Learn Kinyarwanda

Where it's spoken

Rwanda, with close relatives in Burundi and Uganda

Speakers

around 12 million

Writing system

Latin alphabet

Kinyarwanda is spoken by nearly the entire population of Rwanda, which makes it unusually useful for anyone living or working there.

What makes Kinyarwanda different

• Tone and vowel length both change meaning.
• Words get long: prefixes and suffixes stack onto one verb stem.
• Very close to Kirundi, spoken in Burundi.

Your first Kinyarwanda phrases

Each phrase is written the way it's spelled, then respelled for English speakers with the stressed syllable in capitals.

• MurahoHello/moo-RA-ho/
• MurakozeThank you/moo-ra-KO-zeh/
• Murakaza nezaWelcome/moo-ra-KA-za NEH-za/
• MurabehoGoodbye/moo-ra-BEH-ho/
• YegoYes/YEH-go/
• OyaNo/O-ya/
• NyabunekaPlease/nya-boo-NEH-ka/
• MbabariraSorry/m-ba-ba-REE-ra/

Want the full list? Read the free Kinyarwanda phrasebook with pronunciation, grab the free printable Kinyarwanda starter kit, or compare SemaSoma with other African language apps.