Mama huweka samli kidogo kwenye chapati, lakini mimi sipendi vyakula vyenye mafuta mengi.

Huweka means usually puts, habitually puts, or tends to put.

The prefix hu- is used for a habitual action in Swahili. It shows that this is something that happens regularly or as a general habit.

So:

• Mama huweka samli... = Mother usually puts ghee...
• Mama anaweka samli... would more likely mean Mother is putting ghee or refer to a more specific action in progress or in a particular situation.

So huweka gives the sentence a general, repeated-action meaning.

Samli means ghee or clarified butter.

In everyday use, it refers to a type of cooking fat often used in East African cooking. In this sentence, it is the thing being put on the chapati.

In Swahili, words like kidogo often come after the noun they describe.

So:

• samli kidogo = a little ghee
• literally, something like ghee little

This is normal Swahili word order. English usually puts a little before the noun, but Swahili commonly places the modifier after it.

Kwenye is a very common locative word that can mean in, on, at, or sometimes to, depending on context.

Here:

• kwenye chapati = on the chapati

Even though kwenye has a range of meanings, the natural English translation here is on, because ghee is being spread onto the surface of the chapati.

Chapati is a loanword, and in Swahili it commonly stays chapati in both singular and plural contexts.

So context tells you whether it means:

• a chapati
• chapatis
• or even chapati in a more general sense

In this sentence, kwenye chapati most naturally means on the chapati or on chapati, depending on the context.

Lakini means but.

It connects the two parts of the sentence:

• Mama huweka samli kidogo kwenye chapati
• lakini mimi sipendi vyakula vyenye mafuta mengi

So it introduces a contrast:

• Mother usually puts a little ghee on chapati, but I do not like foods with a lot of fat.

Sipendi means I do not like.

It breaks down like this:

• si- = I do not / negative first-person subject
• -pend- = root meaning like / love
• -i = the negative final vowel used in many present-tense negative forms

Compare:

• ninapenda = I like
• sipendi = I do not like

So this is a very useful negative verb form to learn.

That is a great question, because Swahili verbs already include the subject.

• sipendi already tells you I do not like
• mimi is added for emphasis or contrast

So:

• lakini mimi sipendi... = but I don't like...

The mimi helps stress the contrast with Mama earlier in the sentence. It is a bit like saying:

• Mother does that, but as for me, I don't like...

If you removed mimi, the sentence would still be grammatical:

• Lakini sipendi vyakula vyenye mafuta mengi.

Vyakula means foods.

Its singular form is:

• chakula = food / a food
• vyakula = foods

This is a noun class pair in Swahili:

• singular class 7: ki-/ch-
• plural class 8: vi-/vy-

So chakula becomes vyakula in the plural.

Vyenye means that have, with, or having, and it agrees with vyakula.

The base idea is -enye, which expresses possession or having something. The beginning vy- matches the noun class of vyakula.

So:

• vyakula vyenye mafuta mengi = foods that have a lot of fat/oil
• more naturally: fatty foods or foods with a lot of fat

This kind of agreement is very important in Swahili. The form changes depending on the noun class of the noun being described.

Because mafuta belongs to the ma-/ya- noun class, and adjectives or quantifiers must agree with that class.

So:

• mafuta mengi = a lot of fat/oil
• not mafuta mingi

The word -ingi means many/much/a lot, but its form changes to match the noun:

• watu wengi = many people
• vitabu vingi = many books
• mafuta mengi = a lot of oil/fat

So mengi is the correct agreement form for mafuta.

It can mean either oil or fat, depending on context.

In this sentence, because the speaker says they do not like vyakula vyenye mafuta mengi, the natural meaning is:

• foods with a lot of fat
• or oily/fatty foods

So English might translate it as fat, oil, or even grease, depending on the tone and context.

No. The key difference is:

• samli kidogo = a little ghee
• mafuta mengi = a lot of fat/oil

The sentence contrasts a small amount with too much fat. So the idea is:

• Mother adds a little ghee to chapati,
• but the speaker does not like foods that are very oily or fatty.

So the sentence is completely natural.