Sijui rimoti ilipo.

Sijui breaks down like this:

• si- = I do not
• jui = the negative present form of know from kujua

So:

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

Swahili usually does not need a separate word for I here, because si- already shows the subject.

In the present negative, Swahili verbs typically change the final vowel from -a to -i.

So:

• kujua → jua in the positive
• sijui in the negative

This is a very common pattern:

• anasoma = he/she is reading
• hasomi = he/she is not reading

So sijui follows normal negative verb behavior.

Yes. Rimoti is a borrowed word, from English remote, usually meaning remote control.

Swahili uses many loanwords, especially for modern objects. Even borrowed nouns still take Swahili agreement patterns. In this sentence, rimoti behaves like a class 9 noun, which is why the agreement in ilipo starts with i-.

Because ilipo has to agree with rimoti.

Rimoti is treated as a class 9 singular noun, and class 9 singular often takes i- agreement.

Compare:

• mtu alipo = where the person is
• kitabu kilipo = where the book is
• rimoti ilipo = where the remote is

So the first part of ilipo changes depending on the noun class of the thing being talked about.

In this sentence, ilipo means where it is or the place where it is.

A useful learner-friendly way to understand it is:

• i- = it, agreeing with rimoti
• -po = location / place

So rimoti ilipo means something like where the remote is.

Because Swahili often expresses where inside the verb, especially in an indirect question like this one.

Compare:

• Rimoti iko wapi? = Where is the remote?
• Sijui rimoti ilipo. = I don’t know where the remote is.

In the direct question, Swahili often uses wapi.
In an embedded or indirect question, Swahili very often uses a form like ilipo instead.

Yes. In everyday speech, Sijui rimoti iko wapi is very common and completely understandable.

But Sijui rimoti ilipo is a more compact, more classically Swahili way to say I don’t know where the remote is.

So:

• Sijui rimoti iko wapi = very common in speech
• Sijui rimoti ilipo = also correct, and often felt to be more grammatical or elegant

Not in the usual way learners first expect.

Even though -li- is often a past marker in other verbs, in forms like alipo, ilipo, walipo, learners should usually treat the whole form as a set locative/relative expression meaning where he/she/it/they is/are/was/were, depending on context.

So in this sentence, ilipo does not force a past meaning. It can still mean where it is.

Swahili often links ideas more directly than English does.

English says:

• I don’t know where the remote is

Swahili can simply say:

• Sijui rimoti ilipo

The whole part rimoti ilipo functions as the thing that is not known. Swahili does not need an extra word like that here.

Yes, but only if you want emphasis.

• Sijui rimoti ilipo. = I don’t know where the remote is.
• Mimi sijui rimoti ilipo. = I don’t know where the remote is.

Usually, mimi is unnecessary, because si- already tells you the subject is I.

Yes. You can say:

• Sijui mahali rimoti ilipo.

This more explicitly includes the idea of place. It still means the same thing: I don’t know where the remote is.

Without mahali, the sentence is still completely normal and natural.