100 Somali Language Phrases
|Somali Language Phrases
Welcome to another Learn Somali lesson. Today we will focus on general everyday Somali language phrases. This list will start with talking about yourself using random sentences. These sentences will be separated into three tables: Affirmative, Question form and Negative sentence. All these sentence will focus on 1st person singular. The first column is the English, the second will be the Somali translation and the third will have vocabulary from the sentences.
- Note: In the vocabulary Column, when you see the star sign “*” it indicates that the word can be used as An imperative sentence, or command. For example: Eat (You are telling someone to eat) right? In Somali language, to tell someone to eat you say “Cun”.
- Also make sure you know the pronunciation of letter “I” of Somali. It sounds like the “I” is “Islam” or “Indiana”.
- These sentences are random and can help you see variety of sentences on different situation in your daily life.
Enjoy
Affirmative | Oraah | Vocabulary |
I see you | Waa kuu jeedaa/ Waa ku arkaa | See / Arag* |
I am standing | Waan taaganahay | Stand/ Istaag* |
I ate lunch | Waan qadeeyay | Eat/ Cun* |
I am surprised | Waan yaabanahay | Surprise/ Yaab |
I am sorry | Waan ka xumaahay | Sorry/ Ka xumaan |
I am scared | Waan baqayaa | Scare/Baqid/Cabsi |
I am happy | Waan faraxsanahay | Happy/ Farxad |
I have something to say | Inaan wax dhoho ayaan rabaa | Say it/ Dheh |
I said that | Saas baan dhahay | Said/ Dhay/Iri |
I am brushing my teeth | Waan cadayanayaa | Brush/ Tirtir* |
I am taking a shower | Waan qubaysanayaa | Shower/Qubays |
I will call you | Waan ku soo wacayaa | Call/ Wac* |
I have nothing against you | Waxba kuuma qabo | Nothing/Waxba |
I heard you | Waan ku maqlay | Come/Imaansho |
I heard you are leaving | Waxaan maqlay in aad baxaysid | Leave/ Bixid |
I am tired | Waan daalanahay | Tired/ Daalan |
Show me around | I tus meelaha | Show/ Tus* |
Give me | I see | Give/see* |
Save me | I badbaadi | Save/badbadin |
Help me | I caawi | Help/ Cawin |
Look at me | I soo fiiri | Look/Fiiri* |
Marry Me | I guurso | Marry/Guur |
Play with me | Ila ciyaar | Play/Ciyaar |
Accompany me | Ii weheel yeel | Accompany/Wehel |
Listen to me | I dhagayso | Listen/Dhaqayso |
Read for me | Ii Akhari | Read/Akhri |
Count with me | Ila tiri | Count/Tiri |
Eat with me | Ila cun | Eat/Cun |
Run with me | Ila orod | Run/Orod |
Watch with me | Ila daawo | Watch/Daawo* |
I love you | Waan ku Jeclahay | Love/Jacaly |
Questions | Su’aalo | Vocabulary |
Do I know you? | Ma ku aqaannaa? | Know/Aqoon |
Do I need them? | Ma u baahanahay? | Need/ u baahan |
Do I throw this? | Ma tuuraa? | Throw/Tuur* |
Does she love me? | Miyay I jeceshahay | Love/Jacayl |
Does she recognize me? | Miyay I garanaysaa? | Recognize/garasho |
Did you call me? | Miyaad I soo wacday? | Call/Wac* |
Did you leave a message? | Ma reebtay fariin? | Message/fariin |
Did I tell you that? | Ma kuu sheegay taas? | Tell/Sheeg* |
Will you listen to me? | Ma I dhagaysanaysaa? | Listen/Dhaqayso* |
Will you come with me? | Ma I raacaysaa? | Come with/raacid |
Am I alone? | Kaligay miyaan ahay? | Alone/kali |
Am I sick? | Ma jiranahay? | Sick/jirro |
When will I get it? | Goorma Ayaan helayaa? | Get/helid |
When will I finish? | Goorma Ayaan dhamaynayaa? | Finish/ dhamee* |
How do I get there? | Sidee u tagaa halkaas? | There/halkaas |
How do I know? | Sidee u aqaanaa? | How/ Sidee |
How do I fix this? | Sidee u hagaajiyaa? | Fix/ Hagaajin |
How do I open this? | Sidee u furaa kan? | Open/Fur* |
How do I close this? | Sidee u xiraa kan? | Close/Xir* |
How long do I wait? | Intee sugaa? | How long/Intee |
Who woke me up? | Yaa I toosiyay? | Wake up/Toos* |
Who is there? | Yaa halkaas jooga? | Who/Qofkee |
Who is my teacher? | Yaa macalinkayga ah? | Teacher/Macalin |
Who do I ask? | Yaan waaydiiyaa? | Ask/Waydii* |
Who knows? | Yaa yaqaan? | Know/Aqoon |
Where is my car? | Aaway gaarigayga? | Car/gaari |
Where are we? | Xaggee joognaa? | Where/Xaggee |
