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?
I want to say something more about definite articles. By now, I'm sure that you have seen words like buugga and buuggii, ninka and ninkii, baabuurka and baabuurkii, etc. Why does Somali have two types of definite article. To be honest, for a long time, I didn't know and when I spoke I would get corrected often because I used the wrong one.
At last, I found an explanation that seems to make sense.
If the noun is you're using is geographically close to you, or if it exists in the present, then use 'ka' (or 'ta' for feminine nouns). For example, if you are with someone, and you want to borrow his key, you might say,
Furaha i sii - Give me the key
This is because the key is geographically close, you know where it is so you use the 'ka' form (in the example it becomes 'ha' because the base noun 'fure' ends in an 'e').
However, imagine if you lost your key. You don't know where it is geographically. It is distant from you. So, you say,
Furihii meeyey? - Where is the key?
In fact, when you ask for the location of any person or thing, because you don't know where they are, you use 'kii' or 'tii',
Ninkii meeyey? - Where is the man?
Gabartii meedey? - Where is the girl?
Bisaddii meedey? - Where is the cat?
Telefishankii meeyey? - Where is the TV?
Remember that for nouns that are to do with the past also take 'kii/tii',
Telefishankii waan iibiyey - I sold the TV.
Ninkii wuu dhintey sanadkii dambe - The man died last year.
Hilibkii waan cunay - I ate the meat (and it is gone now)
Also remember that nouns that are geographically close take 'ka/ta'
Telefishanka shid - Turn on the TV
Nalka demi - Turn off the light
Sonkorta i sii - Pass me the sugar
Maxaad ka xasuusataa waqtigii aad ahayd 5 jir?
What do you remember about the time you were 5 years old?
Waxaan xasuustaa aniga oo cunaya ice cream.
I remember eating ice cream.
Waxaan xasuustaa aniga oo dugsiga ku socda.
I remember going to school.
Waxaan xasuustaa aniga oo saxiibadayda la ciyaaraya.
I remember playing with my friends.
Maxay ahayd xusuustii kuugu horeysey?
What was your earliest memory?
Waan maqlaa oo illowaa,
Waan arkaa oo xasuustaa,
Waan sameeyaa oo fahmaa
I hear and I forget,
I see and I remember,
I do and I understand.
Remember that to connect verbs together with 'and', use the conjunction 'oo'. For nouns, use 'iyo'.
