South African Phrases: – Xhosa

South Africa has 11 official languages! Fortunately one of those is English and many people speak it…. However.

Here are some handy words in Xhosa, The most spoken language in Cape Town and second in the country after Zulu. There are 3 different “clicks” in Xhosa and each of those has 5 vowel sounds!

Hello – Molo
Hello (two people or more) – Molweni
how are you? – Uphila njani?
I am well Thank you! – Ndiphilile enkosi
Sorry – uxolo
Please – nceda
I don’t understand – andiqondi
I don’t know – andazi
I come from.. – Ndivela
Do you speak English? – uyakwazi ukuthetha isiNgesi?
Yes – Ewe (eh-weh)
No – Hayi

Click on the Xhosa tag for more Xhosa 101

Below are the 11 official languages in order of number of speakers.

Isizulu
IsiXhosa
Afrikaans
Sepedi
English
Setswana
Sesotho
Xitsonga
Siswati