Swahili Time, Weather & Seasons Vocabulary

This list covers the everyday Swahili words you need to talk about time, dates and the rhythm of the week: wakati and muda for "time", the days jumatatu, jumanne, jumatano, alhamisi, ijumaa, jumamosi and jumapili, and the parts of the day asubuhi, jioni and usiku.

You will also drill the building blocks of duration and the calendar — siku, wiki, miezi, mwaka, miaka, miongo, kipindi and tarehe — each with an English translation and an example sentence. On Vocab Voyage you type the Swahili word for an English prompt and spaced repetition brings the harder items back more often; accents are forgiven.

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Swahili Time, Weather & Seasons Vocabulary: the list

#	Swahili	English	Type	Example
1	wakati	time	noun	Ninapenda wakati ya asubuhi kwa sababu ni tulivu na safi.
2	mwaka	year	noun	Katika mwaka, nitafanya mambo mengi mapya.
3	siku	day	noun	Leo ni siku nzuri ya kupumzika.
4	miaka	years	noun	Mimi nina miaka. Nilizaliwa mwaka 2000.
5	muda	time	noun	Ninahitaji muda zaidi ili kumaliza kazi hii.
6	wiki	week	noun	Kila wiki tunajifunza mambo mapya shuleni.
7	miezi	months	noun	Katika mwaka kuna miezi kumi na mbili.
8	kipindi	period	noun	Leo tunaanza kipindi mpya ya masomo.
9	usiku	night	noun	Leo tutalala mapema kwa sababu ya usiku.
10	ijumaa	friday	noun	Leo ni ijumaa, nitakutana na marafiki zangu.
11	vyanzo	sources	noun	Watu wanahitaji vyanzo vya maji safi ili kuishi vizuri.
12	jumanne	tuesday	noun	Leo ni jumanne na nitakutana na marafiki zangu.
13	jumatatu	monday	noun	Leo ni jumatatu, nitafanya kazi nyingi.
14	jumatano	wednesday	noun	Leo ni jumatano, nitakutana na marafiki zangu.
15	jumapili	sunday	noun	Leo ni jumapili, nitakwenda kanisani.
16	alhamisi	thursday	noun	Siku ya alhamisi ni siku ya mwisho wa kazi kwa wengi.
17	jumamosi	saturday	noun	Leo ni jumamosi, nitakwenda sokoni.
18	mwishoni	at the end	adverb	Tutakutana mwishoni mwa mwezi.
19	februari	february	noun	Mwezi wa februari ni mwezi wa pili wa mwaka.
20	juni	june	noun	Mwezi wa juni ni wa sita katika mwaka.
21	agosti	august	noun	Mwezi wa agosti ni mwezi wa nane katika mwaka.
22	tarehe	date	noun	Leo ni tarehe ya kuzaliwa kwangu.
23	jioni	evening	noun	Tunaenda nyumbani saa jioni.
24	miongo	decades	noun	Katika miongo ya miaka, watu wengi wamebadilisha mitazamo yao.
25	asubuhi	morning	noun	Kila asubuhi ninapenda kunywa kahawa.
26	mvua	rain	noun	Leo kuna mvua nyingi, tunahitaji mvua kwa ajili ya mazao.
27	mwanzo	beginning	noun	Kila hadithi ina mwanzo na mwisho mzuri.
28	mwanzoni	in the beginning	adverb	mwanzoni ilikuwa vigumu, lakini sasa ni rahisi.
29	tabianchi	climate	noun	Watu wengi wanapenda tabianchi wakati wa majira ya mvua.
30	jua	sun	noun	Leo jua linawaka sana angani.
31	msimu	season	noun	Katika msimu, mvua inanyesha sana.
32	majira	seasons	noun	Katika majira, jua linawaka kwa nguvu zaidi.
33	mchana	daytime	noun	Leo ni mchana mzuri kwa matembezi na marafiki.
34	nyakati	times	noun	Katika nyakati hizi, tunapaswa kuwa makini na maamuzi yetu.
35	masaa	hours	noun	Leo kuna masaa mengi ya kufanya kabla ya jioni.
36	kuachia	to release or to let go	verb	Ninataka kuachia mzigo wangu kwa rafiki yangu.
37	alfajiri	dawn	noun	Kila siku, alfajiri inakuja na mwangaza mpya.
38	sikukuu	holiday	noun	Watu wengi wanakusanyika kwa ajili ya sikukuu ya mwaka.
39	kujawahi	to be early	verb	Ni vizuri kujawahi katika maisha.
40	mwakani	next year	noun	Tutafanya mabadiliko mwakani katika kampuni.
41	punde	soon	adverb	Nitakuja punde baada ya dakika chache.
42	kunyesha	to rain	verb	Leo kunyesha mvua kidogo.
43	dhoruba	storm	noun	dhoruba ilikumba mji jana.
44	pasaka	easter	noun	Familia inakusanyika pamoja kila mwaka wakati wa pasaka.
45	kiangazi	dry season	noun	Wakati wa kiangazi, mvua huwa ni chache sana.
46	juzi	yesterday	adverb	juzi nilitembelea jiji la zamani.
47	wikendi	weekend	noun	Ninapenda kupumzika wakati wa wikendi.
48	zuhri	midday	noun	Tunaweza kukutana baada ya zuhri.
49	vimbunga	hurricanes	noun	Mwaka huu, vimbunga vimekuwa vingi.
50	sun	sun	noun	sun inang'ara angani.
51	day	day	noun	Leo ni day nzuri kwa matembezi.
52	lijalo	future	noun	Tunahitaji kupanga lijalo kwa ajili ya sherehe.
53	misimu	seasons	noun	misimu ya mvua inakuja kila mwaka.
54	theluji	snow	noun	Katika msimu wa baridi, theluji inashuka.
55	mustakhbali	future	noun	Tunahitaji kupanga mustakhbali wetu vizuri.
56	masika	rainy season	noun	Mvua nyingi huja wakati wa masika.
57	mbeleni	in the future	adverb	Tutakutana mbeleni kwenye sherehe.
58	wikiendi	weekend	noun	Ninapenda kupumzika katika wikiendi na familia yangu.
59	nyeesha	to rain	verb	Mvua inahitaji nyeesha mimea.
60	suna	sun	noun	Alinunua suna nzuri sokoni.
61	baade	later	adverb	Tutakutana baade ya chakula cha jioni.
62	maramoja	immediately	adverb	Aliamua kufanya kazi maramoja kwa bidii.
63	duhur	noon	noun	Tunakutana kila siku ya duhur kwa mazungumzo.
64	milela	eternity	noun	Wakati wa milela ni wa thamani.
65	oluja	storm	noun	Aliandika hadithi kuhusu oluja ya zamani.
66	time	time	noun	Ninapanga time yangu vizuri.
67	vuli	autumn	noun	Wakati wa vuli unakuja, majani yanabadilika rangi.
68	mustakbali	future	noun	Tunapaswa kufikiria mustakbali wa watoto wetu.
69	sabah	morning	noun	Asubuhi, sabah ni wakati mzuri wa kuanza siku.
70	mstakabali	future	noun	Tunahitaji kupanga mstakabali wetu wa baadaye.
71	mwai	moon	noun	mwai ni sehemu muhimu ya utamaduni wetu.
72	sikuu	holiday	noun	Tunaadhimisha sikuu ya uhuru kila mwaka.
73	tunapoadhimisha	to celebrate	verb	Leo tunapoadhimisha siku ya uhuru.
74	adhuhuri	noon	noun	Tunakutana adhuhuri kwa ajili ya chakula cha mchana.
75	jumaa	friday	noun	Leo ni jumaa na watu wengi wanapumzika.
76	mawingu	clouds	noun	Leo mawingu ni mazuri, hakuna mvua.

