Greetings
Most greetings have a customary response, although “nzuri” (“good”) will work in most cases
Informal
Greeting Response
Sasa ______________________________Fiti
Mambo __________________________Poa / Safi
Niaje ______________________________Fiti / Nzuri
More formal
Greeting Response
Habari yako (to one person) _____________ Nzuri / salama/ njema
Habari zenu (plural) ___________________ Nzuri/ salama/ njema
Formal (presenter addressing a group)
Greeting Response
Hamjambo (plural) ______________________________Hatujambo
“For tourists” (although I’m sure I’ve heard Kenyans say this to each other)
Greeting Response
Jambo ______________________________Jambo (“Yes I am a tourist.”)
Jambo ______________________________sana/ jambo nyingi/ nzuri
For most all these responses, feel free to add “sana”, meaning “very.”
Other words
Nataka . . . ______________________________I want . . .
Sitaki . . . ______________________________I don’t want (a blunt refusal)
Maji (moto) ______________________________water (hot)
Chai ______________________________tea
Maziwa ______________________________ milk
Nyama ______________________________ meat
Mboga ______________________________vegetables
Tamu ______________________________tasty
Niko ______________________________sawa I’m okay (a polite refusal)
Ndiyo ______________________________Yes
Hapana ______________________________No
Asante (sana) ______________________________Thank you (very much)
Bwana ______________________________Polite address to a man
Mama ______________________________Polite address to a woman with children (“Bibi,” the direct equivalent to “Bwana,” is rarely used in Kenya except to mean one’s own wife.)
Kwaheri ______________________________ Goodbye
Tutaonana ______________________________See you later
Safari njema ______________________________ Nice journey
Pronunciation
Each of the vowels is always pronounced in the same way:
A is like the a in “safari”.
E is like the a in the English word “day”.
I is like the i in “safari”
O is like the o in the English “go”
U is like the u in the English word “flu”
