Mama alimwambia Rahma, “Hongera kwa kuandika insha nzuri sana.”

Alimwambia can be broken into these parts:

• a- = he/she
• -li- = past tense
• -mw- = him/her
• -ambia = tell, say to

So alimwambia means he/she told him/her or he/she said to him/her.

In this sentence, the subject is Mama, so the full idea is Mama told her/him, and then Rahma tells you exactly who that person is.

This is very common in Swahili.

The object marker -mw- already means him/her, so technically the verb already contains the object. Then Rahma is added to make it clear exactly who is being spoken to.

So:

• alimwambia = she told him/her
• alimwambia Rahma = she told Rahma

Swahili often uses both the object marker and the full noun, especially with people.

Because Rahma is a person, and for singular human objects Swahili uses -m- or -mw-.

Before a vowel, it usually appears as -mw-, which is why you get:

• a-li-mw-ambia

The -ambia part begins with a vowel sound, so mw is the natural form here.

Hongera means congratulations.

It is often used by itself as a complete exclamation:

• Hongera! = Congratulations!

It can also be followed by kwa plus a noun or action:

• Hongera kwa ushindi = congratulations on the victory
• Hongera kwa kuandika = congratulations for writing

So in this sentence, Hongera kwa kuandika insha nzuri sana means congratulations for writing a very good essay.

Kwa often means for, because of, by, or through, depending on context.

When kwa is followed by an infinitive like kuandika (to write / writing), it often expresses the reason for praise, thanks, blame, and so on.

So:

• kwa kuandika = for writing

This is a very useful pattern in Swahili:

• Asante kwa kusaidia = thank you for helping
• Pole kwa kuchelewa = sorry for being late
• Hongera kwa kufaulu = congratulations on succeeding

Kuandika is the infinitive form, meaning to write or writing.

After kwa, Swahili commonly uses the infinitive to refer to an action in a general way. In English, we often translate this as an -ing form:

• kwa kuandika = for writing

So even though kuandika literally looks like to write, in this structure it is best understood as writing.

In Swahili, adjectives usually come after the noun they describe.

So:

• insha = essay
• nzuri = good
• insha nzuri = good essay

Then sana comes after the adjective to mean very:

• insha nzuri sana = very good essay

This noun-then-adjective order is normal in Swahili.

Swahili adjectives usually agree with the noun class of the noun they describe.

Insha belongs to the N-class (the same form in singular and plural), and the adjective stem is -zuri. With this noun class, the adjective becomes nzuri.

So:

• -zuri = good
• insha nzuri = good essay

You do not say insha zuri here, because the adjective must match the noun class.

Not always.

Mama can mean:

• mother / mom
• a respectful way to refer to an older woman
• sometimes part of a title or name

In this sentence, it will usually be understood as Mother / Mom, but context matters. If the wider story is about a family, Mama almost certainly means Mom. In another context, it could mean the woman or be used respectfully.

Because Swahili does not have articles like English a, an, and the.

So a noun like insha can mean:

• an essay
• the essay
• simply essay

The exact meaning depends on context.

That is why learners often need to stop expecting a separate word for the in every sentence.

Yes. The punctuation is normal and very similar to English-style punctuation:

• the reporting clause comes first: Mama alimwambia Rahma,
• then the spoken words follow

In writing, Swahili often uses commas, quotation marks, question marks, and full stops in much the same way English does. So this sentence is punctuated in a standard, natural way.