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Most Common Shona Words
chiShona
Essential Shona vocabulary with pronunciation guides. Nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs.
Nouns
| Word | English Meaning | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| imba | house | IM-ba |
| mvura | water | MVU-ra |
| chingwa | bread | CHING-wa |
| nguva | time | NGU-va |
| munhu | person | MUN-hu |
| zuva | day / sun | ZU-va |
| nzira | road / way | NZI-ra |
| basa | work | BA-sa |
| mari | money | MA-ri |
| guta | city | GU-ta |
| chikoro | school | chi-KO-ro |
| bhuku | book | BHU-ku |
| zita | name | ZI-ta |
| mwana | child | MWA-na |
| shamwari | friend | sham-WA-ri |
| chikafu | food | chi-KA-fu |
| mutauro | language | mu-TAU-ro |
| nyika | earth / land | NYI-ka |
| ruoko | hand | ru-O-ko |
| imbwa | dog | IM-bwa |
Verbs
| Word | English Meaning | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| kuva | to be | KU-va |
| kuenda | to go | ku-EN-da |
| kuuya | to come | ku-U-ya |
| kutaura | to speak | ku-TAU-ra |
| kudya | to eat | KUD-ya |
| kunwa | to drink | KUN-wa |
| kuona | to see | ku-O-na |
| kuziva | to know | ku-ZI-va |
| kuda | to want / love | KU-da |
| kupa | to give | KU-pa |
| kutora | to take | ku-TO-ra |
| kuita | to do | ku-I-ta |
| kufunga | to think | ku-FUN-ga |
| kurarama | to live | ku-ra-RA-ma |
| kuverenga | to read | ku-ve-REN-ga |
| kunyora | to write | ku-NYO-ra |
| kushanda | to work | ku-SHAN-da |
| kubatsira | to help | ku-bat-SI-ra |
| kuwana | to find | ku-WA-na |
| kubata | to hold | ku-BA-ta |
Adjectives
| Word | English Meaning | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| akanaka | good | a-ka-NA-ka |
| akaipa | bad | a-kai-PA |
| hombe | big | HOM-be |
| duku | small | DU-ku |
| itsva | new | it-SVA |
| yakasara | old | ya-ka-SA-ra |
| akanaka zvikuru | beautiful | a-ka-NA-ka zvi-KU-ru |
| nokukurumidza | fast | no-ku-ku-ru-MID-za |
| nokunonoka | slow | no-ku-no-NO-ka |
| refu | long / tall | RE-fu |
| pfupi | short | PFU-pi |
| inopisa | warm / hot | i-no-PI-sa |
| inototonhora | cold | i-no-to-ton-HO-ra |
| nesimba | strong | ne-SIM-ba |
| nyore | easy | NYO-re |
| yakaoma | difficult | ya-ka-O-ma |
| yakakosha | important | ya-ka-KO-sha |
| inofadza | interesting | i-no-FA-dza |
| akafara | happy | a-ka-FA-ra |
| inodhura | expensive | i-no-DHU-ra |
Adverbs
| Word | English Meaning | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| zvino | now | ZVI-no |
| nhasi | today | NHA-si |
| mangwana | tomorrow | mang-WA-na |
| nezuro | yesterday | ne-ZU-ro |
| pano | here | PA-no |
| ipapo | there | i-PA-po |
| nokukurumidza | quickly | no-ku-ku-ru-MID-za |
| nokunonoka | slowly | no-ku-no-NO-ka |
| zvakanaka | well | zva-ka-NA-ka |
| kwazvo | very | KWA-zvo |
| zvakare | also / too | zva-KA-re |
| kwete | no / not | KWE-te |
| hongu | yes | HON-gu |
| kare | already | KA-re |
| ichiri | still / yet | i-CHI-ri |
| chete | only / just | CHE-te |
| zvirokwazvo | really | zvi-rok-WA-zvo |
| zvikuru | a lot | zvi-KU-ru |
| zvishoma | a little | zvi-SHO-ma |
| pakarepo | immediately | pa-ka-RE-po |