Ama tutapika dengu na mchicha nyumbani, ama tutanunua chipsi na kachumbari sokoni.

It means either ... or ....

So:

• Ama tutapika dengu na mchicha nyumbani
• ama tutanunua chipsi na kachumbari sokoni

means Either we will cook lentils and spinach at home, or we will buy chips/fries and salad at the market.

In Swahili, repeating ama is a very natural way to show a choice between two alternatives.

It is repeated because the structure is specifically either ... or ....

• ama X, ama Y = either X, or Y

If you use ama only once, it can still mean or, but the repeated form makes the two options clearer and more balanced.

For example:

• Tutapika dengu na mchicha nyumbani ama tutanunua chipsi na kachumbari sokoni.
  = We will cook ... or we will buy ...

That is fine too. But ama ... ama ... sounds more like a deliberate choice between two possibilities.

Both verbs contain several pieces:

tutapika

• tu- = we
• -ta- = future tense marker
• -pika = cook

So tutapika = we will cook

tutanunua

• tu- = we
• -ta- = future tense marker
• -nunua = buy

So tutanunua = we will buy

This is very typical in Swahili: subject and tense are often built directly into the verb.

Because Swahili usually marks tense inside the verb itself, not with a separate helper word like English will.

Compare:

• English: we will cook
• Swahili: tu-ta-pika

So the idea of the future is already contained in -ta-.

Some common tense markers are:

• ni-na-pika = I am cooking / I cook
• ni-li-pika = I cooked
• ni-ta-pika = I will cook

Here na means and.

In this sentence it joins pairs of foods:

• dengu na mchicha = lentils and spinach
• chipsi na kachumbari = chips/fries and kachumbari

Swahili na can also mean with, depending on context. For example:

• Ninakula wali na maharagwe. = I am eating rice and beans.
• Ninaenda na rafiki yangu. = I am going with my friend.

So you learn the exact meaning from the sentence.

Swahili usually does not use articles like English a, an, or the.

So:

• dengu can mean lentils, some lentils, or the lentils, depending on context.
• mchicha can mean spinach or the spinach
• sokoni can mean at the market

Context usually makes the meaning clear.

This is normal in Swahili, so English speakers often need time to get used to not translating articles word-for-word.

The ending -ni is often a locative marker, showing place.

nyumbani

• from nyumba = house/home
• nyumbani = at home / in the house

sokoni

• from soko = market
• sokoni = at the market / in the market

So the -ni helps express location.

This is very common in Swahili:

• shule = school → shuleni = at school
• mji = town → mjini = in town
• kijiji = village → kijijini = in the village

In this sentence, dengu refers to lentils as a food item, so it works a bit like a mass noun.

Food words in Swahili are often used without worrying much about singular vs. plural in the way English does. The important thing is the substance or dish, not the countable unit.

So dengu here is best understood simply as lentils.

A learner does not need to force an English-style singular/plural distinction onto every food noun in Swahili.

Mchicha is a leafy green vegetable, often translated as spinach in learner materials, although it may refer to local greens that are not exactly the same as English spinach.

In many contexts, translating it as spinach is perfectly fine and practical.

So:

• dengu na mchicha = lentils and spinach/greens

Kachumbari is a fresh East African salad, often made with things like:

• tomatoes
• onions
• chili
• sometimes cucumber
• lemon or lime juice

It is common with dishes like chipsi or grilled meat.

Even if a translation gives just salad, it is useful to know that kachumbari refers to a very specific and common kind of fresh chopped salad in Swahili-speaking regions.

In East African Swahili, chipsi usually means fries or chips in the British sense, not American potato chips from a bag.

So:

• British English: chips
• American English: fries

A very common meal is chipsi na kachumbari.

Yes, au can also mean or.

However, there is a difference in feel:

• ama ... ama ... = either ... or ..., often clearer and more emphatic
• au = simple or

So you could say:

• Tutapika dengu na mchicha nyumbani au tutanunua chipsi na kachumbari sokoni.

That still means We will cook ... or we will buy ...

But the original sentence with ama repeated highlights the two alternatives more strongly.

No, it is quite straightforward.

The pattern is:

• Ama
  • verb
    • object(s)
      • place
• ama
  • verb
    • object(s)
      • place

More literally:

• Ama tutapika = either we will cook
• dengu na mchicha = lentils and spinach
• nyumbani = at home

Then:

• ama tutanunua = or we will buy
• chipsi na kachumbari = chips/fries and salad
• sokoni = at the market

This is a normal and natural Swahili sentence pattern.

A few helpful points:

• ch in Swahili sounds like English ch in chair
• vowels are usually pronounced clearly:
  • a as in father
  • e as in bed but often cleaner
  • i as in machine
  • o as in go but without much glide
  • u as in rule

So roughly:

• mchicha ≈ m-chee-cha
• chipsi ≈ chip-see
• kachumbari ≈ ka-choom-ba-ree

Swahili pronunciation is generally more regular than English spelling, which many learners find helpful.