Mwalimu anasema kutoogopa kuuliza swali ni muhimu.

Mwalimu means teacher. It does not tell you whether the teacher is male or female. In Swahili, many nouns for people are not marked for natural gender the way English uses he and she.

It also does not include a or the, because Swahili normally does not use articles. So mwalimu could mean the teacher or a teacher, depending on context.

Its plural is walimu = teachers.

Anasema can be broken down like this:

• a- = he/she
• -na- = present / ongoing tense
• -sema = say

So anasema means he/she says, he/she is saying, or sometimes he/she says that..., depending on context.

Because the subject marker a- is already inside the verb, Swahili does not need a separate word for he or she here.

Because Swahili usually puts the subject information inside the verb itself.

In anasema, the a- already tells you the subject is he/she (singular, class 1). Since the sentence already has mwalimu, that makes the subject clear.

So Swahili often works like this:

• Mwalimu anasema = The teacher says
• not something like Mwalimu yeye anasema unless you want special emphasis

Kutoogopa means not to be afraid or not being afraid.

It breaks down like this:

• ku- = infinitive marker, like English to
• -to- = negative element used in infinitive forms
• ogopa = fear / be afraid

So:

• kuogopa = to be afraid
• kutoogopa = not to be afraid

The double oo happens because -to- comes before a verb that already begins with o: to + ogopa.

Because kuuliza is also an infinitive.

It breaks down as:

• ku- = to
• uliza = ask

So kuuliza means to ask.

In this sentence, kutoogopa kuuliza swali means something like not being afraid to ask a question.

The first infinitive, kutoogopa, is followed by another infinitive, kuuliza, just like English can say to be afraid to ask.

Literally, kuuliza swali means to ask a question.

• kuuliza = to ask
• swali = question

This is a very normal combination in Swahili. You may also hear uliza used without swali when the idea of asking is already clear from context.

Swali is singular: question.
Maswali is plural: questions.

So the sentence is talking about asking a question in a general sense. English often does the same thing: asking a question is important.

Also remember that Swahili has no articles, so swali can mean a question or the question, depending on context.

Ni muhimu means is important.

• ni = the linking word is / are
• muhimu = important

So:

• swali ni muhimu = the question is important
• maswali ni muhimu = questions are important

Notice that ni does not change the way English is/are does. It stays ni.

In this sentence, the whole idea kutoogopa kuuliza swali is what ni muhimu refers to.

Yes. That whole phrase acts like a noun idea, similar to English not being afraid to ask a question.

So the structure is roughly:

• Mwalimu anasema = The teacher says
• kutoogopa kuuliza swali = not being afraid to ask a question
• ni muhimu = is important

So the sentence is essentially:

The teacher says [not being afraid to ask a question] is important.

This is a very common Swahili pattern: an infinitive phrase can behave like a noun.

Swahili often leaves out the equivalent of that when it is not necessary.

So:

• Mwalimu anasema kutoogopa kuuliza swali ni muhimu.

is fine.

You could also say:

• Mwalimu anasema kwamba kutoogopa kuuliza swali ni muhimu.

Here kwamba means that. Adding it can make the sentence feel a little more explicit, but it is not required.

In Swahili, vowels are usually pronounced clearly, and each vowel sound counts.

So:

• kutoogopa is pronounced roughly ku-to-o-go-pa
• kuuliza is pronounced roughly ku-u-li-za

Do not reduce them to one vowel the way English often does. Try to let both vowels be heard.

Also, Swahili stress usually falls near the end of the word, often on the second-to-last syllable:

• ku-to-o-GO-pa
• ku-u-LI-za