Swahili is the working language of a large part of East Africa and the lingua franca of Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and beyond. It is a Bantu language with a large Arabic vocabulary layer, and the professional register draws on that layer heavily — many of the words below arrived with Indian Ocean trade centuries before the offices did.
The greeting sequence comes first
| Swahili | Reply | Register |
|---|---|---|
| Habari? | Nzuri | neutral, any setting |
| Habari za kazi? | Nzuri | how is work |
| Hujambo? | Sijambo | slightly formal |
| Shikamoo | Marahaba | to someone older or senior |
| Karibu | Asante | welcome / thank you |
Shikamoo is the one to get right. It is addressed to someone clearly older or more senior and the reply marahaba is fixed. Using it correctly with a senior colleague is a small act that registers; using habari where shikamoo was expected does not offend but is noticed as a gap.
Office vocabulary
| Swahili | English | Origin |
|---|---|---|
| kazi | work, job | Bantu |
| mkutano | meeting | Bantu |
| ripoti | report | English |
| bajeti | budget | English |
| hesabu | accounts, arithmetic | Arabic |
| biashara | business, trade | Arabic |
| mkataba | contract | Arabic |
| malipo | payment | Bantu |
| mteja | client, customer | Bantu |
| muda | time, period | Arabic |
The origin column is not trivia. The Arabic-derived words cluster in exactly the commercial and legal fields where the vocabulary was needed, which is why a Swahili learner with some Arabic gets a free head start on the boardroom and almost none on the grammar.
Time in Swahili is offset by six hours. The traditional system counts from sunrise, so saa moja — "hour one" — is seven o'clock in the morning, and saa saba is one in the afternoon. This is still used in speech, alongside the international clock. A meeting agreed in Swahili hours and diarised in international ones is a genuine and recurring way for visitors to miss appointments.
Useful sentence frames
| Swahili | English |
|---|---|
| Tunaweza kukutana lini? | When can we meet? |
| Nitakutumia barua pepe. | I will send you an email. |
| Bei ni ngapi? | What is the price? |
| Nimeelewa. | I understand. |
| Tafadhali nisaidie. | Please help me. |
| Hakuna shida. | No problem. |
Barua pepe for email is a good illustration of how Swahili builds new vocabulary: barua is letter, pepe relates to flying, so email is a flying letter. The language coins rather than borrows far more often than its neighbours, and recognising the pattern makes new terms guessable.
The part that takes longest
Not the words — the noun classes. Swahili sorts nouns into around fifteen classes and the class re-stamps itself on verbs, adjectives and possessives throughout the sentence. Mkutano mmoja is one meeting, mikutano miwili is two meetings, and the agreement changes with it. Professional vocabulary can be learned in a fortnight; using it in correctly agreeing sentences is a term's work, and it is the part worth starting early.
Look up Swahili words offline
The free English-Swahili Dictionary gives meanings and word forms without a connection.
Open the dictionary appFrequently asked questions
Is English enough for business in Kenya or Tanzania?
In Kenya, English is an official language and dominates written business. In Tanzania, Swahili is far more dominant in government and daily commerce, and meetings outside the corporate sector run in it. Written contracts are commonly English in both.
How important are the greetings?
More than a visitor expects. Opening a conversation with business before completing the greeting sequence reads as abrupt, in a way that has real consequences for how the rest of the meeting goes. The exchange takes fifteen seconds and skipping it is noticed.
What is Sheng and will I hear it?
Sheng is a Nairobi urban variety mixing Swahili, English and other languages, common among younger speakers. You will hear it socially and should not attempt it — using slang badly as an outsider lands worse than plain Swahili.