Learn how to talk about possessions
Now Playing: Lesson Audio
Get a breakdown of the dialogue and translations instantly with the Premium line-by-line Audio. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.
| INTRODUCTION |
| Louise: Hi everyone, and welcome back to SwahiliPod101.com. This is Absolute Beginner Season 1 Lesson 20 - How Many Swahili Books Do You Have? Louise here. |
| Medina: Jambo. I'm Medina. |
| Louise: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to express possession in Swahili. This conversation takes place in a school. |
| Medina: The conversation is between Juma and Musa. |
| Louise: The speakers are schoolmates, so they’ll be using informal Swahili. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
Lesson conversation |
|---|
| Juma: Musa, je, unaye paka? |
| Musa: Ndiyo, ninaye paka nyumbani. Na je wewe Juma, unaye mnyama yeyote wa nyumbani? |
| Juma: La, sina mnyama yeyote wa nyumbani lakini nina vitabu vyingi vinavyo zungumzia kuhusu wanyama wa nyumbani! |
| Musa: Hiyo ni ukweli? Hahaha. |
| Louise: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| Juma: Musa, je, unaye paka? |
| Musa: Ndiyo, ninaye paka nyumbani. Na je wewe Juma, unaye mnyama yeyote wa nyumbani? |
| Juma: La, sina mnyama yeyote wa nyumbani lakini nina vitabu vyingi vinavyo zungumzia kuhusu wanyama wa nyumbani! |
| Musa: Hiyo ni ukweli? Hahaha. |
| Louise: Listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| Juma: Musa, do you have a cat? |
| Musa: Yes. I have a cat at home. How about you Juma, do you have a pet? |
| Juma: No, I don't have a pet, but I have many books about pets! |
| Musa: Is that so? Hahaha. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Louise: Medina, what are the most popular pets in Kenya? |
| Medina: Well, I think the most common pets in Kenya are dogs, cats, and rabbits. |
| Louise: Rabbits, that’s interesting. |
| Medina: Yes. Some people raise them not only for the joy of having them, but because they’re also useful. When rabbits start reproducing, the baby rabbits can bring additional income to the family, so that’s one of the reasons people keep them. |
| Louise: I see. Do other pets also have a second purpose? |
| Medina: Yes. Dogs are a source of security, especially at night, and cats eat mice and other creatures that are harmful to humans. |
| Louise: Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Louise: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Medina: paka [natural native speed] |
| Louise: cat |
| Medina: paka[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: paka [natural native speed] |
| Louise: Next we have.. |
| Medina: je [natural native speed] |
| Louise: do you |
| Medina: je[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: je [natural native speed] |
| Louise: Next we have.. |
| Medina: ndiyo [natural native speed] |
| Louise: yes |
| Medina: ndiyo[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: ndiyo [natural native speed] |
| Louise: Next we have.. |
| Medina: mnyama [natural native speed] |
| Louise: animal |
| Medina: mnyama[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: mnyama [natural native speed] |
| Louise: Next we have.. |
| Medina: nyumbani [natural native speed] |
| Louise: home |
| Medina: nyumbani[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: nyumbani [natural native speed] |
| Louise: Next we have.. |
| Medina: sina [natural native speed] |
| Louise: I don't have |
| Medina: sina[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: sina [natural native speed] |
| Louise: Next we have.. |
| Medina: vitabu [natural native speed] |
| Louise: books |
| Medina: vitabu[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: vitabu [natural native speed] |
| Louise: Next we have.. |
| Medina: vingi [natural native speed] |
| Louise: many |
| Medina: vingi[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: vingi [natural native speed] |
| Louise: Next we have.. |
| Medina: kuhusu [natural native speed] |
| Louise: about |
| Medina: kuhusu[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: kuhusu [natural native speed] |
| Louise: Next we have.. |
| Medina: ukweli [natural native speed] |
| Louise: is that so |
| Medina: ukweli[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: ukweli [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Louise: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first phrase is.. |
| Medina: Mnyama wa nyumbani |
| Louise: meaning “pets,” or literally, “animals at home.” Medina, can you break this down? |
| Medina: Sure. Mnyama is a word meaning “animals,” wa means something like “at,” and nyumbani means “home,” |
| Louise: So all together it means “pets,” or literally, “animals at home.” |
| Medina: Yes, this word usually refers to having a paka, |
| Louise: “cat,” |
| Medina: or mbwa, |
| Louise: which means “dog.” Okay, what’s the next word? |
| Medina: Next we have..Vitabu vingi |
| Louise: meaning “many books.” |
| Medina: Vitabu is the word meaning “books” and vingi means “many.” Unlike in English, you need to put the word vingi after the noun that you want to describe. |
| Louise: So it literally means “books many.” Okay, now onto the grammar. |
Lesson focus |
| Louise: In this lesson you will learn how to talk about possessions in Swahili. |
| Medina: In previous lessons we learned different ways to use the verb ni, which means "to be." In this lesson we'll continue with the "to be" verb, but now in the form of -na. |
| Louise: This verb also indicates possession, so in English it’s better translated as the verb "to have" so it can be used to talk about the things you own. |
| Medina: And the word -na conjugates with pronouns to mean “I have,” “You have,” or “We have,” then becomes one word. |
| Louise: Let’s review them one by one. First, how do you say “I have”? |
| Medina: It’s Nina. [slowly] Nina. |
| Louise: And if it has an object word such as a car, you need to add the object noun to this word. |
| Medina: Right. The word gari means “a car”. So “I have a car” in Swahili becomes Ninagari. You can break it down into nina meaning “I have” and gari meaning “a car.” |
| Louise: But remember, when you write or read this word you need to put them together. What about “You have”? |
| Medina: Una [slowly] una. To mean “You have a car” you can say Unagari. [slowly] Unagari. |
| Louise: What about “He has” or “She has”? |
| Medina: You should say Ana for both. |
| Louise: So “He has a car” or “She has a car” will be..? |
| Medina: Anagari. Ana meaning “He or she has” and gari means “a car.” |
| Louise: Okay. And then what about, “They have” and “We have.” |
| Medina: “They have” in Swahili is Mna. And “We have” can be said as Tuna. |
| Louise: So what about asking a question about possessions? How would you say “Do you have a car?” in Swahili? |
| Medina: It’s very simple. Unagari was the word meaning “You have a car,” right? If you say it with a rising tone, it becomes “Do you have a car?” So it would be Unagari? |
| Louise: It’s easy to understand. So, how would you say “Yes, I have a car”? |
| Medina: ndio is the expression meaning “Yes” in Swahili, so you can simply say Ndio, ninagari. |
| Louise: “Yes, I have a car.” |
Outro |
| Louise: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Medina: Mpaka wakati mwingine, Kwaheri ya kuonana! |
Comments
Hide