Pundamilia yule ana mistari mingi mwilini.

In Swahili, demonstratives usually come after the noun, not before it as in English.

So:

• pundamilia yule = that zebra
• literally, it is closer to zebra that

This noun-first pattern is very common in Swahili:

• mtoto huyu = this child
• kitabu kile = that book

Yule means that and refers to a specific singular animate noun.

In this sentence, it points to that zebra rather than just a zebra or the zebra in a general sense.

A useful comparison:

• huyu = this (animate singular)
• yule = that (animate singular)

In Swahili, animals usually take the same agreement pattern as people: the animate agreement pattern.

That is why you get:

• yule = animate singular that
• ana = animate singular has

Even though English would say it has, Swahili often treats animals grammatically like other animate beings.

Ana means he/she/it has for an animate singular subject.

It is part of the Swahili way of expressing possession:

• nina = I have
• una = you have
• ana = he/she/it has
• wana = they have

A helpful way to think of it is that Swahili expresses have with a form related to being with something.

Here it is singular.

The noun pundamilia itself often does not change form between singular and plural, so the agreement words tell you the number:

• yule = singular
• ana = singular

So this sentence is about one zebra.

If it were plural, you would expect something like:

• pundamilia wale wana... = those zebras have...

Mistari means stripes or lines.

Its singular form is mstari, meaning stripe or line.

So:

• mstari = one stripe/line
• mistari = stripes/lines

In this sentence, the zebra has many stripes, so the plural mistari is used.

In Swahili, adjectives must agree with the noun class of the noun they describe.

Since mistari is a plural noun of the m-/mi- type, many becomes mingi.

So:

• mistari mingi = many stripes

Compare with other noun classes:

• vitabu vingi = many books
• mawe mengi = many stones
• nyumba nyingi = many houses

So many changes form depending on the noun.

Mwilini comes from:

• mwili = body
• -ni = a locative ending, often meaning in, on, or at

So mwilini literally means something like in/on the body or on the body.

In this sentence, natural English uses on its body.

Because Swahili often uses the locative ending -ni instead of a separate preposition.

That ending can cover meanings such as:

• in
• on
• at

The exact English translation depends on context. With body, English naturally says on the body, so mwilini is understood that way here.

Yes. You can say:

• Pundamilia ana mistari mingi mwilini.

That would still be grammatical.

The difference is that yule makes the zebra more specific:

• pundamilia = a zebra / the zebra, depending on context
• pundamilia yule = that zebra

So yule helps point out a particular zebra.

Swahili does not have articles like English a and the.

Instead, definiteness is understood from context, or shown with words like yule.

So:

• pundamilia could mean a zebra or the zebra, depending on context
• pundamilia yule clearly means that zebra

The sentence follows a common Swahili pattern:

• Subject: Pundamilia yule
• Verb: ana
• Object/thing possessed: mistari mingi
• Location: mwilini

So the structure is roughly:

• That zebra
  • has
    • many stripes
      • on its body

Also notice that inside noun phrases, modifiers usually come after the noun:

• pundamilia yule = zebra that
• mistari mingi = stripes many