Sanad cusub oo wanaagsan

In Somali, I think the best way to say 'Happy New Year' is 'Sanad cusub oo wanaagsan' which literally means 'A good new year'. Waxaan idin rajeynayaa sanad wanaagsan oo barwaaqo leh. I wish you all a happy new year full of blessings.

Preposition practise

qaad - take it
ka qaad - take it away
iga qaad - take it away from me (literally 'me from take it')
 i + ka = iga
ME     FROM   FROM ME

In English the order is 'from me', but in Somali, the order is 'me from'.

Ingriiska waan tegay - I went to Britain
Ingriiska waan ka tegay - I left Britain (literally 'I went away from Britain')
Ingriiska waan ka tegay oo dalkayga soo noqday - I left Britain and returned to my country

sheeg - state (as in speak)
u sheeg - tell to (him/her/them)
ii sheeg - tell me (literally ' me to tell it')
 i + u = ii
ME    TO     TO ME

noo sheeg - tell us 
na + u = noo
US        TO        TO US

In English, we say 'tell me', but in Somali we say 'to me tell'. In Somali, usually the verb comes at the end.

Waan sugayey - I was waiting
Dukaankii hortiisa baan ku sugayey - I was waiting at the front of the shop
Dukaankii hortiisa baan kugu sugayey - I was waiting for you at the front of the shop

Location markers

dukaan - shop
dukaanka - the shop
dukaankii - the shop (when are talking about the past or it's far away from you)

What about locations in and around the shop? How do you say 'inside the shop', 'outside the shop', 'in front of the shop', etc?

dukaanka dhexdiisa - inside the shop
dukaanka hortiisa - in front of the shop
dukaanka hoostiisa - under the shop
dukaanka agtiisa - near the shop
dukaanka dabadiisa - behind the shop
dukaanka korkiisa - on top of the shop
dukaanka dibadiisa - outside the shop


This is the same construction that we used to say,


wiilka buuggiisa - the boy's book
THE BOY      HIS BOOK

In English, we say 'inside the shop', but in Somali what we literally say is 'the shop's inside' or 'the shop's behind'. This is how we talk about locations around a noun.


Dukaanka hortiisa baan kugu sugayaa - I'll wait for you in front of the shop


Quick note: What does 'kugu' in the above sentence mean. Actually it is the preposition 'ku' which means 'at', fused with the object pronoun 'ku' meaning 'you'. When you fuse them together, you don't say 'kuku', you change the second 'ku' to 'gu'.


Dukaanka hortiisa buu fadhisanayey - He was sitting in front of the shop
Dukaanka korkiisa buu istaagi jirey - He used to stand on top of the shop
Dukaanka hoostiisa waxaa jiraa khasnad - Under the shop there is treasure

'Dukaan' is a masculine noun. What about feminine nouns like 'makhaayad' (restaurant)?

makhaayadda dhexdeeda - inside the restaurant
makhaayadda horteeda - in front of the restaurant
makhaayadda hoosteeda - under the restaurant
makhaayadda agteeda - near the restaurant
makhaayadda dabadeeda - behind the restaurant
makhaayadda korkeeda - on top of the restaurant
makhaayadda dibadeeda - outside the restaurant

Quraacda - Breakfast

Quraacda waxaan cunaa roodhi solan oo farmaajo leh.
For breakfast, I eat toasted bread with cheese.




Somalis don't have a word for cheese. This is because traditionally, with camels milk you can't make it. In the south, they use the word 'farmaajo', which comes from the Italian word 'formaggio'. In the north, you can use the English word 'cheese'.

By the way, the word for 'yogurt' in Somali is 'caanafadhi' ('milk that sits')


There is a verb for breakfast as well,

Waan quraacday - I had breakfast
Dadka Soomaaliyeed maxey ku quraacdaan? What do Somalis have for breakfast?


Maxaad  ku  quraacataa? - What do you have for breakfast?
WHAT YOU    WITH   HAVE BREAKFAST

In English, we say 'have for breakfast',, but in Somali you say 'What do you have breakfast with?' That's what 'ku' here means. It means 'with'.

Markaad yarayd , maxaad ku quraacan jirtey?
When you were small, what did you used to have for breakfast?