Mama anapenda kulea kuku nyuma ya nyumba.

In Swahili, the verb usually shows agreement with the subject.

• Mama belongs to the m-wa / animate noun class, the same class used for people.
• For this class, the subject prefix for he/she in the present tense is a-.

So:

• a- = he/she
• -na- = present tense
• penda = love / like

So anapenda literally breaks down as she-is-liking / she-likes.

Anapenda can mean likes, loves, or is fond of, depending on context.

In this sentence, anapenda kulea kuku is most naturally understood as:

• She likes raising chickens
• or Mother likes to raise chickens

Swahili -penda covers a range that can include both like and love.

The ku- at the beginning of kulea marks the infinitive, like English to in to raise.

So:

• lea = raise, bring up, care for
• kulea = to raise, to rear, to bring up

After anapenda, Swahili often uses an infinitive:

• anapenda kulea kuku = she likes to raise chickens

No. Kulea is broader than that.

It can mean:

• to raise children
• to bring up
• to care for
• to rear animals

So in different contexts:

• kulea watoto = to raise children
• kulea kuku = to raise chickens

The basic idea is caring for and bringing up something living.

Kuku is one of those Swahili nouns whose singular and plural forms are often the same.

So kuku can mean:

• a chicken
• chickens

The context tells you which one is meant.

Here, because raising chickens is a common idea, kuku is naturally understood as chickens.

Literally, it means:

• nyuma = back / behind
• ya = of / belonging to / linking word
• nyumba = house

So nyuma ya nyumba is literally the back of the house, and in natural English it means behind the house.

This is a very common Swahili structure:

• mbele ya nyumba = in front of the house
• ndani ya nyumba = inside the house
• juu ya meza = on top of the table

Ya is the agreement form of the connective often translated as of.

In expressions like this, Swahili often builds location phrases with:

place word + connective + noun

So:

• nyuma ya nyumba = behind the house
• literally, back of the house

The form ya agrees with nyuma as part of this fixed-type location expression.

Swahili does not usually have separate words for a, an, or the like English does.

So:

• mama can mean mother, the mother, or mom
• nyumba can mean house or the house
• kuku can mean a chicken or chickens

The exact meaning depends on context.

That is why nyumba in this sentence is understood as the house, even though there is no separate word for the.

This follows a very normal Swahili pattern:

Subject + verb + infinitive/complement + object + place

Breaking it down:

• Mama = subject
• anapenda = main verb
• kulea = infinitive complement
• kuku = object of kulea
• nyuma ya nyumba = location

So the structure is very close to English:

• Mother likes to raise chickens behind the house

Yes, but it means something slightly different.

• Mama anapenda kulea kuku nyuma ya nyumba = Mother likes to raise chickens behind the house
• Mama analea kuku nyuma ya nyumba = Mother is raising / raises chickens behind the house

So:

• anapenda kulea focuses on liking
• analea focuses on the action itself

It can mean both, depending on context and tone.

Mama can be:

• mother
• mom
• sometimes even a respectful way to refer to an adult woman

In this sentence, it most likely means Mother/Mom.

A simple pronunciation guide:

• nyuma ≈ nyoo-mah, but with ny said together like the ny in canyon
• kuku ≈ koo-koo
• nyumba ≈ nyoom-bah
• anapenda ≈ ah-nah-PEN-dah
• kulea ≈ koo-LEH-ah

A helpful rule: Swahili pronunciation is usually quite regular, and vowels are pronounced clearly.

In Swahili, the infinitive is built directly into the verb form with ku-.

So English uses two words:

• to raise

But Swahili uses one infinitive form:

• kulea

That means ku- already carries the idea of to here. So anapenda kulea naturally means likes to raise.