Days of the week:
- kuwambere – Monday
- kuwakabiri – Tuesday
- kuwagatatu – Wednesday
- kuwakane – Thursday
- kuwagatanu – Friday
- kuwagatandatu – Saturday
- kuwamungu – Sunday
Hours of the day:
- Kirundi speakers use Swahili when counting the hours of the day. Because of the annual equilibrium of day length in their equatorial homeland, their hours start at daybreak – 7AM -- rather than midnight as English speakers are used to, and repeat at sundown – 7PM:
- samoya -- 7
- sambiri -- 8
- satatu – 9
- sayine -- 10
- satanu -- 11
- sasita -- 12
- sasaba -- 1
- samunani -- 2
- sacenda -- 3
- sakumi -- 4
- sakumi n’imwe -- 5 (actually "sakumi na imwe")
- sakumi na zibiri -- 6
- Instead of indicating AM or PM, then, one indicates day or night:
- igitondo – morning
- umugoroba – evening
- for example:
- satatu zo mu igitondo – third hour of the morning, 9AM
- zo – of (possessive preposition?)
- mu – in
- literally: “9 of in the-morning”
- (following the rules against vowel repetition, this sentence should be said "satatu zo migitondo")
At the door:
- ni nde? – who is it? (is who?)
- ni Cameron – it is Cameron
- ni Cameron na Arthur – it is Cameron with Arthur
Talking about yourself:
- ndi ingaha/ndaha – I am here
- ndi mwiza – I am handsome/good
- ndi muremure – I am tall
More on making appointments:
- ingo ngaha ejo? – come here tomorrow?
- ingo – come (imperative)
- ngaha – here
- ejo – tomorrow
- (This sentence lacks some grammatical markers of tense, etc. that were left unstated by my teacher, but he claimed that it is perfectly understandable; a form for learning, in order to start putting words together and using the language…)
- ingo ngaha – come here
- zana ID/SSC/Green Card – bring ID/SSC/Green Card
- “zana” is the imparitive form of “kuzana”, “to bring”
Bringing things to people:
- nzanira urupapuro -- bring me a paper
- muzanire urupapuro -- bring him/her a paper
- if directing someone to an appointment with a doctor, for example, one could use this construction to say:
- muzanire insurance card -- bring him/her your insurance card
- (while trying out this new word, naming various things that one could bring, I suggested "muzanire inka" -- "bring him a cow." My teacher indicated that this is actually an extremely useful phrase, redolant with metaphorical meaning. In the agrarian nation of Burundi, a cow has the meaning "something valuable" (as opposed to "impene ", or "goat", which implies "something modest"). "Muzanire inka" thus means "bring him something valuable," and could find traction when discussing, say, a dowry, or a bribe...)
Misc Useful Phrases (learned while going to the other office for a meeting and some food):
- ingo tugende -- come let's go
- ingo -- come
- tugende -- let's go (1st person plural imperative of "kugenda", "to go")
- this phrase is grammatically incorrect but extremely common vernacular
- tugende kurya -- let's go eat
- ugurura imodoka/umudoga -- open the car
- ugurura -- imperative form of "to open"
- imodoka/umudoga -- two words for car; both sound, if pronounced, like the English words "motor car" from which they are derived.
- atsa imodoka -- start the car
- atsa -- start, from "kwatsa," "to illuminate"
- atsa amatara -- turn on the lights
- kata iburyo/ibubamfu -- turn right/left
- (of course pronounced: katiburyo/katibubamfu)
- [EDIT: it turns out that this isn't grammatically correct.. see the next note!]
- gendimbere (genda imbere) -- go straight
- imbere -- front
- injira -- come in
- sohoka -- get out (not necessarily rude, depends on context)
- from the verb "kwugara," meaning "to close", come two (relatively) useful words:
- ugara -- close! (the imperative form)
- wugaye? -- did you close?
- [NOTE: I had previously listed this verb as "kugara" but this is incorrect, and actually means "to spread your wings."]
- ceceka -- be quiet (imperative verb)
- agacerere -- silence (noun)
- ndahejeje kurya -- I am finished eating
- "ndajeje" -- I am finished, present tense
- kurya -- to eat, infinitive
- c.f. "nahejeje kurya" -- "I have been finished eating"
- umukate -- bread
- gukunda -- to like or love (only one word for both)
- urakunda ...? -- do you like ...?
- urakunda umukate? -- do you like/love bread?
- urashobora kwandika? -- can you write?
- This form is extendable to any infinitive verb, within reason:
- urashobora kurya? -- can you eat?
- urashobora guhaguruka? -- can you stand?
- urashobora kwimuka? -- can you move yourself?
A few more imperative and question forms for common verbs:
- usually, the simple, singular imperative form is made by dropping the ku or gu that you find at the beginning of all infinitives ("w" is "u" following rules against vowel repetition):
- kurya --> rya -- eat
- guteka --> teka -- cook
- kugenda --> genda -- go
- kwicara --> icara -- sit
- kuzana --> zana -- bring
- kwandika --> andika -- write
- though this simple singular imperative pattern has exceptions:
- kuza --> ingo -- come
- it is also possible to form 1st person plural imperatives, though I have only yet learned one example:
- kugenda --> tugende -- let's go
- question forms do not seem to be so obviously patterned:
- kugira --> urafise ____? -- do you have ___?
- kuza --> uraje? -- are you coming (now) ?
- --> urazakuza? -- are you coming (later same day)?
- --> uzoza? -- are you coming (after today)?
- kugenda --> urakiye? -- are you going?
- --> uzogenda? -- will you go?
- kuzana --> wazanye ____? -- did you bring ____?
- kwandika --> wanditse? -- did you write?
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