Time and Months, Prepositions & Possessives, No Word for Weekend, My Favorite Valediction, Time Specific Goodbyes

Time and Months:

• ukwezi guheze -- last month
• ukwezi -- month
• guheze -- last ("to finish")
• umwaka uheze -- last year
• umwaka -- year
• uheze -- last
• umwaka uza -- next year 
• uza -- next/coming
• mu indwi iza ("mundwiza") -- in the next week
• mu -- in
• indwi -- week, the number 7
• iza -- coming/next
• mu indwi iheze ("mundwiheze")  -- in the last/previous week
• iheze -- last/previous
• mu ukwezi kuza ("mukwezi kuza") -- in the coming month
• kuza -- coming (also the verb, "to come")
• There are several ways one might refer to October:
• cumi ukwezi -- ten month
• ukwezi kwa cumi -- (the) month of ten
• the word "month" is often left out, leaving only "kwa cumi"
• (this may also be said "ukwezi kw'icumi" but I'm not certain of the reason)
• turi mu kw'icumi -- we are | in | of-ten
• turi -- we are
• Similarly, one can refer to other months by number, eg:
• mu kwa mbere -- in (the month) of one -- January
• mu kwa kabiri -- in (the month) of two -- February
• mu kwa gatatu -- in (the month) of three -- March
• and so on with kane (4), gatanu (5), gatandatu (6), ndwi (7), munani (8), cenda (9), and cumi (10)
• [[The pattern breaks for November and December ???
• Amajambo says:
• November: kwa cumi na rimwe (or, kw'icumi na rimwe)


• December: kw'icumi na kabiri]]
• All of the months also have traditional Kirundi names:
• Nzero -- January
• Ruhuhuma -- February
• Ntaranhe -- March
• Ndamukiza -- April
• Rusama -- May
• Ruheshi -- June
• Mukakaro -- July
• Myandagro -- August
• ... (we ran out of time in this part of the lesson!)

Prepositions and Possessives:

• prepositions:
• imbere -- in front
• inyuma -- behind
• munsi -- under
• hejuru -- above
• ku -- on
• ku imeza ("kumeza") -- on the table
• " y' " is a possessive marker (shortened from "ya")
• some prepositions, but all (namely "musi" and "hejuru") require the possessive:
• munsi y'imeza -- under of the chair
• hejuru y'imeza -- above of the chair

• possessive markers, generally divided into these categories, but not always:
• ca -- for objects
• icayi cawe -- your tea
• ha -- for places
• ahantu hanje -- my place
• ahantu -- some place
• ha -- possessive marker
• nje -- me
• wa -- for people
• ya -- for miscellaneous things
• "ya" is often shortened to " y' "

No Word for Weekend:

• no word for weekend in Kirundi, instead say:
• akaruhuko -- time off (singular)
• uburuhuko -- time off (plural)
• both of these come from "kuruhuka" -- "to rest"
• c.f. "kuruha" -- "to tire"
• so to wish someone a good weekend, you could say:
• "akaruhuko keza" -- (singular)
• "uburuhuko bwiza" -- (plural)
• (both "keza" and "bwiza" mean good, but are modified according to number)

My Favorite Valediction:

• gira umugisha ("giramugisha") -- good luck 
• gira -- have
• umugisha -- luck
• so literally "have luck", but is understood to mean "good luck"

Time Specific Goodbyes:

• turasubira kuwambere -- see you monday
• turasubira mukwese kwisa -- see you next month