Phrases
The following is a list of phrases that can be used when visiting a region where the primary language is Zulu.
| Sawubona | Hello, to one person |
| Sanibonani | Hello, to a group of people |
| Unjani? / Ninjani? | How are you (sing.)? / How are you (pl.)? |
| Ngisaphila / Sisaphila | I'm okay / We're okay |
| Ngiyabonga (kakhulu) | Thanks (a lot) |
| Ngubani igama lakho? | What is your name? |
| Igama lami ngu... | My name is... |
| Isikhathi sithini? | What's the time? |
| Ngingakusiza? | Can I help you? |
| Uhlala kuphi? | Where do you stay? |
| Uphumaphi? | Where are you from? |
| Hamba kahle / Sala kahle | Go well / Stay well (used as goodbye - In practice, the person staying in whatever place the action is occurring says 'Hamba kahle', and the person leaving says 'Sala kahle') |
| Hambani kahle / Salani kahle | Go well / Stay well, to a group of people |
| Eish! | Wow! (No real European equivalent, used in South African English) (you could try a semi-expletive, such as oh my God or what the heck. It expresses a notion of shock and surprise) |
| Hhayibo | No! / Stop! / No way! (used in South African English too) |
| Yebo | Yes |
| Cha | No |
| Angazi | I don't know |
| Ukhuluma isiNgisi na? | Do you speak English? |
| Ngisaqala ukufunda isiZulu | I've just started learning Zulu |
| Uqonde ukuthini? | What do you mean? |
Read more about this topic: Zulu Language
Famous quotes containing the word phrases:
“She loved Cecil; George made her nervous; will the reader explain to her that the phrases should have been reversed?”
—E.M. (Edward Morgan)
“And would you be a poet
Before you’ve been to school?
Ah, well! I hardly thought you
So absolute a fool.
First learn to be spasmodic—
A very simple rule.
For first you write a sentence,
And then you chop it small;
Then mix the bits, and sort them out
Just as they chance to fall:
The order of the phrases makes
No difference at all.”
—Lewis Carroll [Charles Lutwidge Dodgson] (1832–1898)
“I know those little phrases that seem so innocuous and, once you let them in, pollute the whole of speech. Nothing is more real than nothing. They rise up out of the pit and know no rest until they drag you down into its dark.”
—Samuel Beckett (1906–1989)