Learn how to ask "How do you say this?"
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| INTRODUCTION |
| In this lesson, we’re going to need a word, as we're going to cover “How do you say [something] in Swahili?” So let's get started right away! |
| The Kenyan people are famous for their bread , so let’s assume that you want to buy some, but have no idea what to call it in Swahili! What do you do now? Of course, you ask with Survival Phrases! |
| In Swahili “How do you say ‘bread’ in Swahili?” |
| BODY |
| Unasemaje “bread” kwa kiswahili? |
| Let’s break it down: |
| (slow) Unasemaje “bread” kwa kiswahili? |
| Once more: |
| Unasemaje “bread” kwa kiswahili? |
| The first word, Unasemaje, means, “how do you say.” |
| Unasemaje |
| (slow) Unasemaje |
| Unasemaje |
| This is followed by “bread.” That’s the word that you want to ask the meaning of. |
| Next, we have ‘kwa kiswahili’ which means ‘in Swahili” |
| Here, kwa means “in”, while kiswahili refers to the Swahili language. |
| These two put together will be, |
| kwa kiswahili |
| (slow) kwa ki - swa - hi - li |
| kwa kiswahili |
| Altogether, we have |
| Unasemaje “bread” kwa kiswahili? |
| Not to leave you hanging: “bread” in Swahili is mkate. |
| You can also use this expression without any English. To accomplish this, you can use the expression “How do you say this in Swahili?” In Swahili, “this” is hii. |
| (slow) hii |
| hii |
| So in Swahili, “How do you say this in Swahili?” is |
| Unasemaje hii kwa kiswahili? |
| Let’s break it down: |
| (slow) U - na - se - ma - je hi - i kwa ki - swa - hi - li? |
| Once again: |
| Unasemaje hii kwa kiswahili? |
| The structure is exactly same as the previous sentence, except that in place of “bread,” we have the demonstrative adjective hii. |
| Altogether, we have |
| Unasemaje hii kwa kiswahili? |
| This is a phrase you can use while pointing at something. |
| Simply substitute the word hii with hicho, “that”, to ask, “How do you say that in Swahili?” |
| hicho |
| (slow) hicho |
| hicho |
| You will have |
| Unasemaje hicho kwa kiswahili? |
| Let’s break it down: |
| Unasemaje hicho kwa kiswahili? |
| (slow) U - na - se - ma - je hi - cho kwa ki - swa - hi - li? |
| Once more: |
| Unasemaje hicho kwa kiswahili? |
| But wait, let’s say it’s your Kenyan friend’s birthday and you want to wish him/her a happy birthday. But you don’t know how to say it. Let’s try to ask: |
| Unasemaje ‘happy birthday’ kwa kiswahili? |
| “How do you say happy birthday in Swahili?” |
| Unasemaje ‘happy birthday’ kwa kiswahili? |
| (slow) Unasemaje ‘happy birthday’ kwa kiswahili? |
| Unasemaje ‘happy birthday’ kwa kiswahili? |
| The first word is Unasemaje, “how do you say.” |
| Unasemaje |
| (slow) Unasemaje |
| Unasemaje |
| Then you have “happy birthday” which is the phrase you want to ask, and kwa kiswahili follows that phrase, and means “in Swahili”. |
| kwa kiswahili |
| (slow) kwa kiswahili |
| kwa kiswahili |
| All together: |
| Unasemaje ‘happy birthday’ kwa kiswahili? |
| “Happy birthday,” by the way, is heri za sikukuu ya kuzaliwa. |
| (slow)heri za sikukuu ya kuzaliwa. |
| heri za sikukuu ya kuzaliwa. |
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