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Swahili has official language status in Tanzania and Kenya and is also widely spoken in Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Comoros Islands. It’s also spoken by smaller numbers in Burundi, Rwanda, Northern Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique.

The word for the Swahili language is ÌýKiswahili. The name comes from the plural sawahili of the Arabic word sahil, which means boundaries or coast. With ki- at the beginning of the word, Kiswahili means coastal language.

Other than Arabic, Swahili has been influenced and taken some words from English, for example:

Ìýpolisi, police
Ìýboksi, box
Ìýhoteli, hotel
Ìýtelevisheni, television
Ìýbaiskeli, bicycle
Ìýhospitali, hospital
Ìýsoksi, socks
Ìýpicha, picture
Ìýmuziki, music
Ìýredio, radio

The word Ìýsafari means journey in Swahili. In English it means an expedition to observe, hunt animals in their natural habitats e.g. National Parks in Africa or even Australia. The word Ìýchai means tea.

Swahili is said to be the easiest African language for an English speaker to learn. It’s one of the few sub-Saharan African languages that have no lexical tone, just like in English. It’s also much easier to read as you read out Swahili words just the way they are written.

Someone who speaks Arabic may find it easier to learn Swahili because Swahili is a combination of words from Arabic and the Bantu-speaking communities of East Africa.

One of the main differences with English is that Swahili uses particles at the beginning of the word to indicate verb tense (present, past, future) and person (I, you, we, they, etc).

For example, from the verb Ìýkwenda, to go, I am going is Ìýnina-kwenda. Ni indicates I and na the present tense. The main pronoun prefixes are:

ÌýNi, I - singular
ÌýA, he/she/it - singular
ÌýWa, they - plural
ÌýTu, we/us - plural


After a pronoun prefix, another prefix is added to show the tense of the verb:

ÌýNa, present tense
ÌýLi, past tense
ÌýTa, future tense
ÌýMe, present perfect


So you would say: Ìýali-kwenda, he/she/it went, Ìýwata-kwenda, they will go and Ìýtume-kwenda, we have gone.

Ìý Wale wari wa Liwale wala wali wa Liwali
Those from Liwale eat the rice of chief Liwale
(Here Liwale is both a district in Tanzania and the name of a chief).

Ìý Mjomba mjomba kamchapa mkia wa komba
Uncle beats someone with a tail of a bush baby.

Ìý Kichwa cha twiga.
Giraffe’s head.

Ìý Mpishi mbishi kapika mchicha mbichi.
A chef has cooked spinach that turned out undercooked.

Ìý Kipikikusikitishacho?
Ìý Kikusikitishacho is the longest word in Swahili. It is not a word that can stand on its own, but when combined with Ìý kipi means What’s bugging you?

ÌýMtoto alitumwa gazeti la tarehe nane (8), akaenda kwa muuza magazeti kununua gazeti lakini alipofika alikuta gazeti la tarehe nane hakuna kwa hiyo akachukua magazeti ya tarehe nne (4) mawili.

A kid was told to go buy a newspaper dated 8th. The kid went to the magazine stand but a newspaper on that date wasn’t available anymore so he took two magazines dated 4th.

Around 35% of the Swahili vocabulary comes from Arabic. This is due to more than twelve centuries of contact with Arabic-speaking inhabitants of the coast of Zanj. Swahili has also gained Persian, English, Portuguese, German and French words through contact during the last five centuries.

Swahili is becoming the lingua franca of East Africa and many parts of Central Africa, which is another useful reason to learn some.

One word which can lead to confusion depending on the way you pronounce it is Ìýbarabara - it can mean either a road if you just ease up your tongue or exactly if you're strong on the r: Ìýbarabara.

Some words have different meanings, like Ìýmaziwa. It can refer to milk but sometimes Swahili speakers also use it as a word for breast. The most widely-used word for breast, however, is Ìý matiti.

ÌýHakuna matata is the most popular quote and means no worries. The phrase gained international recognition after it was used in the animated movie The Lion King.

Swahili proverbs known as Ìýmethali usually feature puns. They are often used in the lyrics of local musicians. Examples of some famous proverbs are:

ÌýDalili ya mvua ni mawingu
Literal translation: Clouds are a sign of rain
Meaning: You can predict your success by watching for the right signs.

ÌýHakuna masika yasiyokuwa na mbu
Literal translation: There isn't a rainy season without mosquitoes
Meaning: With anything good comes something that is bad.

ÌýHaraka haraka haina baraka
Literal translation: Hurry, hurry has no blessing
Meaning: Haste makes waste.

Ìý Wapiganapo tembo wawili ziumiazo nyasi
Literal translation: When two elephants fight it's the grass that gets hurt
Meaning: When the rich and powerful contend with each other it is the weak and powerless who pay the price.

Letters written in 1711 in the region of Kilwa are believed to be the first ever documents to be written in Swahili. These letters were sent to the Portuguese people of Mozambique, as well as local allies. The original copies of the letters are preserved in the Historical Archive of Goa in India.

An ancient document dated 1728 shows an epic poem called ÌýUtendi wa Tambuka, History of Tambuka which is in Swahili, but written in the Arabic script. Due to the influence of European colonial rule, Latin script (the same script used in English and other European languages) is now used for writing Swahili.

If you need to ask anything, just start a sentence with the word Ìýkwa meaning please. For example, Ìý kwa hisani yako naomba kikombe cha chai, meaning Can I have a cup of tea please?

If you step on someone by mistake you can say Ìýkumradhi or Ìýsamahani, meaning I’m sorry. The formal response to this would be Ìýsamahani haigombi, meaning you lose nothing when you say sorry.

If you're meeting someone for the first time, start with the greeting Ìýhabari. Depending on the time of the day, you could say Ìýhabari za asubuhi, good morning, Ìý habari za mchana, good afternoon or Ìýhabari za jioni, good evening.

You in Swahili is Ìýwewe. In Swahili it is offensive to address someone with a direct wewe so people politely address others by their names or title. For example: Ìýbaba, father or Ìýmama, mother.