Swahili overview

Free Swahili starter kit — 68 phrases you can print

A one-page Swahili cheat sheet for absolute beginners. Every phrase shows the Swahili spelling, what it means, and a respelling with the stressed syllable in capitals so you can say it out loud today. Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, DR Congo — around 200 million, mostly as a second language.

First words

Greet someone and be polite

  • HabariHello/ha-BA-ree/
  • AsanteThank you/ah-SAN-teh/
  • KaribuWelcome/ka-REE-boo/
  • KwaheriGoodbye/kwa-HEH-ree/
  • NdiyoYes/n-DEE-yo/
  • HapanaNo/ha-PA-na/
  • TafadhaliPlease/ta-fa-DHA-lee/
  • PoleSorry/PO-leh/

Free starter kit

Get all 68 Swahili phrases

Enter your email and the full printable Swahili starter kit opens right here — every phrase, meaning and pronunciation respelling. We'll also send one short daily phrase so it actually sticks. Unsubscribe from any email.

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Is Swahili hard to learn?

  • Nouns fall into classes, and the class changes the start of related words — mtu (person) becomes watu (people).
  • Stress almost always lands on the second-to-last syllable, which makes reading aloud predictable.
  • Greetings are a small ritual: habari expects a reply of nzuri before anything else happens.

Want the whole reference instead? Read the full Swahili phrasebook or grab a starter kit in another language.