Pesa tulizotumia kwa chakula cha jioni ni nyingi.

A useful breakdown is:

• Pesa = money
• tulizotumia = that we used / that we spent
• kwa = for / on
• chakula cha jioni = dinner, evening meal
• ni = is / are
• nyingi = much / many / a lot

So the structure is basically:

Money that we used for dinner is a lot

In natural English, that comes out as The money we spent on dinner is a lot or The money we used for dinner is a lot.

Tulizotumia can be divided like this:

• tu- = we
• -li- = past tense
• -zo- = relative marker agreeing with pesa
• -tumia = use

So tulizotumia means that we used or which we used.

This is a very common Swahili pattern: instead of using a separate word like that or which, Swahili often builds the relative meaning directly into the verb.

The -zo- is there because the verb is referring back to pesa.

In English, we say:

• the money that we used

In Swahili, the that/which idea is often shown by a relative marker inside the verb. Here, that marker is -zo-, which matches the noun class of pesa in this sentence.

So:

• pesa tulizotumia = the money that we used

Yes. The basic meaning of tumia is use, but when the thing being used is money, English usually translates it as spend.

So:

• kutumia pesa = to use money / to spend money

In this sentence, tulizotumia kwa chakula cha jioni is most naturally understood as we spent on dinner.

Here kwa means something like for or on, depending on how you translate it into natural English.

So:

• kwa chakula cha jioni = for dinner / on dinner

With money, English usually prefers on:

• the money we spent on dinner

But the Swahili kwa is completely normal here.

Literally, it means food of evening:

• chakula = food, meal
• cha = of
• jioni = evening

So chakula cha jioni means evening meal, which in natural English is dinner.

The cha connects the two nouns and agrees with chakula.

Ni nyingi means is a lot or is much/many, depending on context.

• ni = is/are
• nyingi = much/many/a lot, with agreement for the noun class of pesa

Even though English uses a lot with money, Swahili uses an agreeing adjective. So the idea is:

• the money ... is much / is a lot

That is why the sentence ends with ni nyingi.

It is nyingi because adjectives in Swahili must agree with the noun class of the noun they describe.

Here, pesa takes the agreement seen in:

• the relative marker -zo-
• the adjective form nyingi

So the form nyingi matches pesa correctly in this sentence.

Also, nyingi means many/much/a lot, while kubwa means big. So ni kubwa would mean is big, not is a lot.

Because Swahili often does not use a separate word like English that, which, or who in relative clauses.

Instead, the verb itself carries that meaning.

So:

• tulizotumia already includes the idea of that we used

This is why pesa tulizotumia is enough to mean the money that we used.

Because the verb already shows the subject.

In tulizotumia:

• tu- already means we

So adding sisi is usually unnecessary unless you want emphasis.

Compare:

• tulizotumia = that we used
• sisi tulizotumia = that we ourselves used / extra emphasis on we

Swahili often leaves out separate subject pronouns unless they are needed for contrast or emphasis.

Swahili does not have articles like a, an, and the.

So pesa can mean:

• money
• the money
• some money

The exact meaning comes from context.

In this sentence, English naturally uses the money because the speaker is talking about a specific amount of money that was spent on dinner.

Yes. This is a normal Swahili pattern:

• noun + relative clause + ni + adjective

So:

• Pesa = money
• tulizotumia kwa chakula cha jioni = that we used for dinner
• ni nyingi = is a lot

Swahili often puts the noun first and then follows it with a relative clause, just like English can do in the money that we used.