Learn Shona – Beginner’s Lesson 6

As such, it will be more difficult, and much slower, to grasp by reading alone. We recommend downloading the audio course to listen and repeat.

This weeks lesson includes discussing age, occupations and related grammar. The read (listen) and repeat formula is designed to increase your intuitive understanding of Shona sentence structures.

Age/birthday/years

How old are you? (How many years do you have ?) – Une makore mangani?

A year – gore

Years – makore

You have – Une/Mune

I have – ndine

I am 20 years old(l have 20 years) – Ndine makore makumi maviri

When – Rini

When is – Riri rini

Your – rako

Day – zuva

Birthday (your day of being born) – zuva rokuberekwa/rokuzvarwa

When is your birthday – zuva rako rokuberekwa riri rini?

Is on the – riri musi wa

My birthday is on the 5th of January – zuva rangu rokuberekwa musi wa5

Ndira

Grammar

To be born – kuberekwa/kuzvarwa

I was born – ndakaberekwa/ndakazvarwa

You were – waka..

She/he was born – Akazvarwa

You were born – wakazvarwa

We were born – Takazvarwa

They were born – vakazvarwa

Where were you born(You were born where) – Wakazvarirwa kupi

I was born in South Africa – Ndakazvarirwa kuSouth Africa

Jobs/Occupation Mabasa

To do – kuita

You do – Unoita

What? – Chii?

Work(n) – basa

What do you do?(What work do you do?) – Unoitei?/Unoita basa rei?

Your – rako

Job – basa

Whats your job(Your job is about what?) – Basa rako nderei?

I am a – Ndiri

Im self-employed – Ndinozvishandira

Im unemployed – Handishandi

I am a housewife – Ndinogara kumba

To work – Kushanda

You work – Unoshanda

Where? – Kupi?

Where do you work? – Unoshanda kupi?

l work – Ndinoshanda

I work in – Ndinoshanda mu..

I work in a bank – Ndinoshanda mubhengi

I work in a school – Ndinoshanda pachikoro/muchikoro

I work for – Ndinoshandira

I work for a phone company – Ndinoshandira kambani yenhare

I work at the hospital – Ndinoshanda kuchipatara

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