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Most Common Xhosa Words
isiXhosa
Essential Xhosa vocabulary with pronunciation guides. Nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs.
Nouns
| Word | English Meaning | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| indlu | house | ind-LU |
| amanzi | water | a-MAN-zi |
| isonka | bread | i-SON-ka |
| ixesha | time | i-KHE-sha |
| umntu | person | um-NTU |
| imini | day | i-MI-ni |
| indlela | road / way | ind-LE-la |
| umsebenzi | work | um-se-BEN-zi |
| imali | money | i-MA-li |
| isixeko | city | i-si-KHE-ko |
| isikolo | school | i-si-KO-lo |
| incwadi | book | inc-WA-di |
| igama | name | i-GA-ma |
| umntwana | child | um-ntwa-NA |
| umhlobo | friend | um-HLO-bo |
| ukutya | food | u-ku-TYA |
| ulwimi | language | ul-WI-mi |
| umhlaba | earth / land | um-HLA-ba |
| isandla | hand | i-SAND-la |
| inja | dog | IN-ja |
Verbs
| Word | English Meaning | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| ukuba | to be | u-KU-ba |
| ukuya | to go | u-KU-ya |
| ukuza | to come | u-KU-za |
| ukukhuluma | to speak | u-ku-khu-LU-ma |
| ukutya | to eat | u-ku-TYA |
| ukusela | to drink | u-ku-SE-la |
| ukubona | to see | u-ku-BO-na |
| ukwazi | to know | u-KWA-zi |
| ukufuna | to want | u-ku-FU-na |
| ukunika | to give | u-ku-NI-ka |
| ukuthatha | to take | u-ku-THA-tha |
| ukwenza | to do | u-KWEN-za |
| ukucinga | to think | u-ku-CIN-ga |
| ukuphila | to live | u-ku-PHI-la |
| ukufunda | to read / learn | u-ku-FUN-da |
| ukubhala | to write | u-ku-BHA-la |
| ukusebenza | to work | u-ku-se-BEN-za |
| ukunceda | to help | u-kun-CE-da |
| ukufumana | to find | u-ku-fu-MA-na |
| ukubamba | to hold | u-ku-BAM-ba |
Adjectives
| Word | English Meaning | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| kulungile | good | ku-lun-GI-le |
| kubi | bad | KU-bi |
| okukhulu | big | o-ku-KHU-lu |
| okuncinci | small | o-kun-CIN-ci |
| okutsha | new | o-ku-TSHA |
| omdala | old | om-DA-la |
| omhle | beautiful | om-HLE |
| ngokukhawuleza | fast | ngo-ku-kha-wu-LE-za |
| kancinci | slow | kan-CIN-ci |
| olude | long / tall | o-LU-de |
| omfutshane | short | om-fut-SHA-ne |
| shushu | warm / hot | SHU-shu |
| banda | cold | BAN-da |
| onamandla | strong | o-na-MAND-la |
| lula | easy | LU-la |
| nzima | difficult | NZI-ma |
| okuphambili | important | o-ku-pham-BI-li |
| okuthokozisayo | interesting | o-ku-tho-ko-zi-SA-yo |
| onwabile | happy | on-wa-BI-le |
| okubizayo | expensive | o-ku-bi-ZA-yo |
Adverbs
| Word | English Meaning | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| ngoku | now | NGO-ku |
| namhlanje | today | nam-HLAN-je |
| ngomso | tomorrow | NGOM-so |
| izolo | yesterday | i-ZO-lo |
| apha | here | A-pha |
| apho | there | A-pho |
| ngokukhawuleza | quickly | ngo-ku-kha-wu-LE-za |
| kancinci | slowly | kan-CIN-ci |
| kakuhle | well | ka-KUH-le |
| kakhulu | very / a lot | ka-KHU-lu |
| kwakhona | also / too | kwa-KHO-na |
| hayi | no / not | HA-yi |
| ewe | yes | E-we |
| sekunjalo | already | se-kun-JA-lo |
| kusenjalo | still / yet | ku-sen-JA-lo |
| kuphela | only / just | ku-PHE-la |
| ngokwenene | really | ngo-kwe-NE-ne |
| kakhulu | a lot | ka-KHU-lu |
| kancinci | a little | kan-CIN-ci |
| ngoko nangoko | immediately | NGO-ko nan-GO-ko |