Sesotho phrasebook

Pronunciation guide

Vowels a as in spa e as in pit, cafe, or bed i as in beet o as in put, French "oiseau", or board u as in boot

Consonants b same as English, only fully voiced bj pronounced as above, followed by either the s as in vision or the j as in yarn d same as English as an allophone of l that only occurs before i and u f same as English fj pronounced as above, followed by sh as in she h same as English, voiced or unvoiced; it's an allophone, either way j as in vision or jam k as in skill, only unaspirated kh fully aspirated k, which occurs mostly in old loanwords and ideophones l same in English m same in English n same in English ng as in sing ny as in onion or Spanish "el niño" p as in spit, only unaspirated ph fully aspirated p pj pronounced as p, followed by sh as in she pjh aspirated pj s same as English sh as in shoe t as in stalk, only unaspirated th aspirated t tj as in which, only unaspirated tjh aspirated tj ts as in cats, only unaspirated tsh aspirated ts w same in English y as in yarn Tricky Consonants hl

kg as in the way the Scottish say loch r as in French, only soft; originally pronounced as an alveolar rolled lingual tl

tlh aspirated tl q

qh aspirated q nq

Common diphthongs

Phrase list

Basics

Hello. dumela. (doomellah) Hello. (informal) Khotso. (hotsow) How are you? U phela joang? (oo-pee-la-jwang) I'm fine. How are you? Kea phela, wena ujwang (key-ah-pee-la wena-ujwang) What is your name? Lebitso la hau ke mang? (leh-beet-saw la-how key-mung) My name is ______ . Lebitso la ka ke ______ . ( _____ .) Nice to meet you. Ke thabela ho u tseba . ( key-ta-bell-a-who-oo-t-see-ba ) Please. . (Ke kopa o... ) Thank you. Kea leboha. ( ) You're welcome. . ( ) Yes. . (Eea ) No. . (Che )/aowa(awa) Excuse me. (getting attention) . (A k'u ntšoarele hanyane) Excuse me. (begging pardon) . ( ) I'm sorry

Ntšoarele. ( ) Goodbye Sala hantle. ( ) Goodbye (informal) . ( ) I can't speak Sesotho [well]. [ ]. ( []) Do you speak English? U bua sekhooa ? ( ?) Is there someone here who speaks English? ? (Hona le motho ea tsebang ho bua Sekhooa?) Help! Ke kopa thuso! ( !) Look out! ! (Hlokomela !) Good morning. . (Lumaka/Khotso ) Good evening. . (dumela/Khotso ) Good night. . (Dumela/Khotso ) Good night (to sleep) Robala hantle. ( ) I don't understand. Ha ke utloisise. ( ) Where is the toilet? ? (Ntloaneng ke kae?) I'm OK or fine (Ke hantle )

Problems Leave me alone. ("kgaohana le nna") Don't touch me! ("se ntshware") I'll call the police. ("ketla founela mapolesa") Police! ("mapolesa plr..leponesa sing") Stop! Thief! ("Ema!leshodu") I need your help. ke hloka thuso ya hao("...") It's an emergency. ("ke tshwanyetso") I'm lost. ke lahlehile ("...") I lost my bag. ("ke lahlehetswe ke mokotla waka") I lost my wallet. ("ke lahlehetswe ke sepatjhe saka") I'm sick. ("ke ya kula") I've been injured. ("ke lemetse") I need a doctor. ("ke hloka ngaka") Can I use your phone? ("Nka sebedisa mohala wa hao wa thekeng")

Numbers 1 Ngoe 2 Peli 3 Tharo 4 'Ne 5 Hlano 6 Ts'elela 7 Supa 8 Robeli 9 Robong 10 Leshome 11 Leshome le motso o mong 12 Leshome le metso e 'meli 13 Leshome le metso e meraro 14 Leshome le metso e mene 15 Leshome le metso e mehlano 16 Leshome le metso e ts'eletseng 17 Leshome le metso e supileng 18 Leshome le metso e robeli 19 Leshome le metso e robong 20 Mashome a mabeli 30 Mashome a mararo 40 Mashome a mane 50 Mashome a mahlano 60 Mashome a ts'eletseng 70 M