Tips

Five of the day names begin with juma-: jumatatu, jumanne, jumatano, jumamosi and jumapili. Learn that shared opening first, then treat alhamisi and ijumaa as separate items.
Drill singular and plural together, since Swahili marks plural with a prefix change: mwaka becomes miaka. Note that miezi and miongo appear here in their plural forms.
Don't treat wakati and muda as interchangeable just because both gloss as "time" — read the example sentence for each and copy the contexts they appear in.
Practise saying dates by combining tarehe with the month names in this list, such as februari, juni and agosti, so the words stick in a realistic phrase rather than in isolation.
Group asubuhi, jioni and usiku as your "parts of the day" set and drill them next to siku and wiki, so you can say when something happens as well as how long it lasts.
Because mwishoni is an adverb meaning "at the end", rehearse it beside period words you already know, such as wiki and mwaka, rather than on its own.

Frequently asked questions

What's the difference between wakati and muda in Swahili?

Both are translated here as "time", but they are not used identically: compare the example sentences for each word to see which contexts each one appears in. Relying on the English gloss alone will not tell them apart.

What's the easiest way to remember the Swahili days of the week?

Learn jumatatu, jumanne, jumatano, jumamosi and jumapili as one group, since they all begin with juma-, and focus on the endings that distinguish them. Then memorise alhamisi and ijumaa separately.

Does this list include month names as well as general time words?

Yes — februari, juni and agosti appear alongside broader vocabulary such as siku, wiki, miezi, mwaka, miaka and kipindi. That gives you both calendar words and the general nouns used to talk about periods of time.

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