Dialogue

Want to Understand & Master the Swahili Dialogue 100%?

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.

Vocabulary (Review)

Learn New Words FAST with this Lesson’s Vocab Review List

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.

Lesson Notes

Unlock In-Depth Explanations & Exclusive Takeaways with Printable Lesson Notes

Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.

Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
In the last lesson, we learned how to get a table at a restaurant, but please know that because of the popularity of Swahili food, it can be difficult to get a seat, especially on the weekends. The best thing to do, without a doubt, is to make a reservation for the time you want to eat.
In this lesson, we'll cover making a reservation at a restaurant.
BODY
Normally, if you make a phone call to reserve a table for the evening, you would say “I would like to make a reservation for tonight”:
Ningelipenda kuhifadhi nafasi ya leo jioni.
Let’s break it down:
(slow) Ni -nge - li - pe - nda ku - hi - fa - dhi na - fa - si ya le - o ji - o - ni.
Once more:
Ningelipenda kuhifadhi nafasi ya leo jioni.
The first word, Ningelipenda, means “I would like”. Let’s break it down:
(slow) , Ni - nge - li - pe -nda
Ningelipenda.
Next is the word kuhifadhi, which means “to reserve” in English. So “to reserve” is kuhifadhi:
(slow) ku - hi - fa - dhi
kuhifadhi
The word that follows, nafasi, means “space.” Thus “to reserve” and “space” together will be :
(3 sec) kuhifadhi nafasi
(slowly) ku - hi - fa - dhi na - fa - si
once more; kuhifadhi nafasi
Next, ya is a preposition.
(Slow) ya
ya
The last two words, leo jioni, mean “tonight”. Literally, they mean “today evening”: leo means “today” and jioni means “evening.” Together, leo jioni means “tonight.”
(slow) le - o ji - o - ni
leo jioni
Normally, you’ll be asked how many people are in your party and what time you’d like a table.
“For how many people?”
Ya watu wangapi?
ya is the preposition “for”
watu is a word for “people”
wangapi means “how many”
Let’s break it down:
Ya wa - tu wa - nga - pi?
Once more:
Ya watu wangapi?
Now imagine you are a party of two. You’ll answer in Swahili, “For two people, please.”
Ya watu wawili tafadhali.
The word wawili means “two”
Note that -wili is an adjective modifying wa, which stands for the persons.
Together we have,
(slow)Ya wa - tu wa - wi - li ta - fa - dha - li.
Ya watu wawili tafadhali.
・
Finally, let’s see how they will ask you the time of your reservation.
Saa ngapi?
Let’s break it down:
(slow) Sa - a nga - pi?
Once more:
Saa ngapi?
This means “What time?”
Now let’s answer the question! Let’s imagine you want to reserve a table at eight o’clock: “At eight o’clock, please.” in Swahili is:
Saa mbili tafadhali.
Let’s break it down:
(slow) Sa - a mbi - li ta - fa - dha - li.
Once more:
Saa mbili tafadhali.
First we have saa, which means “time” or “clock”
(slow) sa - a
saa
Then we have mbili, which means “eight.”
(slow) mbi - li
mbili
We follow this with tafadhali, which you’ll remember is “please.”
(slow) ta - fa - dha - li
tafadhali
The whole phrase, once again:
Saa mbili tafadhali.
(slow) Sa - a mbi - li ta - fa - dha - li-.
Saa mbili tafadhali.

Comments

Hide