Kiswahili
20 Basic Swahili Phrases for Beginners (with Pronunciation)
Start speaking Kiswahili today. The 20 most useful beginner phrases — greetings, courtesy, and travel basics — with simple pronunciation tips.
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By Joy Wanjiku · TEFL-certified · 5 min readStart speaking Kiswahili today
You don’t need to master grammar before you can use Kiswahili. A handful of phrases will carry you through greetings, markets, and everyday kindness across East Africa. Here are the 20 I teach absolute beginners first — with simple pronunciation notes.
Tip: Kiswahili is beautifully phonetic. Say every vowel clearly — a as in father, e as in bed, i as in ski, o as in or, u as in too — and stress the second-to-last syllable.
Greetings
| Kiswahili | Meaning | Say it like |
|---|---|---|
| Jambo | Hello (to tourists) | JAM-bo |
| Habari? | How are you? / What’s the news? | ha-BA-ri |
| Nzuri | Good / fine | n-ZOO-ri |
| Mambo? | What’s up? (casual) | MAM-bo |
| Poa | Cool / I’m good | PO-a |
| Shikamoo | Respectful greeting to elders | shi-ka-MO |
| Marahaba | Reply to shikamoo | ma-ra-HA-ba |
Courtesy
- Asante — thank you (a-SAN-te)
- Asante sana — thank you very much
- Tafadhali — please (ta-fa-DHA-li)
- Karibu — welcome / you’re welcome
- Samahani — excuse me / sorry
- Ndiyo — yes · Hapana — no
Getting around
- Ngapi? — how much? (n-GA-pi)
- Wapi? — where?
- Choo kiko wapi? — where is the toilet?
- Maji — water · Chakula — food
- Sielewi — I don’t understand
- Nasaidia? — can you help?
- Kwaheri — goodbye
Practise them out loud
Reading a list is the easy part — saying these confidently, to a real person, is where fluency starts. In a lesson we drill pronunciation until the greetings feel natural, then build from there.
Ready to try? Learn Kiswahili with a native speaker and book a free 30-minute trial — we’ll have you greeting people properly by the end of the first session.