Learn how to use conditional markers
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| INTRODUCTION |
| John: Hi everyone, and welcome back to SwahiliPod101.com. This is Intermediate Season 1 Lesson 22 - Fixing a Problem in Kenya. John Here. |
| Medina: Hamjambo, I'm Medina. |
| John: In this lesson, you’ll learn about conditional markers. The conversation takes place at an office. |
| Medina: It's between Maria and Victor. |
| John: The speakers are co-workers; therefore, they will speak both formally and informally in Swahili. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Maria: Hujambo. Hii inahusu agizo tuliotuma kwa wateja wetu leo asubuhi. |
| Victor: Kuna shida lolote? |
| Maria: Tuligundua kuwa sanduku moja ya sweta ilibaki kwenye stoa. |
| Victor: Itabidi tufanye jambo sasa hivi. |
| Maria: Ndio. Je, ni vyema tuwapigie simu kuomba msamaha na upelekaji wa kuchelewa? |
| Victor: Ndivyo inavyopaswa. |
| Maria: Kama ungeliweza, ungewapigia simu kama meneja wa mauzo? |
| Victor: Sidhani inajalisha. Tafadhali wapigie simu uwajulishe kilichofanyika. |
| Maria: Asante. Nitakufahamisha punde. |
| John: Listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| Maria: Good afternoon. This concerns the order we sent to our customer this morning. |
| Victor: Is there a problem? |
| Maria: We discovered that one of the boxes of sweaters was left in the store. |
| Victor: We need to do something immediately. |
| Maria: Yes, would it be possible to contact them to apologize and request a late delivery? |
| Victor: That’s what we should do. |
| Maria: If you could, would you please call as the sales manager? |
| Victor: I don't think it matters. Please give them a call and let them know what happened. |
| Maria: Sure. Thanks. I'll call you soon with an update. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| John: I hope Maria can sort out the problem easily. |
| Medina: Yes, me too. There is a lot of competition in the Kenyan market, so companies try to have excellent customer service. |
| John: I’m sure it helps with the prices too. |
| Medina: It does! It often drives the prices down. Vendors have to be convincing to get people to buy. |
| John: How are they convincing? |
| Medina: They often shout out the prices, and then let the customers see the goods up close. |
| John: What kind of things makes a customer choose a product? |
| Medina: A good percentage of customers care mostly about the price and the quality of the product. |
| John: How about packaging and presentation? |
| Medina: Some people care about this, especially if they can’t bargain the price down. |
| John: It’s important to offer something good, and also have good customer service. |
| Medina: Yes, because bad customer service will prompt people not to return and to not recommend the company to their friends. |
| John: Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| John: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is... |
| Medina: piga [natural native speed] |
| John: to call |
| Medina: piga [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: piga [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Medina: sanduku [natural native speed] |
| John: suitcase |
| Medina: sanduku [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: sanduku [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Medina: bidi [natural native speed] |
| John: to require |
| Medina: bidi [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: bidi [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Medina: msamaha [natural native speed] |
| John: to pardon |
| Medina: msamaha [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: msamaha [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Medina: jalisha [natural native speed] |
| John: to matter |
| Medina: jalisha [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: jalisha [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Medina: meneja [natural native speed] |
| John: manager |
| Medina: meneja [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: meneja [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Medina: julisha [natural native speed] |
| John: to inform |
| Medina: julisha [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: julisha [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Medina: fahamisha [natural native speed] |
| John: to notify |
| Medina: fahamisha [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: fahamisha [natural native speed] |
| John: And lastly... |
| Medina: shida [natural native speed] |
| John: problem |
| Medina: shida [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Medina: shida [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: shida lolote |
| John: meaning "any problem" |
| Medina: The first word in this phrase is shida, which means “problem.” The second word is lolote. |
| John: This means “any.” In order, it means “problem any,” but we translate it as “any problem.” |
| Medina: It’s a very handy statement to use anytime and anywhere, especially when you sense someone is having a problem doing or finding something. |
| John: Can you give us an example using this phrase? |
| Medina: Sure. For example, you can say... Mwenye shida lolote aseme. |
| John: ...which means "Anyone with any problem, let them speak up." |
| John: Okay, what's the next word? |
| Medina: inavyopaswa |
| John: meaning "the way it should be" |
| John: Can you break this word down for us? |
| Medina: First is the pronoun i, then the present tense marker na; vyo is “the way,” and then there is -paswa. |
| John: This means “necessary.” |
| Medina: It’s a useful phrase when giving instructions or advice for situations where one is obliged to follow the rules. |
| John: Together it means “the way it should be.” |
| Medina: Ina, like any pronoun and tense marker, can be used in different situations and even conjugated to fit the context and match the noun classes. |
| John: Can you give us an example using this phrase? |
| Medina: Sure. For example, you can say... Fuata amri inavyopaswa. |
| John: ...which means "Follow instructions the way it should be." |
| John: Okay, what's the next phrase? |
| Medina: piga simu |
| John: meaning "to call" |
| Medina: Piga, in this context, means "operate" and simu is the equivalent of "phone.” |
| John: Together, this means "to operate a phone" or simply "to make a call." |
| Medina: This is a pretty common phrase. |
| John: It’s often used when people are requesting a phone call. |
| Medina: Piga can also mean "beat," "hit," or "strike." |
| John: Can you give us an example using this phrase? |
| Medina: Sure. For example, you can say... Piga simu uite polisi haraka. |
| John: ...which means "Call the police quickly." |
| John: Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| John: In this lesson, you'll learn about conditional markers. So, we’re going to learn about some conditional markers in particular. |
| Medina: We’re going to use the prefix -nge with verbs. |
| John: This expression shows the condition and the consequence. |
| Medina: For example, the condition is U-nge-soma... |
| John: “If you were to study,... ” |
| Medina: And the consequence is u-nge-pita mtihani. |
| John: “...you would pass the exam.” Let’s hear a couple of examples. |
| Medina: Je, ungeliweza, ungewapigia simu kama meneja wa mauzo?. |
| John: “If you could, would you please call as the sales manager?” |
| Medina: Angepika angekula. |
| John: “If he were to cook, he would eat.” Now, let’s look at another conditional marker. |
| Medina: You can use the conditional -ngali- to express regret and to imply that the condition can no longer be realized. |
| John: This marker also has two parts. The first is that the event is now impossible. |
| Medina: For example, Ungalijua... |
| John: “If you had known,…” The second part is that the consequence is too late to come true. |
| Medina: For example, haungemwambia. |
| John: “...you would not have told him.” |
| Medina: Together it is Ungalijua, haungemwambia. |
| John: “If you had known, you would not have told him.” Let’s hear another couple of examples. |
| Medina: Ningalicheza, ningalichoka sana. |
| John: “If I had played, I would have gotten tired.” |
| Medina: Ningalimwona daktari, ningepona upesi. |
| John: “If I had seen the doctor, I would have gotten better sooner.” |
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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