Mshumaa utazimika kama upepo utavuma kwa kasi.

Yes:

• Mshumaa = candle
• u-ta-zimika = u- subject marker + -ta- future marker + -zimika go out / be extinguished
• kama = if
• upepo = wind
• u-ta-vuma = u- subject marker + -ta- future marker + -vuma blow
• kwa kasi = fast, quickly, at speed; here it means something like hard or strongly

So the structure is basically:

candle + will-go-out + if + wind + will-blow + strongly

Because Swahili verbs normally include a subject marker that agrees with the subject noun.

So:

• mshumaa utazimika = the candle will go out
• upepo utavuma = the wind will blow

That u- does not mean he or she here. It is just the agreement marker required by those nouns.

This is very normal in Swahili: even when the noun is explicitly stated, the verb still carries agreement.

Not necessarily. They can take the same subject marker here without being the exact same noun class.

• mshumaa is a class 3 singular noun; its plural is mishumaa
• upepo is usually treated as a class 11 noun

Both happen to use u- as the singular subject marker, so you get:

• mshumaa u-ta-zimika
• upepo u-ta-vuma

This is one reason noun classes can feel tricky at first: different classes sometimes share the same agreement form in certain places.

-ta- is the future tense marker.

So:

• utazimika = will go out
• utavuma = will blow

A very useful beginner pattern is:

subject marker + ta + verb stem

For example:

• ni-ta-enda = I will go
• a-ta-kuja = he/she will come
• u-ta-vuma = it will blow

Because -zimika and -zima are not exactly the same.

• -zima often means put out / switch off something
• -zimika means go out / be extinguished

So in this sentence, the candle is not actively switching something else off. The idea is that the candle itself goes out because of the wind.

That is why utazimika is a good choice here.

Here, kama means if and introduces a condition:

• Mshumaa utazimika kama upepo utavuma kwa kasi.
• The candle will go out if the wind blows hard.

A learner may also see kama meaning like/as, but in this sentence it clearly means if because it introduces a conditional clause.

Yes. You can also say:

Kama upepo utavuma kwa kasi, mshumaa utazimika.

That means the same thing.

So both orders are possible:

• Mshumaa utazimika kama upepo utavuma kwa kasi.
• Kama upepo utavuma kwa kasi, mshumaa utazimika.

The second version may feel a bit closer to English If the wind blows hard, the candle will go out.

Literally, kwa kasi means with speed.

In many contexts, it means:

• quickly
• fast

But with wind, English often prefers hard or strongly, so a natural translation is:

• if the wind blows hard
• if the wind blows strongly

So kwa kasi should not always be translated word-for-word in the same way; the best English wording depends on context.

Because Swahili does not normally use articles like English a/an/the.

So:

• mshumaa can mean a candle or the candle
• upepo can mean wind or the wind

The exact meaning depends on context.

That is very common in Swahili, so English speakers often need to get used to reading nouns without articles.

The plural of mshumaa is mishumaa.

So:

• mshumaa = candle
• mishumaa = candles

If you made the subject plural, the verb agreement would change too:

Mishumaa itazimika kama upepo utavuma kwa kasi.

Here i- is the plural subject marker for mishumaa.

So the sentence would mean:

The candles will go out if the wind blows hard.