Zulu Nouns
Welcome to the third Zulu lesson about nouns. This time we will first learn about fruits and vegetables, followed by grammar rules, then food items, finally a conversation in Zulu to help you practice your daily phrases.
potatoes  amazambane | tomatoes utamatisi | onions uhhanyanisi | carrots izaqathi |
fruits izithelo | apples amahhabhula | bananas obhanana | oranges amawolintshi |
Nouns Grammar Rules
In general nouns refer to a person, an object, or abstract ideas. For example: a fast runner the noun is [runner] because it refers to a person. The examples below use nouns in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence.
| Grammar + Rules | Zulu |
|---|---|
| do you have milk? [verb + noun] | unalo ubisi? |
| I have milk and coffee [preposition + noun] | nginobisi nekhofi |
| he has three apples [number + plural noun] | unamahhabhula amathathu |
| she only has one apple [number + singular noun] | yena unelilodwa kuphela |
| we live in a small house [adjective + noun] | sihlala endlini encane |
| I like our breakfast [pronoun + noun] | ngiyasithanda isidlo sethu sasekuseni |
The following are nouns of food items that you might be interested in learning and memorizing.
bread isinkwa | milk ubisi | butter ibhotela | cheese ushizi |
coffee ikhofi | sandwich isamishi | meat inyama | chicken inkukhu |
fish inhlanzi | breakfast isidlo sasekuseni | lunch isidlo sasemini | dinner isidlo sasebusuku |
Conversation in Zulu
Now we finally reach the fun part, the practice of the daily conversations. These phrases are used to get to know new people, and break the ice.
| English | Zulu |
|---|---|
| Do you speak (English/ Zulu)? | ukhuluma (isingisi/isizulu)? |
| Just a little | kancane nje |
| I like Zulu | ngithanda isizulu |
| Can I practice with you? | ngingazama nawe? |
| How old are you? | uneminyaka emingaki? |
| I'm thirty three years old | ngineminyaka engamashumi amathathu nantathu |
| It was nice talking to you | kube mnandi ukukhuluma nawe |
I hope you enjoyed this lesson about the nouns in Zulu. If you have any question about this lesson please contact me here. Now check the next lesson below.
| Zulu Plural |
Inspirational Quote: A coward gets scared and quits. A hero gets scared, but still goes on. |