Dialogue

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Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
In Kenya, bargaining is a very common thing. Especially since you are a tourist, you’ll get things much cheaper if you can bargain for them. The only places you can’t haggle are big shopping centers and stores that sell items with tags. However, small clothing stores and open markets are up for bargaining. Flea markets are called soko in Swahili.
BODY
Normally, if you are interested in buying something, you say, “Excuse me, how much is this?”.
Kunradhi hii ni pesa ngapi?
As soon as they tell you the price, you can start bargaining to lower it. Don’t be shy, ask “Could I get it for a cheaper price?”:
Naweza pata kwa bei ya chini?
Let’s break it down:
(slow) Na - we - za pa - ta kwa be - i ya chi - ni?
Once more:
Naweza pata kwa bei ya chini?
The first word, naweza, means “can I.”
(slow) na -we - za
naweza
The second word, pata, means “get.”
(slow) pa -ta
pata
The third word, kwa, means “for.”
(slow) kwa
kwa
The next word bei means “price”
(slow) bei
bei
It is followed by the preposition ya
ya
(slow) ya
ya
The last word chini literally means “lower” but implies “cheaper”
Put it all together and we have
(slow)Na - we - za pa - ta kwa be - i ya chi - ni?
Naweza pata kwa bei ya chini?
・
Another way to express the feeling that something is too expensive and you want to start haggling is with
Ooo, ni ghali sana!
“Oh, it’s too expensive!”
(slow) Ooo, ni ghali sana!
You will remember that ni means “it’s”.
ghali means “expensive.”
(slow) gha - li
ghali
sana means “too much.”
(slow) sa - na
Altogether we have;
Ooo, ni ghali sana!
From this point, the vendor will begin to haggle, and the result is in your hands! The first thing the vendor might say now is
Unataka kwa bei gani?
which means “How much do you want [to pay]?”.
Unataka means “you want.”
(slow) u - na - ta - ka
Unataka
kwa bei means “at what price”
kwa bei
(slow) kwa bei
kwa bei
The word gani (“what”) makes the sentence a question.
gani
(slow) gani
gani
When joined together with kwa bei
it means “at what price”
All together the sentence will be
Unataka kwa bei gani?
(slow) Unataka kwa bei gani?
Unataka kwa bei gani?
・
You can ask the vendor...
“What’s your lowest price?”
Bei yako ya chini ni ngapi?
Let’s break that down:
(slow) Be - i ya - ko ya chi - ni ni nga - pi?
And again at natural speed:
Bei yako ya chini ni ngapi?
The first word, bei, means “price.”
bei
(slow) bei ]
bei
The next word yako means “your.”
yako
(slow) yako
yako
The next word, ya, is used as the article “the”
ya
(slow) ya
ya
and chini means “last.”
(Slow) chi-ni
chini
Next is the word, ni which means “is”
ni
(slow) ni
ni
the last word ngapi means “much.”
ngapi
(slow) ngapi
ngapi
together ni ngapi literally means “is much.” But in this case it will sound like “how much.”
ni ngapi
(slow) ni ngapi
ni ngapi
Put it all together and you’ll get
Bei yako ya chini ni ngapi?
“In the end, how much will you give it to me for?”
in other words “What’s your lowest price?”
(slow)Bei yako ya chini ni ngapi?
Bei yako ya chini ni ngapi?
Bargaining is very common in Kenya, so it’s normal to ask the price over again and again until the vendor drops the price to the one you want.
・
Now imagine that you are at a soko. You want to buy a bag, but not at the merchant’s price (15 Kenyan shillings); you’d rather suggest your own price (10 Kenya shillings).
After Bei yako ya chini ni ngapi? - “What’s your lowest price?” - you might say
Nitakupa shilingi kumi. which is “I’ll pay you ten shillings”.
Let’s break it down:
(slow) Ni - ta - ku - pa shi - li - ngi ku - mi.
Once more:
Nitakupa shilingi kumi.
Nitakupa means “I will give.”
(slow) ni - ta - ku - pa
Nitakupa
shilingi kumi means “ten shillings,”
shilingi means “shillings” as we have learnt from our previous lessons.
shilingi
(slow) shilingi
shilingi
and kumi means “ten”
kumi
(slow) kumi
kumi
When these two are joined together we have,
(slow) shi - li - ngi ku - mi
shilingi kumi
When haggling, this is all you need to get your point across. If the merchant refuses you, slowly walk away, and in 90% of cases they will give in.
Sawa leta hizo shilingi kumi.
This means “OK, bring the ten shillings.”
(slow) Sa - wa le - ta hi - zo shi - li - ngi kumi.
Sawa leta hizo shilingi kumi.

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