Where did it go? | Xagge aaday ayada? | Go/Bax* (a bit rude) |
What is my number? | Waa maxay lambar kayga? | Number/Lambar |
What have I done? | Maxaan sameeyay? | Done/sameyay |
What is my job? | Waa maxay shaqadayda? | What/waa maxay |
Will I get a job? | Ma heli doonaa shaqo? | Job/shaqo |
Are we done? | Ma dhamaynay? | Done/Dhamayn |
Am I tiring you? | Ma ku daalinayaa? | Tire/Daal |
Negative | Diidmo | Vocabulary |
I am not wrong | Ma khaldani | Wrong/Khalad |
I am not angry | Ma xanaaqsani | Angry/ Xanaaq |
I am not home | Ma joogo guriga | Home/ Guri |
I am not available | Ma la I heli karo | Available/la heli karo |
I am not sleeping here | Meeshaan ma seexanayo | Sleep/Seexasho |
I am not hungry | Ma gaajaysni | Hunger/Gaajo |
I am not cooking | Ma karinayo | Cook/Karin |
I am not helping | Ma caawinayo | Help/Caawin |
I did not do it | Ma samayn | Do/Samayn |
I did not have car issue | Ma haysan cillad gaari | Issue/Cillad |
I did not miss the class | Ma ka baaqan galaaska | Miis/u goyn |
I did not take my meds | Ma qaadan daawooyin kaygi | Medicine/Daawo |
I don’t know | Ma aqaan | Know/Aqoon |
I don’t care | Ma kala jecli | Care/Kala jecel |
I don’t mind | Waxba kama qabo | Mind/Ka qabin |
I don’t watch the news | Ma daawado wararka | Watch/Daawo* |
I don’t waste my time | Ma iska lumiyo wakhriga | Waste/Lumin |
I don’t remember | Ma xusuusto | Remember/Xasuus |
Don’t ask me | Ha I waydiin | Ask/Waydii* |
Don’t give it to me | Ha I siin | Give/See* |
Don’t run from me | Ha iga ordin | Run/Orod* |
Don’t worry about me | Ha iga walwalin | Worry/Walwal |
Don’t bother me | Ha I dhibin | Bother/dhib |
Don’t kill me | Ha I dilin | Kill/Dil* |
I have not done anything | Ma samayn waxba | Anything/waxba |
I have not seen him | Ma arkin | Seen/arag |
I have not finished it yet | Ma dhamayn wali | Finish/dhamee* |
I will not accept this | Ma aqbalayo tan | Accept/Aqbal |
I will not go there | Ma aadayo halkaas | Go/aad* |
I will not hurt you | Ma ku dhibaataynayo | Hurt/Dhibaatayn |
I will not attend this school | Ma dhiganayo iskoolkaan | Atten/Dhigasho |
I will not tolerate this | Ma u dulqaadanayo tan | Tolerate/Dulqaad |
I will not finish this | Ma dhamaynayo tan | This/Tan also Kan |
I don’t understand | Ma fahmin | Understand/Fahan |
Not bad | Ma xuma | Bad/xun |
If you see any typos or errors please help us by contacting us.
Thanks and Enjoy
10 Comments
Thank you very much for lunching this very important website for both Somalis and others that have interest in Somali Language.
I really appreciate for your time and efforts and please keep up the good work, don’t give up.
Thanks,
Ina Maxamed
My name yushra married to Somali I really want to speak Somali hate it when I don’t understand thank you
Ma aan ku fahmin
I thought “egg” was the right word for to look ?
Hi Joy, You are right, (Look also means eeg) fiiri is a synonym of eeg. isoo eeg = isoo fiiri = Look at me.
Thanks for the feedback.
Hi this is very important to the somali people especial the somali student
Glad it helped.
i am very glad to see those words but there is an errors i saw ( i tus, i weydii, i sii, ma u dulqadanayo) it is wrong, in Somali language one latter isn’t come alone it cames with a word ( itus, iweydii, isii, ma udulqadanayo, ma imaqasha, ha idilin) i just like to add my opinion when i saw this little bit errors i like the way you did.
Hi, Mohamed, Thanks for the feedback.
Your comment got me thinking. It is possible that grammatically, may be the rules are as you stated – the-no-one-letter-stand -alone – but after reading different posts online, I saw many people who wrote things like “Gabay aad u qiiro badan” when I read this, is felt natural seeing the (u) standing alone. I personally do not know all Somali grammar rules, so I appreciate your comment it will help readers understand that there are different ways to write. I like to make things easy for people to learn and sometimes I bend the grammar rules to clarify things, and the most obvious of all, I make mistakes 🙂
English and somali gramamer