Jana usiku, mtoto aliificha rimoti karibu na biskuti, ndiyo maana hatukuiona mara moja.

Aliificha can be broken down like this:

• a- = he/she
• -li- = past tense
• -i- = it (object marker)
• ficha = hide

So aliificha means he/she hid it.

In this sentence, it refers to rimoti.

That -i- is an object marker. Swahili often puts the object inside the verb.

So instead of saying only the child hid, Swahili says the child hid it with -i- built into the verb:

• ali-ficha = he/she hid
• alii-ficha = he/she hid it

Here, it refers to rimoti.

Rimoti is treated as a noun in the N-class (often called class 9/10), which includes many loanwords and many animal/object nouns.

For many singular nouns in this class, the object marker is -i-.

So:

• rimoti → object marker -i-
• aliificha = he/she hid it
• hatukuiona = we did not see it

This same -i- shows up twice in the sentence because both verbs refer back to rimoti.

Because Swahili usually does not mark grammatical gender the way English does.

• mtoto = child
• a- in aliificha = he/she

So the sentence does not specify whether the child is male or female. You only know it was one child.

Jana means yesterday, and usiku means night.

Together, jana usiku means last night or yesterday night.

This is a natural way in Swahili to set the time at the beginning of the sentence.

Swahili often puts time expressions near the beginning of a sentence, especially when setting the scene.

So:

• Jana usiku, ... = Last night, ...

This is very natural and works much like English topical phrases such as Yesterday evening, ... or Last night, ...

Yes, karibu na functions as a set expression meaning near, close to, or next to.

• karibu = near/close
• na = to/with, depending on context

Together here:

• karibu na biskuti = near the biscuits

Learners often meet karibu first as welcome or come near, but here it is being used as a location word.

Many Swahili nouns, especially some loanwords, do not visibly change form between singular and plural.

Biskuti can mean:

• a biscuit
• biscuits

The exact meaning comes from context. In this sentence, English naturally translates it as the biscuits or some biscuits.

So even though the form stays biskuti, the meaning can still be plural.

Ndiyo maana means that is why, that’s why, or for that reason.

It connects the first part of the sentence to the result:

• The child hid the remote near the biscuits
• That’s why we didn’t see it right away

It is a very common expression in Swahili.

You may also hear the more conversational form ndio maana, especially in speech and informal writing.

Hatukuiona can be broken down like this:

• ha- = negative
• tu- = we
• -ku- = past negative marker
• -i- = it
• ona = see

So hatukuiona means we did not see it.

Again, it refers to rimoti.

That is the normal way to form the negative past in Swahili.

Pattern:

• si/ha + subject marker + ku + verb

Examples:

• niliona = I saw

• sikuona = I did not see

• tuliona = we saw
• hatukuona = we did not see

If there is an object marker, it goes inside the verb:

• hatukuiona = we did not see it

This pattern is very important in Swahili grammar.

Because in the negative past, Swahili keeps the final -a.

Compare:

• anaona = he/she sees
• haoni = he/she does not see

But:

• aliona = he/she saw
• hakuona = he/she did not see

So in this sentence:

• hatukuiona = we did not see it

The -a is correct because this is negative past, not present negative.

Mara moja literally means one time, but very often it means:

• immediately
• at once
• right away

In this sentence, hatukuiona mara moja means we didn’t see it right away.

So it is describing how quickly they noticed the remote.

Sometimes Swahili can omit the object marker, but in sentences like this it is very common and natural to include it, especially when referring back to a specific thing already known in context.

So:

• mtoto aliificha rimoti = very natural
• hatukuiona = very natural

The object marker helps tie the verb clearly to rimoti.

Swahili and English organize information a little differently, but this sentence is actually quite straightforward for Swahili.

A rough structure is:

• Jana usiku = time
• mtoto aliificha rimoti = subject + verb + object
• karibu na biskuti = place
• ndiyo maana = logical connector
• hatukuiona mara moja = result

So Swahili is doing something like:

Last night, the child hid the remote near the biscuits; that’s why we didn’t see it right away.

The biggest difference for English speakers is usually that Swahili packs things like subject, tense, and object into the verb itself.