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How To Say ‘How Are You?’ In Luganda & Common Responses

In this post, you will learn how to say ‘how are you?’ in Luganda. You’ll also learn common responses so you can respond if you’re asked this question. This can be really useful if you’re speaking with someone from Uganda or if you’re travelling there. 

Luganda is a Bantu language spoken by more than 8 million people. It is one of the major languages used in Uganda along with English and Swahili. It is mainly spoken in central Uganda.

How To Say ‘How Are You?’ In Luganda

There are a few different ways to ask how someone is in Luganda, they depend on if you’re speaking to one person or multiple people.

When speaking to one person, say:

How are you?Oli otya?

When speaking to multiple people, say:

How are you?Muli mutya?

You can also say, more informally:

What’s up?Ogamba chi?

How To Respond To ‘How Are You?’ In Luganda

There are many different ways that you can reply to this question. Below are the most common responses to this question. I’ve also included how to say ‘thank you’ as it’s polite to thank someone if they ask how you are.

Thank you Weebale
I’m fineBulunji
I’m okayGyendi (soft g)
Good/okay/fineKale
I’m happyNdi musan-yufu
I’m sadNdi munak-uwavu
I’m sickNdi wul-wadde
I’m tiredNkooye
I’m worriedNdi mwera-lii-kiri-vu

Check out the below video to hear the pronunciation of some of these words. It also includes some additional phrases:

It’s also useful to know how to say ‘and you?’ or ‘what about you?’ to find out how someone else is if they ask you.

And you?Ate ggwe?

Example Conversation:

Person 1: Oli otya? (How are you?)

Person 2: Bulunji, weebale. Oli otya? (I’m fine, thanks. How are you?)

Person 1: Gyendi. (I’m okay)


Thanks for reading this post. 

You should now know how to say ‘how are you?’ in Luganda, the language of Uganda, and you should also be able to respond if you’re asked! 

You can’t go wrong with these simple phrases.

Someone’s birthday coming up? Learn how to wish them a happy birthday in Luganda.

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