LESSON NOTES

Survival Phrases #4 Basic Swahili Greetings

CONTENTS
2 2 2 3 3 4 Swahili English Vocabulary Sample Sentences Grammar Cultural Insight

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SWAHILI
1.

Sabalkheri. Habari za mchana. Habari za jioni. Usiku mwema. Habari. Jambo. Sijambo.

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ENGLISH
1.

Good morning. Good afternoon. Good evening. Good night. Hi. Hi. Hi.

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VOCABULARY
SWAHILIPOD101.COM SURVIVAL PHRASES #4 - BASIC SWAHILI GREETINGS

Swahili Sabalheri Habari za mchana Habari za jioni Usiku mwema Habari

English Good morning Good afternoon. Good evening Good night Hello

Class phrase phrase phrase phrase phrase

SAMPLE SENTENCES
Sabalkheri. Umzima? Habari za mchana. Umeshindaje?

"Good morning. Are you ne?"

"Good aft ernoon. How have you been?"

Usiku mwema na ulale uzit o.

Habari za jioni. Unajambo?

"Good evening. Do you have news?"

Habari. Waambaje?

"Good night and sleep well."

"Hello. How are you doing?"

GRAMMAR
In this lesson, we'll cover basic greetings for the appropriate time of the day. As there are quite a few to cover, let's jump right in. We're going to start with the more formal ones rst. In Swahili, "Good morning" is sabalheri. The rst word, sabal, means "wish." heri which means "success" follows sabal. Literally, it means "wish you success." These two words come together and

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SURVIVAL PHRASES #4 - BASIC SWAHILI GREETINGS

become one word that means "Good morning": sabalheri. In Swahili, "Good afternoon" is habari za mchana. The rst word, habari, means "news." The second word za is a preposition meaning "of." And last we have mchana, which means "afternoon." In Swahili, "Good evening" is habari za jioni. The rst word habari, as we've already mentioned, means "news." The second word za is a preposition. The last word, jioni, means "evening" Upon leaving, you say usiku mwema. This is "Good night." The rst word, usiku , means "night." The second word, mwema, means "good." You can use all of these for formal situations or with strangers. You can say sabalheri, "Good morning," and usiku mwema, "Good night," with your friends, too. Let's take a look at two ways of greeting your friends now. The most common word is habari. habari is "Hello" in English. Use this only with people you are already on friendly terms with, or with young people in restaurants, bars, or cafs. Another way to say "Hi" in Swahili is jambo. The proper response to this is Sijambo.

CULTURAL INSIGHT
Quick T ip 1

If you want to be on the safe side when using greetings in Swahili, learn the word habari? (informal), or jambo? (formal), which translate to "How are you?" Put this after any of this lesson's informal greetings and you'll sound as natural as can be. Try habari, which is the nicest way to address to someone you already know. This

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SURVIVAL PHRASES #4 - BASIC SWAHILI GREETINGS

means "Hi, how are you?"

SWAHILIPOD101.COM

SURVIVAL PHRASES #4 - BASIC SWAHILI GREETINGS