Latest / Learn Swahili with Fexingo / Swahili Adjectives - Big and Small
Transcript
- Lucas: Welcome back to Learn Swahili with Fexingo. I'm Lucas. Luna: And I'm Luna. Ready for some more Swahili? Lucas: Absolutely. Today, we're going to learn how to describe things as big or small. Luna: Oh, that sounds useful. I can already think of things I want to call big and small. Lucas: Then you'll love this. The word for 'big' in Swahili is 'kubwa'. Luna: Kubwa. Lucas: Good. And 'small' is 'ndogo'. Luna: Ndogo. Lucas: Perfect. Now let's put them with things you know. 'Nyumba' is house. So 'nyumba kubwa' is a big house. Luna: Nyumba kubwa. That makes sense. Lucas: And 'nyumba ndogo' is a small house. Luna: Nyumba ndogo. Easy. Lucas: Now, 'paka' means cat. But pay attention: with nouns in Swahili, the adjective sometimes changes slightly depending on the noun class. For animals like 'paka', we often use 'mdogo' for small, so 'paka mdogo' is a small cat. Luna: Paka mdogo. That's a small cat. Lucas: Right. And 'paka mkubwa' is a big cat. Luna: Paka mkubwa. So it's 'mkubwa' instead of 'kubwa'. Lucas: Exactly. The prefix changes to match the noun. But don't worry, we'll practice more. Let's try 'gari' which means car. 'Gari kubwa' is a big car. Luna: Gari kubwa. Lucas: And 'gari ndogo' is a small car. Luna: Gari ndogo. Lucas: Great. Now, 'kiti' is a chair. 'Kiti kidogo' is a small chair. Notice we say 'kidogo' here, not 'ndogo'. Luna: Kiti kidogo. So it changes again? Lucas: Yes, but it's all based on patterns. For now, just learn these phrases as chunks. 'Kiti kikubwa' is a big chair. Luna: Kiti kikubwa. Okay, I'll remember that. Lucas: Let's do a quick practice. I'll say a phrase, you tell me if it's big or small. 'Nyumba kubwa'. Luna: Big house. Lucas: Yes. 'Paka mdogo'. Luna: Small cat. Lucas: Perfect. 'Gari ndogo'. Luna: Small car. Lucas: You're doing great. Now, imagine you're at the market and you see a big mango. How would you say 'big mango'? 'Embe' is mango. Luna: Embe kubwa? Lucas: Exactly. 'Embe kubwa'. And a small mango? Luna: Embe ndogo. Lucas: You got it. Now let's put it all together in a sentence. 'Ninataka nyumba kubwa' means 'I want a big house'. Luna: Ninataka nyumba kubwa. Lucas: And 'Ninataka kiti kidogo' means 'I want a small chair'. Luna: Ninataka kiti kidogo. Lucas: Awesome. Let's do one more. 'Ninapenda paka mkubwa' – I like big cats. Luna: Ninapenda paka mkubwa. Lucas: So you're a big cat person? Luna: Maybe! But small cats are cute too. Lucas: For sure. And speaking of things that are worth your time, if Fexingo has been helping you make actual progress with Swahili, honestly, if today was worth a coffee to you, that's the link – buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Luna: Yeah, it really helps keep the show going. Every bit is appreciated. Lucas: Now, let's review what we learned today. Our main words: 'kubwa' and 'ndogo', and their variations 'mkubwa', 'mdogo', 'kikubwa', 'kidogo'. Luna: And we practiced with nyumba, paka, gari, and kiti. Lucas: Exactly. Try using these when you describe things around you. See you next time! Luna: Kwaheri!