"Nilishapika"

Translation: I had already cooked

[piguy3]

So -kwisha- is also a way to render the past perfect?

[AGreatUserName]

With -li-, yes, although these grammatical structures with kwisha, -sha- etc. are still evolving.

[Frank529236]

I heard alisha pika? Totally off

[Felix906294]

Quite confusing, I thought it would be "Nimeshapika" or similar.

[DavidPMaho]

Why does this not mean "I have already cooked" (English present perfect)? Wouldn't the past perfect be introduced by "nilikuwa"?

[AGreatUserName]

I have already cooked = Nimeshapika.

Structures with kwisha and -sha- are still evolving and not all uses are yet regarded as standard, but using -lisha- or -likwisha is more akin to the past perfect "I had cooked". So for the past perfect, there are a few choices:

nilishapika
nilikwisha (ku)pika
nilikuwa nimepika

If you want to say "I had already cooked" there is:

nilikuwa nimeshapika