Learn what to say when reserving a table at a restaurant
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| 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. |
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