Tuliona pundamilia wengi wakikimbia pamoja kwenye mbuga.

Tuliona = tu-li-ona

• tu- = we
• -li- = past tense
• -ona = see

So Tuliona means we saw.

A useful thing to notice is that Swahili often packs the subject and the tense into the verb itself, instead of using separate words the way English does.

In this sentence, it is understood as plural: zebras.

The form pundamilia is one of those nouns that often looks the same in both singular and plural. So context tells you which one is meant. Here, the plural meaning is shown by words around it:

• wengi = many
• wakikimbia = they running / while they were running

So pundamilia wengi = many zebras.

This is a very common question.

Even though pundamilia belongs to a noun class whose singular and plural often look the same, nouns referring to living beings, especially animals, very often take animate agreement.

So:

• wengi = many for animate plural
• nyingi = many for many non-human/non-animate class 10 nouns

Because zebras are animals, wengi sounds natural here.

The same idea appears in wa- in wakikimbia: the sentence is treating the zebras as animate plural.

Because Swahili usually puts adjectives and similar modifiers after the noun.

So:

• pundamilia wengi = literally zebras many
• natural English = many zebras

This noun-first order is very normal in Swahili.

wakikimbia = wa-ki-kimbia

• wa- = they (animate plural)
• -ki- = a marker often meaning while, as, or in the process of
• kimbia = run

So wakikimbia means something like:

• while they were running
• as they were running
• or simply running, depending on how you translate it into English

In this sentence, it describes what the zebras were doing when we saw them.

Because wakikimbia fits the meaning we saw zebras running.

• wakikimbia describes an action happening at the same time as the seeing
• walikimbia would be a main past-tense statement: they ran / they were running

So the sentence is not giving two separate main events. It is saying:

• We saw many zebras
• and they were in the act of running

That is why the -ki- form works well here.

The zebras are.

The prefix wa- in wakikimbia shows a plural animate subject, and in this sentence that refers back to pundamilia wengi.

So the meaning is:

• We saw many zebras [who were] running...

It does not mean that we were the ones running.

Yes, tuliwaona is possible in some contexts.

Breakdown:

• tu-li-wa-ona
• tu- = we
• -li- = past
• -wa- = them (animate plural object marker)
• -ona = see

So tuliwaona means we saw them.

Why is there no -wa- in the original sentence? Because when the object is stated explicitly right after the verb, Swahili often leaves the object marker out:

• Tuliona pundamilia wengi... = completely normal

Using tuliwaona pundamilia wengi... can sound more specific or more like those zebras / them, depending on context.

Pamoja means together.

Here it tells you how the zebras were running: they were running together, as a group.

So:

• wakikimbia pamoja = running together

It does not mean together with us. If you wanted that idea, Swahili would normally say something more explicit, such as pamoja nasi.

kwenye mbuga means in the park, at the park, or sometimes on the park area, depending on context. In this sentence, in the park is the natural English choice.

Yes, you could also hear:

• katika mbuga = in the park
• mbugani = at/in the park

All three are possible. Very roughly:

• kwenye is extremely common in everyday Swahili
• katika often feels a bit more explicitly in/inside
• mbugani uses the locative ending -ni

So the original wording is perfectly natural, but it is not the only possible way to express that location.

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

So a noun like mbuga can mean:

• a park
• the park
• just park

The exact English choice depends on context.

The same is true for pundamilia: Swahili does not need a separate word for the zebras or some zebras unless the speaker wants to add extra information in some other way.