Watoto wanasaidia kulisha kuku kila asubuhi.

Here is a word-by-word breakdown:

• Watoto = children
• wanasaidia = they are helping / they help
• kulisha = to feed
• kuku = chicken / chickens
• kila = every
• asubuhi = morning

So the sentence is built very literally as:

Children they-help to-feed chickens every morning.

Wa- is the subject prefix for they when the subject is people in the plural noun class used for humans.

Since watoto means children, the verb must agree with it:

• mtoto anasaidia = the child is helping
• watoto wanasaidia = the children are helping

So wa- tells you that the subject is they.

In wanasaidia, the -na- is the marker often used for the present tense.

So:

• wa- = they
• -na- = present
• -saidia = help

Together, wanasaidia means they are helping or they help.

In this sentence, because of kila asubuhi (every morning), it sounds more like a habitual action in English: they help every morning.

This is a very common learner question.

• kula = to eat
• kulisha = to feed

The ending -lisha is a causative form. It gives the idea of causing someone or something to eat.

So:

• kula = eat
• kulisha = feed, make eat

That is why kulisha kuku means to feed the chickens, not to eat the chickens.

Ku- is the usual infinitive marker in Swahili. It is like to in English infinitives.

Examples:

• kusaidia = to help
• kulisha = to feed
• kusoma = to read / study

So in this sentence, kulisha is the infinitive to feed.

Because the sentence means help to feed.

In Swahili, one common way to express this is:

[main verb] + [infinitive]

So:

• wanasaidia = they help / are helping
• kulisha = to feed

Together:

wanasaidia kulisha kuku = they help feed the chickens or they help to feed the chickens

Swahili does not need a separate word exactly like English to between help and feed here; the infinitive ku- already does that job.

It can mean chicken or chickens depending on context.

The word kuku is often the same in singular and plural. So context tells you the number.

In this sentence, English will often translate it as chickens, because feeding chickens every morning sounds more natural than feeding just one chicken. But grammatically, kuku itself does not change form here.

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

So:

• watoto can mean children or the children
• kuku can mean chicken, a chicken, the chicken, or chickens

The exact meaning comes from context.

That is why Watoto wanasaidia kulisha kuku is natural without any separate word for the.

Kila asubuhi means every morning, and it acts as a time expression.

In Swahili, time expressions often come at the end of the sentence:

• Watoto wanasaidia kulisha kuku kila asubuhi.

This is very natural. Swahili word order is somewhat flexible, but putting the time phrase at the end is common and easy to understand.

The singular is mtoto = child.

This is part of the Swahili noun class system:

• mtoto = child
• watoto = children

You can see the matching verb agreement too:

• Mtoto anasaidia = The child is helping
• Watoto wanasaidia = The children are helping

So the change from m- to wa- is an important pattern for people nouns.

Both can be correct, depending on context.

By itself, wanasaidia can mean:

• they are helping
• they help

But in this sentence, the phrase kila asubuhi (every morning) strongly suggests a repeated or habitual action. So in natural English, help is often the best choice:

The children help feed the chickens every morning.

Still, are helping is not grammatically impossible if the context supports it.