Kabla ya kuondoka, hakikisha kanyagio cha breki kinafanya kazi vizuri.

Kabla ya means before.

Kuondoka is the infinitive to leave / to depart. After kabla ya, Swahili often uses an infinitive this way, so kabla ya kuondoka literally means before leaving or before departing.

This is a very common pattern:

• kabla ya kula = before eating
• kabla ya kusafiri = before traveling
• kabla ya kuanza = before starting

Hakikisha means make sure or ensure.

It is the singular imperative form of the verb -hakikisha. In instructions, warnings, and manuals, Swahili often uses this kind of direct command, just like English does.

So:

• hakikisha = make sure (addressing one person)
• hakikisheni = make sure (addressing more than one person)

In practical writing, hakikisha is also often used in a general way, even when the instruction is meant for any reader.

Kanyagio cha breki literally means pedal of brake, which is the normal Swahili way to say brake pedal.

Swahili usually links nouns with a connector meaning of:

• kanyagio = pedal
• cha = of (agreeing with the noun class of kanyagio)
• breki = brake

So instead of stacking nouns the way English does in brake pedal, Swahili commonly uses this noun + connector + noun structure.

The connector changes depending on the noun class of the first noun.

Here, kanyagio belongs to a noun class that takes the agreement form ki-/vi-, so the connector is cha.

That is why you get:

• kanyagio cha breki = brake pedal

This agreement system is very important in Swahili. The of connector is not always the same:

• kitabu cha mwanafunzi = the student’s book
• mlango wa gari = the car door
• jina la mtoto = the child’s name

Kinafanya breaks down like this:

• ki- = subject marker agreeing with kanyagio
• -na- = present tense
• fanya = do / make

So literally it means something like it is doing.

But in this sentence, kinafanya kazi is a fixed expression meaning it works or it is functioning.

So:

• kanyagio cha breki kinafanya kazi = the brake pedal is working / functioning

Yes. Although fanya by itself means do or make, the expression fanya kazi often means work or function.

Depending on context, it can mean:

• to do work
• to have a job
• to function / operate properly

Here it clearly means to function:

• kanyagio cha breki kinafanya kazi vizuri = the brake pedal works well / is functioning properly

Vizuri means well, properly, or correctly.

It tells you that it is not enough for the brake pedal to merely work a little — it should work properly.

So:

• kinafanya kazi = it works
• kinafanya kazi vizuri = it works well / properly

Swahili does not use articles like a, an, and the the way English does.

So kanyagio cha breki can mean:

• a brake pedal
• the brake pedal

The exact meaning depends on context. In this sentence, English naturally translates it as the brake pedal, but Swahili does not need a separate word for that.

Breki is a loanword, ultimately from English brake.

This is very common in Swahili, especially for modern, technical, and mechanical vocabulary. Many everyday Swahili words are borrowed and then adapted to Swahili pronunciation and spelling.

So breki is a normal, standard word in modern Swahili.

Yes. Adding kwamba is possible.

• Without kwamba: hakikisha kanyagio cha breki kinafanya kazi vizuri
• With kwamba: hakikisha kwamba kanyagio cha breki kinafanya kazi vizuri

Both mean essentially the same thing:

• make sure the brake pedal is working properly

The version without kwamba is a little more direct and compact, which is very natural in instructions.

In this sentence, hakikisha is the singular imperative: make sure (to one person).

If you are speaking to more than one person, you would usually say:

• hakikisheni

So the plural version would be:

• Kabla ya kuondoka, hakikisheni kanyagio cha breki kinafanya kazi vizuri.

That means:

• Before leaving, make sure the brake pedal is working properly.

Yes — this sentence is a good example of Swahili agreement.

The noun kanyagio controls other words around it:

• cha in kanyagio cha breki
• ki- in kinafanya

So even if the noun itself is a little unfamiliar, the agreement helps show its noun class.

This is one of the biggest differences from English. In Swahili, nouns affect:

• connectors like wa / ya / cha / la
• subject markers like a- / u- / ki- / li-
• adjectives and other parts of the sentence

Learning to notice these agreement patterns will make Swahili much easier to understand.