Dialogue

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
In this lesson we’re going to continue with counting as we cover numbers 11-100.
BODY
Let’s just quickly review 0-10.
0 sufuri
1 moja
2 mbili
3 tatu
4 nne
5 tano
6 sita
7 saba
8 nane
9 tisa
10 kumi
・
In Swahili, counting from 11-20 is also quite straightforward, so let’s jump right in.
11 kumi na moja
(slow) ku - mi na mo - ja
kumi na moja
12 kumi na mbili
(slow) ku - mi na mbi - li
kumi na mbili
13 kumi na tatu
(slow) ku - mi na ta - tu
kumi na tatu
14 kumi na nne
(slow) ku - mi na n - ne
kumi na nne
15 kumi na tano
(slow) ku - mi na ta - no
kumi na tano
16 kumi na sita
(slow) ku - mi na si - ta
kumi na sita
17 kumi na saba
(slow) ku - mi na sa - ba
kumi na saba
18 kumi na nane
(slow) ku - mi na na - ne
kumi na nane
19 kumi na tisa
(slow) ku - mi na ti - sa
kumi na tisa
20 ishirini
(slow) i - shi - ri - ni
You probably noticed that to make numbers 11-19, you just put the word kumi, which means “ten,” before the number you want to say. The numbers 21-29 start with ishirini, which means “twenty.” For example, 21 is ishirini na moja.
Let’s make some sample sentences with these numbers. We can use them to talk about time.
“It’s eleven o’clock” in Swahili is
Ni saa kumi na moja.
Let’s break it down:
(slow) Ni sa - a ku - mi na mo - ja.
And again at natural speed:
Ni saa kumi na moja.
Ni means “it’s.”
Saa means “time” or “watch.”
(slow) sa -a
saa
And we just learned that kumi na moja is “eleven.”
Together, it’s
Ni saa kumi na moja.
“It’s eleven o’clock.”
Please note that Swahili time starts at 6 a.m., so this eleven o'clock will be actually be five in the afternoon.
・
We can use the same type of sentence to talk about any time, so let’s try some more.
Ni saa kumi na moja unusu.
“It’s half past eleven.”
(slow) Ni saa kumi na moja unusu.
Ni saa kumi na moja unusu.
We have already learned this sentence, the only difference is that the word unusu has been added.
Unusu means “half” when referring to time.
(slow) U - nu - su
Unusu
(slow) Ni saa kumi na moja unusu.
Ni saa kumi na moja unusu.
Again, please remember that Swahili time starts at 6 a.m., so 11:30 will actually be 5:30 in the afternoon.
.
・
Here’s another sentence:
“Thirteen is an unlucky number.”
Kumi na tatu ni nambari isiyo na bahati.
Let’s break it down:
(slow) Ku - mi na ta - tu ni na - mba - ri i - si - yo na ba - ha - ti.
again:
Kumi na tatu ni nambari isiyo na bahati.
kumi na tatu is “thirteen.”
We now know that ni means “its”
while nambari means “number.”
(slow) na - mba -ri
na - mba - ri
The next word, isiyo, means “does not have.”
(slow) i - si - yo
isiyo
na means “and.”
The last word, bahatı, means “luck.”
(slow) Ba - ha - ti
Bahati
Altogether, we have
Kumi na tatu ni nambari isiyo na bahati.
Let’s try a bigger number:
Kwa mwezi moja kuna masiku thelathini.
“In one month, there are thirty days.”
(slow) Kwa mwe - zi mo - ja ku - na ma - si - ku the - la - thi - ni.
Kwa mwezi moja kuna masiku thelathini.
The first word Kwa means “in”
It’s followed by mwezi which means “month.”
Moja as we have learned means “one” so mwezi moja means “one month.”
kwa mwezi moja therefore means “in one month.”
(slow) kwa mwezi moja
kwa mwezi moja
kuna literally means “be.” In this case it means “there are.”
(slow) ku - na
kuna
masiku means “days.”
Therefore, you can guess that masiku thelathini means “thirty days.”
(slow) ma - si - ku the - la - thi - ni
masiku thelathini
The whole sentence is-
Kwa mwezi moja kuna masiku thelathini.
So now that you’ve just learned “30”, let’s go through some other Swahili words for the rest of the tens:
30 thelathini
(slow) thelathini
thelathini
40 arobaini
(slow) a - ro - ba - i - ni
arobaini
50 hamsini
(slow) ha - m- si - ni
hamsini
60 sitini
(slow) si - ti - ni
sitini
70 sabini
(slow) sa - bi - ni
sabini
80 themanini
(slow) the - ma - ni - ni
themanini
90 tisini
(slow) ti - si - ni
tisini
・
Let’s try making the Swahili word for “fifty–three.” “Fifty” is hamsini and “three” is tatu. Putting them together, we have hamsini na tatu or “fifty-three.”
Let’s break it down:
(slow) ha - m - si - ni na ta - tu
And once more:
hamsini na tatu.
Finally, we have mia moja, which is “one hundred.”
mia is a word for “hundred”
mia
(slow) mia
mia
and moja means “one”
moja
(slow) moja
moja
So for “hundred”, mia, to be “one hundred”, just add “one”, moja, to“hundred”, mia.
100 mia moja
(slow) mi - a mo - ja
mia moja
You can use the same criteria for other numbers, for example “two hundred” mia mbili. Just add mbili “two” to mia “hundred” and it becomes mia mbili.
(slow) mia mbili.
mia mbili.
Let’s use mia moja to say “I have a hundred shillings in my pocket”:
Nina shilingi mia moja kwenye mfuko wangu.
Let’s break that down:
(slow) Ni - na shi - li - ngi mi - a mo - ja kwe - nye m - fu - ko wa - ngu.
And at natural speed:
Nina shilingi mia moja kwenye mfuko wangu.
nina means “I have.”
The next word, shilingi, means “shillings .”
We just learned that mia moja means “hundred.”
(slow) mi - a mo - ja
mia moja
kwenye means “in,” and mfuko means “pocket.” So kwenye mfuko wangu means “in my pocket.”
(slow) kwe - nye m - fu - ko wa - ngu
kwenye mfuko wangu
The last word wangu means”mine.”
The whole sentence, then, is
Nina shilingi mia moja kwenye mfuko wangu.
To count up from mia moja, we just need to add the units and the tens we have already learned.
110 mia moja na kumi
(slow) mi - a mo - ja na ku - mi
mia moja na kumi
198 mia moja tisini na nane
(slow) mia moja tisini na nane
mia moja tisini na nane

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