In this post, you will learn how to say ‘how are you?’ in Swahili. 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 who speaks Swahili or if you’re travelling to one of the many Swahili speaking countries.
Swahili is a Bantu language spoken by the Swahili people. It is native to the African Great Lakes region and other parts of East and Southern Africa. It is spoken in many African countries including Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya and also in some parts of Malawi, Somalia, Zambia, Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The exact number of Swahili speakers is not known but sits somewhere between 50 and 100 million speakers.
Table of Contents
How To Say ‘How Are You?’ In Swahili
There are many different ways to ask ‘how are you?’. Here are the most common:
| How are you? | Habari yako? |
| How are you? | Habari gani? |
| How are you? | Habari? |
| How are you? | Hujambo? |
| How are you? (plural) | Hamjambo? |
| How are you? | U hali gani? |
| What’s up (informal) | Mambo? |
How To Respond To ‘How Are You?’ In Swahili
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 | Asante |
| Fine | Nzuri |
| Fine (alternative) | Njema |
| Fine (reply to hujambo) | Sijambo |
| We are fine (plural) | Hatujambo |
| All is well | Salama |
| I’m doing well | Naendelea vyema |
| I feel bad | Mimi na hisi vibaya |
| I’m sick | Mimi ni mgonjwa |
| I’m sad | Nina huzuni |
| I’m happy | Nina furaha |
Check out the below video to hear the pronunciation of some of these phrases. It also includes lots of 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? | Na wewe? |
Example Conversation:
Person 1: Habari gani? (How are you?)
Person 2: Nzuri, asante. Na wewe? (I’m fine, thanks. And you?)
Person 1: Nzuri (I’m fine)
Thanks for reading this post.
You should now know how to say ‘how are you?’ in Swahili and you should also be able to respond if you’re asked!
You can’t go wrong with these simple phrases.
Why not also learn the names of the different countries in Swahili too! This vocabulary can be very useful.
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