually means again.

With kurudi, it reinforces the idea of repeated motion, so here it gives the sense of:

• returning again
• coming and going back
• back and forth again

In natural English, you might not always translate tena word-for-word. It often helps express the repeated rhythm of the waves.

The word order is natural, but Swahili is somewhat flexible.

This sentence is arranged like this:

• Tuliketi = main action
• pwani = location
• tukitazama = what we were doing while sitting
• mawimbi yakija na kurudi tena = what the waves were doing

So the structure is very much:

We sat on the beach, watching the waves come and go.

You can sometimes move parts around for emphasis, but this version sounds smooth and normal in narrative Swahili.