Learn to count larger numbers
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| INTRODUCTION |
| In this lesson we’re going to continue with counting as we cover numbers 11-100. |
| BODY |
| Let’s just quickly review 0-10. |
| 0 sufuri |
| 1 moja |
| 2 mbili |
| 3 tatu |
| 4 nne |
| 5 tano |
| 6 sita |
| 7 saba |
| 8 nane |
| 9 tisa |
| 10 kumi |
| ・ |
| In Swahili, counting from 11-20 is also quite straightforward, so let’s jump right in. |
| 11 kumi na moja |
| (slow) ku - mi na mo - ja |
| kumi na moja |
| 12 kumi na mbili |
| (slow) ku - mi na mbi - li |
| kumi na mbili |
| 13 kumi na tatu |
| (slow) ku - mi na ta - tu |
| kumi na tatu |
| 14 kumi na nne |
| (slow) ku - mi na n - ne |
| kumi na nne |
| 15 kumi na tano |
| (slow) ku - mi na ta - no |
| kumi na tano |
| 16 kumi na sita |
| (slow) ku - mi na si - ta |
| kumi na sita |
| 17 kumi na saba |
| (slow) ku - mi na sa - ba |
| kumi na saba |
| 18 kumi na nane |
| (slow) ku - mi na na - ne |
| kumi na nane |
| 19 kumi na tisa |
| (slow) ku - mi na ti - sa |
| kumi na tisa |
| 20 ishirini |
| (slow) i - shi - ri - ni |
| You probably noticed that to make numbers 11-19, you just put the word kumi, which means “ten,” before the number you want to say. The numbers 21-29 start with ishirini, which means “twenty.” For example, 21 is ishirini na moja. |
| Let’s make some sample sentences with these numbers. We can use them to talk about time. |
| “It’s eleven o’clock” in Swahili is |
| Ni saa kumi na moja. |
| Let’s break it down: |
| (slow) Ni sa - a ku - mi na mo - ja. |
| And again at natural speed: |
| Ni saa kumi na moja. |
| Ni means “it’s.” |
| Saa means “time” or “watch.” |
| (slow) sa -a |
| saa |
| And we just learned that kumi na moja is “eleven.” |
| Together, it’s |
| Ni saa kumi na moja. |
| “It’s eleven o’clock.” |
| Please note that Swahili time starts at 6 a.m., so this eleven o'clock will be actually be five in the afternoon. |
| ・ |
| We can use the same type of sentence to talk about any time, so let’s try some more. |
| Ni saa kumi na moja unusu. |
| “It’s half past eleven.” |
| (slow) Ni saa kumi na moja unusu. |
| Ni saa kumi na moja unusu. |
| We have already learned this sentence, the only difference is that the word unusu has been added. |
| Unusu means “half” when referring to time. |
| (slow) U - nu - su |
| Unusu |
| (slow) Ni saa kumi na moja unusu. |
| Ni saa kumi na moja unusu. |
| Again, please remember that Swahili time starts at 6 a.m., so 11:30 will actually be 5:30 in the afternoon. |
| . |
| ・ |
| Here’s another sentence: |
| “Thirteen is an unlucky number.” |
| Kumi na tatu ni nambari isiyo na bahati. |
| Let’s break it down: |
| (slow) Ku - mi na ta - tu ni na - mba - ri i - si - yo na ba - ha - ti. |
| again: |
| Kumi na tatu ni nambari isiyo na bahati. |
| kumi na tatu is “thirteen.” |
| We now know that ni means “its” |
| while nambari means “number.” |
| (slow) na - mba -ri |
| na - mba - ri |
| The next word, isiyo, means “does not have.” |
| (slow) i - si - yo |
| isiyo |
| na means “and.” |
| The last word, bahatı, means “luck.” |
| (slow) Ba - ha - ti |
| Bahati |
| Altogether, we have |
| Kumi na tatu ni nambari isiyo na bahati. |
| Let’s try a bigger number: |
| Kwa mwezi moja kuna masiku thelathini. |
| “In one month, there are thirty days.” |
| (slow) Kwa mwe - zi mo - ja ku - na ma - si - ku the - la - thi - ni. |
| Kwa mwezi moja kuna masiku thelathini. |
| The first word Kwa means “in” |
| It’s followed by mwezi which means “month.” |
| Moja as we have learned means “one” so mwezi moja means “one month.” |
| kwa mwezi moja therefore means “in one month.” |
| (slow) kwa mwezi moja |
| kwa mwezi moja |
| kuna literally means “be.” In this case it means “there are.” |
| (slow) ku - na |
| kuna |
| masiku means “days.” |
| Therefore, you can guess that masiku thelathini means “thirty days.” |
| (slow) ma - si - ku the - la - thi - ni |
| masiku thelathini |
| The whole sentence is- |
| Kwa mwezi moja kuna masiku thelathini. |
| So now that you’ve just learned “30”, let’s go through some other Swahili words for the rest of the tens: |
| 30 thelathini |
| (slow) thelathini |
| thelathini |
| 40 arobaini |
| (slow) a - ro - ba - i - ni |
| arobaini |
| 50 hamsini |
| (slow) ha - m- si - ni |
| hamsini |
| 60 sitini |
| (slow) si - ti - ni |
| sitini |
| 70 sabini |
| (slow) sa - bi - ni |
| sabini |
| 80 themanini |
| (slow) the - ma - ni - ni |
| themanini |
| 90 tisini |
| (slow) ti - si - ni |
| tisini |
| ・ |
| Let’s try making the Swahili word for “fifty–three.” “Fifty” is hamsini and “three” is tatu. Putting them together, we have hamsini na tatu or “fifty-three.” |
| Let’s break it down: |
| (slow) ha - m - si - ni na ta - tu |
| And once more: |
| hamsini na tatu. |
| Finally, we have mia moja, which is “one hundred.” |
| mia is a word for “hundred” |
| mia |
| (slow) mia |
| mia |
| and moja means “one” |
| moja |
| (slow) moja |
| moja |
| So for “hundred”, mia, to be “one hundred”, just add “one”, moja, to“hundred”, mia. |
| 100 mia moja |
| (slow) mi - a mo - ja |
| mia moja |
| You can use the same criteria for other numbers, for example “two hundred” mia mbili. Just add mbili “two” to mia “hundred” and it becomes mia mbili. |
| (slow) mia mbili. |
| mia mbili. |
| Let’s use mia moja to say “I have a hundred shillings in my pocket”: |
| Nina shilingi mia moja kwenye mfuko wangu. |
| Let’s break that down: |
| (slow) Ni - na shi - li - ngi mi - a mo - ja kwe - nye m - fu - ko wa - ngu. |
| And at natural speed: |
| Nina shilingi mia moja kwenye mfuko wangu. |
| nina means “I have.” |
| The next word, shilingi, means “shillings .” |
| We just learned that mia moja means “hundred.” |
| (slow) mi - a mo - ja |
| mia moja |
| kwenye means “in,” and mfuko means “pocket.” So kwenye mfuko wangu means “in my pocket.” |
| (slow) kwe - nye m - fu - ko wa - ngu |
| kwenye mfuko wangu |
| The last word wangu means”mine.” |
| The whole sentence, then, is |
| Nina shilingi mia moja kwenye mfuko wangu. |
| To count up from mia moja, we just need to add the units and the tens we have already learned. |
| 110 mia moja na kumi |
| (slow) mi - a mo - ja na ku - mi |
| mia moja na kumi |
| 198 mia moja tisini na nane |
| (slow) mia moja tisini na nane |
| mia moja tisini na nane |
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