Kisu hiki kina kutu kidogo kwa sababu kilikaa nje.

In normal Swahili word order, the noun usually comes first, and the demonstrative comes after it.

• kisu = knife
• hiki = this

So kisu hiki means this knife.

Also, hiki matches the noun class of kisu. Swahili nouns belong to classes, and words like this, that, adjectives, and verbs often have to agree with the noun’s class.

Hiki means this, but specifically for nouns in the same class as kisu.

Kisu belongs to the KI-/VI- class:

• singular: kisu = knife
• plural: visu = knives

Because kisu is singular in that class, the correct form of this is hiki.

You will see the same class agreement elsewhere in the sentence too:

• kisu hiki
• kisu kina...
• kisu kilikaa...

That repeated ki- is not a coincidence; it shows agreement with kisu.

Yes. Here kina means has.

Swahili does not usually use a separate verb meaning to have the way English does. Instead, it uses a structure based on -na.

So:

• ana = he/she has
• nina = I have
• kina = it has, for a noun like kisu

In this sentence:

• ki- = subject marker agreeing with kisu
• -na = have / with

So kisu hiki kina kutu literally works like this knife has rust.

Because in Swahili, the subject marker and the tense or verb element are normally written together as one word.

So:

• ki-
  • -na → kina
• ki-
  • -li-
    • -kaa → kilikaa

This is very normal in Swahili spelling. What looks like several pieces in grammar explanations is usually written as a single word in real sentences.

Kutu means rust.

Like rust in English, it is usually treated as a mass noun, not a countable item. English says:

• It has rust
• It has a little rust

Swahili works similarly:

• kina kutu
• kina kutu kidogo

There is no article system like a / an / the in Swahili, so you should not expect a separate word for a.

Here kidogo means a little or a small amount.

So:

• kutu kidogo = a little rust

This is a very common use of kidogo as a quantity expression. It is often easiest for learners to understand it here as a little, not just as the adjective small.

So the phrase does not mean the rust is physically small in shape; it means there is only a small amount of rust.

Kwa sababu means because.

It introduces the reason:

• kwa sababu = because
• kwa sababu kilikaa nje = because it stayed / was left outside

You can think of it as a set phrase. The noun sababu by itself means reason or cause, but kwa sababu is the common way to say because in a sentence like this.

Kilikaa can be broken into:

• ki- = subject marker agreeing with kisu
• -li- = past tense marker
• -kaa = stay, sit, remain

So kilikaa means it stayed, it remained, or in context it was outside for a while / it stayed outside.

This is a good example of how much information Swahili packs into one verb word.

Not necessarily. -kaa can mean several related things, including:

• sit
• stay
• remain
• be located for some time

In this sentence, it does not mean the knife literally sat like a person. It means the knife stayed or was left outside.

So a natural English interpretation is:

• because it stayed outside
• or because it was left outside

Because the idea of it is already built into the verb.

In English:

• it stayed

In Swahili:

• ki-li-kaa

The ki- already tells you the subject is something in the same class as kisu. So Swahili does not need a separate standalone word for it here.

Nje means outside.

It often works on its own, without an extra preposition:

• kukaa nje = to stay outside
• kuenda nje = to go outside

So kilikaa nje is simply it stayed outside.

English often uses more little function words than Swahili does, so this can feel unusual at first.

A different verb is possible, depending on the nuance.

For example:

• kilikaa nje = it stayed outside / it remained outside
• kiliachwa nje = it was left outside

The sentence you have is perfectly understandable and natural, but kiliachwa nje would make the idea of someone left it outside more explicit.

So the original sentence focuses on the result or state, while another version could focus more directly on the action of leaving it outside.