Sijui vocha yangu ilipo, lakini nina uhakika niliiweka karibu na simu.

Sijui is the normal way to say I don’t know.

It comes from kujua = to know:

• najua = I know
• sijui = I do not know

In the present negative, Swahili does not usually say a separate word for not. Instead, the negative is built into the verb form, and the final -a changes to -i.

So sijui is a single complete verb form, not si + najua.

Because vocha is normally treated as a class 9 noun in Swahili, and class 9 singular nouns take the possessive form yangu for my.

So:

• vocha yangu = my voucher
• simu yangu = my phone

This noun class also helps explain other agreement in the sentence, like the i- you see in ilipo and niliiweka.

ilipo means where it is or the place where it is.

In this kind of sentence, Swahili often builds the idea of where into the verb form instead of using a separate standalone word exactly like English where.

A helpful learner-level way to think about it is:

• i- = agreement with vocha
• -po = location / at that place

So Sijui vocha yangu ilipo means I don’t know where my voucher is.

Many learners first memorize ilipo as a chunk meaning where it is.

Because iko wapi? is more like a direct question:

• Vocha yangu iko wapi? = Where is my voucher?

But after Sijui (I don’t know), Swahili often uses an embedded/indirect question form:

• Sijui vocha yangu ilipo. = I don’t know where my voucher is.

In everyday speech, you may also hear:

• Sijui vocha yangu iko wapi.

That is also common and natural in conversation. But ilipo is a neat, standard way to build the indirect where clause.

lakini means but or however.

It links the two parts of the sentence and shows contrast:

• Sijui vocha yangu ilipo = I don’t know where my voucher is
• lakini nina uhakika... = but I’m sure...

So it works very much like English but.

Because Swahili often expresses this idea as having certainty.

• nina = I have
• uhakika = certainty / assurance

So nina uhakika is literally I have certainty, but naturally it means:

• I am sure
• I’m certain

This is a very common Swahili pattern.

niliiweka breaks down like this:

• ni- = I
• -li- = past tense
• -i- = it (object marker agreeing with vocha)
• weka = put / place

So niliiweka means I put it or I placed it.

The double ii happens because:

• the past marker -li- ends in i
• the object marker -i- also begins with i

So they come together in writing:

• ni-li-i-weka → niliiweka

Yes, niliweka is possible, but it is less explicit.

• niliweka = I put / I placed
• niliiweka = I put it / I placed it

The -i- clearly refers back to vocha. English often uses a separate word it, but Swahili can build that object into the verb itself.

So in this sentence, niliiweka helps make it very clear that the speaker means the voucher.

karibu na means near or close to.

So:

• karibu na simu = near the phone / close to the phone

This is a fixed and very common pattern:

• karibu na mlango = near the door
• karibu na nyumba = near the house

Also, karibu can mean other things in other contexts, such as welcome or come in, so context matters. Here it clearly means near.

No. Swahili does not have articles like English a and the.

So simu can mean:

• a phone
• the phone

The exact meaning comes from context. In this sentence, near the phone is the most natural translation.

vocha is a loanword from English voucher, but in East African Swahili it often refers to things like:

• an airtime voucher
• a recharge card
• a coupon
• sometimes another kind of voucher or slip, depending on context

So the exact real-world meaning depends on the situation, but grammatically in this sentence it behaves like a normal Swahili noun.