Swahili Vocabulary Study Guide: Learn 500 Essential Words with Flashcards

Swahili is one of the friendliest languages for an English speaker to start: it uses the Latin alphabet, every letter is pronounced, and its grammar is remarkably regular. What you need first is words, and the Swahili Vocabulary: 500 Words deck on Flip It (deck code HV7489, 506 cards) gives you the core set in English → Swahili order, from jambo to kupumzika.

What is inside the 506 cards

The deck follows a frequency logic: greetings and pronouns first, then the nouns, verbs, adjectives and function words you meet in every conversation. You'll learn:

• Greetings and politeness: jambo, kwaheri, asante, tafadhali, karibu, ndiyo, hapana
• Pronouns: mimi, wewe, yeye, sisi, ninyi, wao
• People and family: mtu / watu, mtoto / watoto, mwanaume, mwanamke, baba, mama, kaka, dada, rafiki, familia, mwalimu, mwanafunzi, mume, rais
• Time: siku, usiku, wakati, mwaka, mwezi, wiki, saa, leo, kesho, jana, sasa, daima, hivi karibuni
• Numbers 1-10: moja, mbili, tatu, nne, tano, sita, saba, nane, tisa, kumi
• Question words: nini, nani, wapi, lini, kwa nini, vipi, kiasi gani
• Everyday nouns: maji, chakula, nyumba, chumba, kitanda, soko, barabara, mji, nchi, kahawa, kitabu, shule, pesa, kazi, kompyuta, bustani, kioo, mfuko, kijiko, taa
• Body and nature: mkono, mguu, kichwa, jicho / macho, sikio, mdomo, moyo, mti, mnyama, ndege, samaki, mbwa, kuku, upepo
• Core verbs (ku- infinitives): kwenda, kuja, kula, kunywa, kuona, kusikia, kusema, kujua, kutaka, kutoa, kuchukua, kulala, kununua, kupenda, kusaidia, kukaa, kufunga, kuimba, kutabasamu, kusahau, kutumia, kupokea, kuonja, kuruhusu, kucheza, kuvuta, kupumzika
• Adjectives and adverbs: nzuri, mbaya, kubwa, ndogo, moto, baridi, mpya, ndefu, safi, kweli, laini, nene, kirefu, tu, labda, kila, bure
• Connectors: na, au, lakini, kwa sababu, kama, si, kutoka, juu, mbele, hapa, pale

Sample cards

Study tips that fit this deck

1. Learn nouns in singular/plural pairs. Swahili nouns belong to classes marked by prefixes, and the deck shows several pairs side by side: mtu → watu, mtoto → watoto, jicho → macho. When a card gives you mwanafunzi (student) or mwalimu (teacher), say the wa- plural aloud too (wanafunzi, walimu). You'll absorb the M-/WA- class for people without ever opening a grammar table.

2. Treat ku- as a detachable prefix. Every verb card is an infinitive: kula (to eat), kusema (to speak), kupenda (to love). The stem after ku- is what conjugates: ninakula (I am eating), anasema (he/she speaks), tunapenda (we love). Once you read ku- as "to", the 60-odd verb cards become 60 stems you can already use in sentences.

One more thing to watch: ndege means both bird and airplane, and kutoka appears as both from and to exit — the deck is telling you these are real double meanings, not errors.

Suggested pace

At 25 new cards a day the deck takes three weeks, with Flip It's spaced repetition scheduling the reviews. Front-load the numbers, pronouns and question words (about 30 cards) so you can form questions from day two: Wewe unatoka wapi? — where are you from?

Log in at flip-it.app, find HV7489 — Swahili Vocabulary: 500 Words — in the library and start with the greetings block. If spaced repetition is new to you, our practical guide to learning with flashcards explains how the review schedule works.