Basic Swahili (Kenyan)

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”