Useful foreign phrases |
Numbers |
Colours |
Kinship |
Idioms |
Tongue twisters |
Proverbs |
Other multilingual pages
Useful foreign phrases |
Numbers |
Colours |
Kinship |
Idioms |
Tongue twisters |
Proverbs |
Other multilingual pages
A collection of useful phrases in Tumbuka. You can see them in many other languages by clicking on the English versions.
Key to abbreviations: >m = said to men, >f = said to women, >eld = said to old people, >pl = said to more than one person
If you can help fill in the gaps on this page, please contact me.
| English | chiTumbuka (Tumbuka) |
|---|---|
| Welcome | Tempokani |
| Hello | Monile / Monire a mama (>f) Monire a dada (>m) Monire a gogo (>eld) Monire mose (>pl) |
| How are you? I'm fine, thanks. And you? |
Muli uli? |
| Nili makola, kwali imwe? | |
| Long time no see | |
| What's your name? My name is ... |
Zina linu ndimwe njani? |
| Zina lane ndine ... | |
| Where are you from? I'm from ... |
|
| Pleased to meet you | Chatowa kuwonana namwe |
| Good morning | Mwagona uli? (How did you sleep?) Reply: Nauka makola, kwali imwe? (Fine, and you?) |
| Good afternoon | Mwatandala uli? (How has your day been?) Reply: Natandara makola, kwali imwe? (I had a fine day, how about you?) |
| Good evening | |
| Good night | Usiku uwemi (good night) Mugone makola (sleep well) |
| Goodbye | Paweme / Mwende makola (travel well) |
| Good luck | Viwemi vyose |
| Cheers/Good health! | |
| Have a nice day | |
| Bon appetit | |
| Bon voyage | |
| I don't understand | Nkhupulika yayi |
| Please speak more slowly | |
| Please say that again | |
| Please write it down | |
| Do you speak Tumbuka? I speak a little Tumbuka |
Kasi mukhuyowoya ChiTumbuka? |
| Nkhuyowoya ChiTumbuka pachoko | |
| I don't speak Tumbuka | Ine nkhuyowoya chiTumbuka yayi |
| How do you say ... | Mukuti uli ...? |
| Excuse me | Phepani |
| How much is this? | Nizilinga ichi? |
| Sorry | Phepani / Phepani chomene (very sorry) |
| Please | Chonde / Nabeya |
| Thank you Response |
Nawonga chomene (I thank you) Tawonga chomene (We thank you) Yewo chomene (Thank you very much) / Yewo |
| Ndimwe wakupokeleka / Palije suzgo | |
| Where's the toilet? | Chimbuzi chili nkhuni? |
| This gentleman/lady will pay for everything |
|
| Would you like to dance with me? |
|
| I love you | Nkhukutemwa |
| Get well soon | |
| Leave me alone! | Ni lekani! |
| Help! Fire! Stop! |
Novwire! Leka! |
| Call the police! | |
| Merry Christmas and Happy New Year |
|
| Happy Easter | |
| Happy Birthday |
If you would like to make any corrections or additions to this page, please contact me.
Other collections of Tumbuka phrases
http://wikitravel.org/en/Tumbuka_phrasebook
http://embangweni.com/chitumbu.htm
Ewe, Kinyarwanda, Sesotho, Shona, Swahili, Tswana, Tumbuka, Wolof, Xhosa, Yorùbá, Zulu