Learn basic greetings
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| INTRODUCTION |
| In this lesson, we’ll cover basic greetings for the appropriate time of the day. As there are quite a few to cover, let's jump right in. |
| We’re going to start with the more formal ones first. |
| BODY |
| In Swahili, “Good morning” is |
| sabalheri. |
| Let’s break it down: |
| (slow) sa - bal - heri |
| Once more: |
| sabalheri. |
| The first word, sabal, means “wish” |
| (slow) sabal |
| sabal |
| heri which means “success” follows sabal. Here it is again: |
| (slow) heri |
| heri |
| Literally it means “wish you success”. These two words come together and become one word that means “Good morning”: sabalheri |
| Let’s break it down again: |
| (slow) sa bal heri |
| sabalheri. |
| ・ |
| In Swahili, "Good afternoon" is |
| habari za mchana. |
| Let’s break it down: |
| (slow) ha - ba - ri za m - cha - na. |
| Once more: |
| habari za mchana. |
| The first word, habari, means “news.” |
| (slow) habari |
| habari |
| The second word za is a preposition meaning “of”. |
| (slow) za |
| za |
| And last we have mchana, which means “afternoon”. |
| (slow) mchana |
| mchana |
| All together, that’s |
| (slow) habari za mchana. |
| habari za mchana. |
| ・ |
| In Swahili, “Good evening” is |
| habari za jioni. |
| Let’s break it down: |
| (slow) habari - za - jioni. |
| Once more: |
| habari za jioni. |
| The first word habari, as we’ve already mentioned, means “news.” |
| (slow) habari |
| habari |
| The second word za is a preposition. |
| (slow) za |
| za |
| The last word, jioni, means “evening” |
| (slow) ji-o-ni |
| jioni |
| All together, that’s |
| (slow) ha-ba-ri za ji-o-ni. |
| habari za jioni. |
| ・ |
| Upon leaving, you say usiku mwema. This is “Good night.” |
| usiku mwema. |
| Let’s break it down: |
| (slow) u-si-ku mwe-ma. |
| Once more: |
| usiku mwema. |
| The first word, usiku, means “night.” |
| (slow) usiku |
| usiku |
| The second word, mwema, means “good.” |
| (slow) mwema |
| mwema |
| Once again, that’s: |
| (slow) usiku mwema. |
| usiku mwema |
| ・ |
| You can use all of these for formal situations or with strangers. You can say sabalheri, “Good morning”, and usiku mwema, “Good night”, with your friends, too. |
| ・ |
| Let’s take a look at two ways of greeting your friends now. |
| The most common word is |
| habari. |
| (slow) ha-ba-ri. |
| habari is “Hello” in English. Use this only with people you are already on friendly terms with, or with young people in restaurants, bars, or cafes. |
| Another way to say “Hi” in Swahili is |
| jambo. |
| (slow) jambo. |
| jambo. |
| The proper response to this is “Sijambo” |
| (slow) sijambo |
| sijambo |
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