Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
John: Hi everyone, and welcome back to SwahiliPod101.com. This is Beginner Season 1 Lesson 12 - Don't Act Up in Kenya! John Here.
Medina: Hamjambo, I'm Medina.
John: In this lesson, you’ll learn about imperatives. The conversation takes place at school.
Medina: It's between a teacher and Jane.
John: The speakers are a teacher and a student, so they will use formal Swahili. Okay, let's listen to the conversation.
DIALOGUE
Mwalimu: Jane usipige kelele darasani.
Jane: sijapiga kelele. Unaweza uliza Maria hapa.
Mwalimu: Usiniambie niulize mtu yeyote. Ninajionea mwenyewe.
Jane: Pole mwalimu. Usiniadhibu sitarudia tena.
Mwalimu: Na wewe uniahidi ya kwamba hautapiga kelele wala kufanya tabia mbaya tena.
Jane: Asante. Nipatie ruhusa niende msalani.
Mwalimu: Haya basi. Kimbia halafu urudi usome.
John: Listen to the conversation one time slowly.
Mwalimu: Jane usipige kelele darasani.
Jane: sijapiga kelele. Unaweza uliza Maria hapa.
Mwalimu: Usiniambie niulize mtu yeyote. Ninajionea mwenyewe.
Jane: Pole mwalimu. Usiniadhibu sitarudia tena.
Mwalimu: Na wewe uniahidi ya kwamba hautapiga kelele wala kufanya tabia mbaya tena.
Jane: Asante. Nipatie ruhusa niende msalani.
Mwalimu: Haya basi. Kimbia halafu urudi usome.
John: Listen to the conversation with the English translation
Teacher: Jane, do not make noise in class.
Jane: I have not made noise. You can ask Maria here.
Teacher: Do not tell me to ask anybody. I can see for myself.
Jane: I am sorry, teacher. Do not punish me, I will not do it again.
Teacher: You have to promise me you will not make noise or behave badly again.
Jane: Thank you. Please give me permission to go to the toilet.
Teacher: Okay then. Run and then come back to study.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
John: In general, people find it hard to ask others not to do something because in most cases that causes conflict.
Medina: Right, that’s true also in Kenya. Giving commands is a bit uncomfortable because it may cause hatred or enmity.
John: People rarely admit that they are wrong and are quick to defend themselves.
Medina: However, those that apologize quickly rarely get punished.
John: At least at school!
Medina: Right, here is a sentence a teacher may say, Usipige kelele, uniahidi.
John: Which means "Do not make noise, promise me." Okay, now onto the vocab.
VOCAB LIST
John: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is..
Medina: kelele [natural native speed]
John: noise
Medina: kelele[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Medina: kelele [natural native speed]
John: Next we have..
Medina: adhibu [natural native speed]
John: to punish
Medina: adhibu[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Medina: adhibu [natural native speed]
John: Next we have..
Medina: uliza [natural native speed]
John: to ask
Medina: uliza[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Medina: uliza [natural native speed]
John: Next we have..
Medina: rudia [natural native speed]
John: to repeat
Medina: rudia[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Medina: rudia [natural native speed]
John: Next we have..
Medina: ahidi [natural native speed]
John: to promise
Medina: ahidi[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Medina: ahidi [natural native speed]
John: Next we have..
Medina: patia [natural native speed]
John: to give
Medina: patia[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Medina: patia [natural native speed]
John: And last..
Medina: msalani [natural native speed]
John: bathroom, toilet
Medina: msalani[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Medina: msalani [natural native speed]
KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES
John: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first phrase is..
Medina: piga kelele
John: meaning "to make noise"
Medina: Piga kelele is a phrase that is made up of two words. Piga means "to beat" and kelele means "noise."
John: The literal meaning is “to beat noise.”
Medina: You use this phrase when referring to places or people who are noisy.
John: Can you give us an example using this phrase?
Medina: Sure. For example, you can say.. Watu wanapiga kelele sana kwa kuwa kuna ufisadi serikalini.
John: ..which means "People are making noise a lot since there is a lot of corruption in government." Okay, what's the next word?
Medina: adhibu
John: meaning "to punish"
Medina: This verb is usually accompanied by the prefix ku, as in kuadhibu.
John: Can you give us an example using this word?
Medina: For example, you can say.. Walimu huwaadhibu watoto ili wakuwe na tabia nzuri.
John: .. which means "Teachers punish children so as to instill good discipline in them." Okay, what's the next word?
Medina: pata ruhusa
John: meaning "to get permission."
Medina: pata "to get," is a verb and ruhusa meaning "permission," is a noun. The phrase is used to talk about getting permission to do something.
John: It is also used to talk about getting the go-ahead to act in a certain way.
Medina: Right. Here is an example – Nilipata ruhusa kazini kuhudhuria mazishi.
John: .. which means "I got permission from my workplace to attend the burial." Okay, now onto the lesson focus.

Lesson focus

John: In this lesson, you'll learn about imperatives. Imperatives are usually expressions used to make requests, give orders, or ask someone to perform a task. Positive imperatives are the ones that order someone to do something. Medina, how do you form them?
Medina: It’s simple. The singular form ends with -a, and the plural with -eni. For example, “Go!” in the singular is Enda! In the plural, it is Endeni!
John: What about “play!”
Medina: in the singular it is Cheza! and in the plural it is Chezeni!
John: Is there an example in the dialogue?
Medina: Yes, it’s in the sentence, Na wewe uniahidi ya kwamba hutapiga kelele wala kufanya tabia mbaya tena. The imperative is piga from hutapiga. Piga is in the singular and literally means “beat” but in this context it means “make”.
John: Now let’s look at the negative imperatives.
Medina: Negative imperatives usually directly or indirectly command someone not to do something. In Swahili you can form the negative imperative by adding the infix -si- in the verb.
John: The infix means “do not.” What about the singular and the plural difference?
Medina: You use the prefix u- for the singular and the prefix m- for the plural. The suffix will always be an e.
John: What are the negative imperatives for the verbs we saw before? How do you say “Do not go!” in Swahili?
Medina: In the singular that is usiende and in the plural that is msiende
John: And what about “Do not play!”
Medina: In the singular it’s usicheze and in the plural it’s msicheze. Keep in mind that, in negative imperatives, the e at the end does not change whether the imperative is in singular or plural form.
John: Ok, let’s wrap up this lesson with some sample sentences that show the usage of imperative forms.
Medina: Fanyeni haraka muende kanisani!
John: "Hurry up and go to church!"
Medina: Usisimame kama gari inaenda!
John: "Do not stand up when the vehicle is moving!"
Medina: Osha hiki kikombe!
John: "Clean this cup!"

Outro

John: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye!
Medina: Tuonane!

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