Nilipojikata kidole, mama aliweka plasta na kuniambia nimeze kidonge baada ya chai.

It is made of several parts:

• ni- = I
• -li- = past tense
• -po- = when / at the time when
• -ji- = self
• -kata = cut

So nilipojikata literally means when I cut myself. In the full sentence, with kidole, it gives the idea when I cut my finger.

Because Swahili often treats injury to a body part as something done to oneself.

So kujikatakata kidole would be odd here, but kujikata kidole naturally means to cut oneself on the finger or simply to cut one’s finger.

The -ji- shows that the action affected the speaker’s own body. Without it, nilipokata kidole could sound less natural here, and could even suggest cutting a finger in a more general sense.

With body parts, Swahili often leaves out the possessive if it is already obvious whose body part it is.

So nilipojikata kidole is naturally understood as when I cut my finger.

You can say kidole changu, but that usually adds emphasis, contrast, or extra clarity. In everyday speech, leaving it out is very common.

Aliweka breaks down as:

• a- = he/she
• -li- = past tense
• weka = put, place, apply

So aliweka means he/she put or he/she applied.

Because the subject is mama, here it means mother put/applied.

Plasta is a loanword, from English plaster. In East African Swahili, it usually means a small adhesive bandage, like a Band-Aid, or sometimes a plaster used to cover a wound.

So aliweka plasta means she put on a plaster/bandage.

Here it means and.

It links two actions:

• mama aliweka plasta
• na kuniambia nimeze kidonge baada ya chai

So the sense is Mother put on a plaster and told me to take a pill after tea.

It does not mean with in this sentence.

Kuniambia breaks down as:

• ku- = infinitive marker
• -ni- = me
• ambia = tell, say to

So kuniambia literally means to tell me.

After na, this kind of infinitive can be used to link another action closely to the first one. In natural English, it is often best translated simply as and told me.

A more explicitly finite version could be na akaniambia or just akaniambia. So this sentence is using a linked-action style that is quite natural in context.

Because after kuniambia meaning to tell me, Swahili normally uses the subjunctive for what someone is told to do.

So:

• ni- = I
• -mez- = swallow
• -e = subjunctive ending

That makes nimeze mean that I should swallow or that I take.

By contrast:

• nimemeza = I have swallowed
• ninameza = I am swallowing / I swallow

Those would not fit after kuniambia in this sentence.

Because kumeza means to swallow, and that is the normal verb for taking a tablet or pill.

So kumeza kidonge = to swallow a pill.

This is different from English, which often says take a pill. Swahili usually uses a more literal verb here.

Also compare:

• kunywa dawa = to drink medicine for liquid medicine
• kumeza kidonge = to swallow a tablet/pill

Literally, it means after tea:

• baada ya = after
• chai = tea

In context, it goes with nimeze kidonge, so the meaning is that the pill should be taken after tea.

In East African usage, chai can sometimes refer not just to the drink itself but to tea time or a light meal/snack. So depending on context, it may carry the practical idea of after having tea / after eating.

Kidonge means tablet or pill.

It is more specific than dawa, which means medicine in a general sense.

So:

• dawa = medicine
• kidonge = a pill/tablet

That is why nimeze kidonge specifically means I should swallow a pill, not just I should take medicine in some vague way.