Learn how to ask where you can buy something
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Have you ever been in a city you didn’t know at all, desperately searching for something you couldn’t find? I certainly have! I wandered around without knowing where to find a bar, a phone, or even a restroom! But don’t worry—with our Survival Phrases, you’ll always be able to get the information or help in Kenya. |
| BODY |
| In this lesson, we’ll introduce you to a phrase that will help you track down whatever you need. |
| ・ |
| “Where can I find…?” in Swahili is |
| Naweza pata wapi …? |
| Let’s break it down: |
| (slow) Naweza pata wapi …? |
| And once more: |
| Naweza pata wapi…? |
| The first word, naweza, literally means “I can.” |
| (slow) na - we - za |
| naweza |
| The second word, pata, means “find” |
| pata |
| (slow) pata |
| pata |
| The last word, wapi, means “where” |
| wapi |
| (slow) wapi |
| wapi |
| When these three words are combined to make Naweza pata wapi..[thing/place]. the phrase implies “where can I find...?” |
| This sounds like |
| Naweza pata wapi …? |
| (slow) Naweza pata wapi …? |
| Naweza pata wapi …? |
| Then comes the thing you want to find. In our sample sentence, we will use soda which means “soda.” |
| This will then be |
| (slow) Na - we - za pa - ta wa - pi soda? |
| And once more: |
| Naweza pata wapi soda? |
| ・ |
| Let’s look for some things you might need when you’re traveling abroad. Imagine you’re walking around in Nairobi in the summer, and want something to drink. |
| “Excuse me, where can I find a cafe?” in Swahili is |
| Tafadhali, naweza pata wapi mgahawa? |
| Do you see the structure we just learned? |
| Tafadhali naweza pata wapi . . . ? |
| We only added mgahawa, which means “a cafe.” |
| mgahawa |
| (slow) mgahawa |
| mgahawa |
| What if you want a stronger drink? Now you need to find a bar, called baa in Swahili. You should ask: |
| Tafadhali, naweza pata wapi baa? |
| (slow) Ta - fa - dha - li, na - we - za pa - ta wa - pi |
| ba - a? |
| Tafadhali, naweza pata wapi baa? |
| It is easy to remember baa, since it’s borrowed from the English word “bar.” |
| baa |
| (slow) baa |
| baa |
| With this structure, you can find anything you’re looking for. |
| ・ |
| Opening the question with Tafadhali makes it pretty polite, but if you want to make it even more polite, use the word naomba after tafadhali. |
| Imagine you’re looking for a phone this time. |
| “Please, I pray, could you tell me where I can find a |
| phone?” |
| Tafadhali naomba unielezee kule ninako weza kupata simu. |
| Sounds more formal, right? |
| Let’s break it down: |
| (slow) Ta - fa - dha - li na - o - mba u - ni - e - le - ze - e ku - le ni - na - ko we - za ku - pa - ta si - mu? |
| Again at natural speed: |
| Tafadhali naomba unielezee ninakoweza kupata simu? |
| The first word is Tafadhali, “Excuse me” |
| Then we have naomba, “I pray”. |
| naomba |
| (slow) naomba |
| naomba |
| When these two words are used together, the sentence sounds more polite. |
| (Slow) Ta - fa - dha - li na - o - mba |
| Tafadhali naomba |
| The next word, unielezee, means “tell me.” |
| (slow) u - ni - e - le - ze - e |
| unielezee |
| The word ninakoweza means “where I can.” |
| (slow) ni - na - ko - we - za |
| ninakoweza |
| It is followed by the word kupata, which means |
| “to find.” |
| (slow) ku - pa - ta |
| kupata |
| And the last word, simu, is for “telephone.” |
| (slow) si - mu |
| simu |
| Let’s hear that whole question again: |
| Tafadhali naomba unielezee ninakoweza kupata simu? |
| (slow) Tafadhali naomba unielezee ninakoweza kupata simu? |
| Tafadhali naomba unielezee ninakoweza kupata simu? |
| ・ |
| To ask about any other item, we can just replace baa or simu with the thing we’re looking for, and the phrase works brilliantly! |
| Let's try it with “kiosk,” which in Swahili is kibanda. |
| (slow) ki - ba - nda |
| kibanda |
| “Please, I pray, could you tell me where I can find a |
| kiosk?” |
| Tafadhali, naomba unielezee ninakoweza kupata kibanda? |
| (slow) Tafadhali, naomba unielezee ninakoweza kupata kibanda? |
| Tafadhali, naomba unielezee ninakoweza kupata kibanda? |
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