Si kwamba sipendi peremende, bali nataka kula matunda kwanza.

Si kwamba is a very common Swahili way to say It’s not that... or It’s not because...

It introduces an idea that the speaker wants to reject or correct.

A useful pattern is:

Si kwamba X, bali Y.
= It’s not that X; rather, Y.

So this sentence is not just giving two facts. It is correcting a possible misunderstanding.

Not in the usual double negative sense.

Here is the structure:

• Si kwamba... = It’s not that...
• sipendi = I do not like

So the whole idea is:

• It’s not that I don’t like candy...

The first negative rejects the explanation.
The second negative belongs inside the explanation itself.

English does the same thing:

• It’s not that I don’t like candy...

sipendi means I do not like.

It breaks down like this:

• si- = negative subject marker for I
• pend- = verb root like/love
• -i = negative final vowel

So:

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

This is a very important Swahili pattern: in the present negative, many verbs end in -i instead of -a.

Both are used.

• ninataka = the full form
• nataka = a very common shortened form

So:

• ninataka kula = I want to eat
• nataka kula = I want to eat

The sentence uses the shorter form, which is extremely common in everyday Swahili.

bali means something like but rather or instead. It is especially natural when correcting or replacing a previous idea.

That makes it a very good match after Si kwamba...

So:

• Si kwamba sipendi peremende, bali...
• It’s not that I don’t like candy, but rather...

By contrast, lakini is a more general but.

So:

• bali = better for not X, but rather Y
• lakini = general contrast

After kutaka (to want), Swahili often uses the infinitive ku- + verb when the same person does both actions.

So:

• nataka kula = I want to eat
• literally: I want to eat

That is why you get kula here, not a fully conjugated verb.

A very useful pattern is:

• nataka kwenda = I want to go
• nataka kusoma = I want to study
• nataka kula = I want to eat

Yes. peremende is a loanword, and its form often stays the same in both singular and plural.

Depending on context, it can mean:

• a candy
• candy
• candies
• sweets

In this sentence, it is best understood as a general idea: candy / sweets.

Because the object is already stated right after the verb:

• sipendi peremende = I don’t like candy

In Swahili, if the object noun is present, an object marker is often unnecessary.

So this is normal and natural:

• sipendi peremende

If the object had already been mentioned, or if you wanted to refer back to it, an object marker could be used instead.

matunda is the plural of tunda.

• tunda = a fruit / one piece of fruit
• matunda = fruits / fruit

In many contexts, matunda works like English fruit as a general category, not only fruits as separate countable items.

So kula matunda often simply means to eat fruit.

kwanza means first.

Putting it at the end is very natural in Swahili:

• nataka kula matunda kwanza = I want to eat fruit first

The placement shows that first modifies the action as a whole.

You can move kwanza for emphasis in some contexts, but the version in the sentence is very normal and idiomatic.

Yes. You may hear:

• si kwamba
• sio kwamba
• siyo kwamba

All can mean roughly it’s not that...

Si kwamba is a very common compact form.
Sio kwamba / siyo kwamba is also very common in speech.

So if you hear any of these, don’t be surprised.

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

So nouns like peremende and matunda do not need extra words before them.

Their exact meaning depends on context:

• peremende can mean candy, a candy, or the candy
• matunda can mean fruit, some fruit, or the fruit

English requires articles much more often than Swahili does.

Yes — very much so.

It is a great pattern for polite clarification.

Examples:

• Si kwamba sina pesa, bali sitaki kununua sasa.
  It’s not that I don’t have money; rather, I don’t want to buy now.

• Si kwamba nimechoka, bali nahitaji mapumziko kidogo.
  It’s not that I’m tired; rather, I need a little rest.

So the sentence you were given is a very useful model, not just a one-off example.