Dialogue

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Vocabulary (Review)

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Lesson Notes

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
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 first.
BODY
In Swahili, “Good morning” is
sabalheri.
Let’s break it down:
(slow) sa - bal - heri
Once more:
sabalheri.
The first word, sabal, means “wish”
(slow) sabal
sabal
heri which means “success” follows sabal. Here it is again:
(slow) heri
heri
Literally it means “wish you success”. These two words come together and become one word that means “Good morning”: sabalheri
Let’s break it down again:
(slow) sa bal heri
sabalheri.
・
In Swahili, "Good afternoon" is
habari za mchana.
Let’s break it down:
(slow) ha - ba - ri za m - cha - na.
Once more:
habari za mchana.
The first word, habari, means “news.”
(slow) habari
habari
The second word za is a preposition meaning “of”.
(slow) za
za
And last we have mchana, which means “afternoon”.
(slow) mchana
mchana
All together, that’s
(slow) habari za mchana.
habari za mchana.
・
In Swahili, “Good evening” is
habari za jioni.
Let’s break it down:
(slow) habari - za - jioni.
Once more:
habari za jioni.
The first word habari, as we’ve already mentioned, means “news.”
(slow) habari
habari
The second word za is a preposition.
(slow) za
za
The last word, jioni, means “evening”
(slow) ji-o-ni
jioni
All together, that’s
(slow) ha-ba-ri za ji-o-ni.
habari za jioni.
・
Upon leaving, you say usiku mwema. This is “Good night.”
usiku mwema.
Let’s break it down:
(slow) u-si-ku mwe-ma.
Once more:
usiku mwema.
The first word, usiku, means “night.”
(slow) usiku
usiku
The second word, mwema, means “good.”
(slow) mwema
mwema
Once again, that’s:
(slow) usiku mwema.
usiku mwema
・
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.
(slow) ha-ba-ri.
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 cafes.
Another way to say “Hi” in Swahili is
jambo.
(slow) jambo.
jambo.
The proper response to this is “Sijambo”
(slow) sijambo
sijambo

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