Useful phrases in Yoruba

A collection of useful phrases in Yoruba, a Niger-Congo language spoken in Nigeria, Benin, Togo and a number of other countries.

Jump to phrases

See these phrases in any combination of two languages in the Phrase Finder. If you can provide recordings, corrections or additional translations, please contact me.

English	Yorùbá
Welcome	Ẹ ku abọ
Hello (General greeting)	Ẹ n lẹ
How are you?	Ṣe daadaa ni o wa?
Reply to 'How are you?'	Mo wa daadaa, o ̣se. Iwọ naa n kọ?
Long time no see	O to ọjọ mẹta o O pẹ ti a ri ara wa o
What's your name?	Ki ni orukọ rẹ?
My name is ...	Orukọ mi ni……
Where are you from?	Nibo ni o ti wa?
I'm from ...	Mo wa lati ...
Pleased to meet you	Inu mi dun lati mọ ọ
Good morning (Morning greeting)	Ẹ ku aarọ
Good afternoon (Afternoon greeting)	Ẹ ku ọsan
Good evening (Evening greeting)	Ẹ ku alẹ
Good night	O da aarọ
Goodbye (Parting phrases)	O da abọ
Good luck!	Yoo dara o Yoo bọ si o
Cheers! Good Health! (Toasts used when drinking)	Ayọ ni o Kara o le
Have a nice day	Oni a dara o
Bon appetit / Have a nice meal	Ounjẹ ajẹye o Yoo gba ibi re
Bon voyage / Have a good journey	O da abọ Ka sọ layọ o
Yes	Bẹẹ ni
No	Bẹẹ kọ Ó ti Ra ra
Maybe	Boya
I don't know	N ko mo
Do you understand?	Ṣé ó yé ọ?
I understand	O ye mi
I don't understand	Ko ye emi
Please speak more slowly	Jọwọ, rọra maa sọrọ
Please say that again	Jọwọ, tun un sọ
Please write it down	Jọwọ, kọ ọ silẹ
Do you speak English?	Ṣe o le sọ èdè oyinbo?
Do you speak Yoruba?	Ṣe o n sọ Yorùbá?
Yes, a little (reply to 'Do you speak ...?')	Bẹẹ ni, diẹ
How do you say ... in Yoruba?	Bawo ni o se le sọ …... ni Yorùbá?
Excuse me	Ẹ ̣se fun mi Ẹ jọwọ, ẹ gbọ mi
How much is this?	Eelo ni eyi?
Sorry	Pẹlẹ
Thank you	O ̣se E se
Reply to thank you	Ko to ọpẹ
Where's the toilet / bathroom?	Nibo ni ile igbọnsẹ wa?
This gentleman will pay for everything	Alagba yii yoo sanwo fun gbogbo rẹ
This lady will pay for everything	Iyaafin yii yoo sanwo fun gbogbo rẹ
Would you like to dance with me?	Ṣe iwọ maa ba mi jo?
I miss you	Aro re so mi
I love you	Mo nifẹẹ rẹ
Get well soon	Da ara ya o
Leave me alone!	Fi mi silẹ
Help!	Ẹ gba mi o!
Fire!	Ina o!
Stop!	Duro nbẹ!
Call the police!	Pe awọn ọlọpaa
Christmas greetings	Ẹ ku Ayọ Keresimesi ati Ọdun Tuntun
Easter greetings	Ẹ ku Ayọ Ajinde
Birthday greetings	Ẹ ku Ayọ Ọjọ Ibi
Congratulations!	Oriire!
One language is never enough	Ede kan ko to ri rara
My hovercraft is full of eels	Ọkọ afategun-sare mi kun fun ẹja arọ

Yoruba phrases provided by Adedamola Olofa

If you would like to make any corrections or additions to this page, or if you can provide recordings, please contact me.

Links

Other collections of Yoruba phrases
http://www.motherlandnigeria.com/languages.html
http://www.abeokuta.org/yoruba.htm

Phrases in Niger-Congo languages

Bemba, Chichewa, Efik, Ewe, Fula, Herero, Igbo, Kikuyu, Kinyarwanda, Lingala, Lozi, Luganda, Mossi, Ndebele (Northern - South Africa), Ndebele (Northern - Zimbabwe), Ndebele (Southern) Nkore, Northern Sotho, Sesotho, Shona, Swahili, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana, Tumbuka, Twi, Umbundu, Venda, Wolof, Xhosa, Yorùbá, Zulu

Phrases in other languages

If you need to type in many different languages, the Q International Keyboard can help. It enables you to type almost any language that uses the Latin, Cyrillic or Greek alphabets, and is free.

If you like this site and find it useful, you can support it by making a donation via PayPal or Patreon, or by contributing in other ways. Omniglot is how I make my living.

Note: all links on this site to Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.fr are affiliate links. This means I earn a commission if you click on any of them and buy something. So by clicking on these links you can help to support this site.