Learn Setswana

Where it's spoken

Botswana and South Africa

Speakers

around 8 million

Writing system

Latin alphabet

Setswana is Botswana's national language and a South African official language, with very regular spelling.

What makes Setswana different

• Tone distinguishes otherwise identical words.
• The g is pronounced as a throaty sound, closer to Scottish loch.
• Politeness markers attach directly to verbs.

Your first Setswana phrases

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

• DumelaHello/doo-MEH-la/
• Ke a lebogaThank you/keh a leh-BO-ga/
• O amogetsweWelcome/oh a-mo-GEH-tsweh/
• Tsamaya sentleGoodbye/tsa-MA-ya SEN-tleh/
• EeYes/EH-eh/
• NnyaaNo/N-nyaa/
• TsweetsweePlease/tsweh-eh-TSWEH-eh/
• IntshwareleSorry/een-chwa-REH-leh/

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