Xhosa overview

Free Xhosa starter kit — 25 phrases you can print

A one-page Xhosa cheat sheet for absolute beginners. Every phrase shows the Xhosa spelling, what it means, and a respelling with the stressed syllable in capitals so you can say it out loud today. South Africa, especially the Eastern and Western Capearound 8 million first-language speakers.

First words

Greet someone and be polite

  • MoloHello (to one person)/MO-lo/
  • MolweniHello (to many)/mol-WEH-nee/
  • EnkosiThank you/en-KO-see/
  • Hamba kakuhleGoodbye (go well)/HAM-ba ka-KOO-shleh/
  • EweYes/EH-weh/
  • HayiNo/HA-yee/
  • NcedaPlease/n-CEH-da/
  • UxoloSorry/oo-KHO-lo/

Free starter kit

Get all 25 Xhosa phrases

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Is Xhosa hard to learn?

  • Three click letters, each with plain, aspirated and nasal versions.
  • Mutually intelligible with Zulu in many everyday situations.
  • Noun classes drive agreement across the whole sentence.