Contents
5W1H (INTERROGATIVES)
1. What did you eat yesterday?
Vocabulary
| English | Chichewa |
| (word introducing a question) | Kodi |
| you | mu |
| (past tense) | na |
| eat | dya |
| what | chiyani |
| yesterday | dzulo? |
| I | ndi |
| rice | mpunga |
*It is possible to omit ’Kodi’ as the word introducing a question.
John
(Kodi) munadya chiyani dzulo?
What did you eat yesterday?
Emma
Ndinadya nsima dzulo.
I ate nsima yesterday.
2. Who is cooking?
Vocabulary
| English | Chichewa |
| (word introducing a question) | Kodi |
| who | ndani |
| he/she | a |
| is -ing | ku |
| cook | phika |
John
(Kodi) ndani akuphika?
Who is cooking?
Emma
Steven akuphika.
Steven is cooking.
3. Where do you stay?
Vocabulary
| English | Chichewa |
| (word introducing a question) | Kodi |
| you | mu |
| (present habitual tense) | ma |
| stay | khala |
| where | kuti |
| I | Ndi |
| in | ku |
John
(Kodi) mumakhala kuti?
Where do you stay?
Emma
Ndimakhala ku Lilongwe.
I stay in Lilongwe.
4. When will you go to Lilongwe?
Vocabulary
| English | Chichewa |
| (word introducing a question) | Kodi |
| you | mu |
| (future tense) | dza |
| go | pita |
| when | liti |
| to | ku |
| Lilongwe | Lilongwe |
| I | Ndi |
| tomorrow | mawa |
John
(Kodi) mudzapita liti ku Lilongwe?
When will you go to Lilongwe?
Emma
Ndidzapita ku Lilongwe mawa.
I will go to Lilongwe tomorrow.
5. Why didn’t you come yesterday?
Vocabulary
| English | Chichewa |
| (word introducing a question) | Kodi |
| why | chifukwa chiyani |
| not | si |
| you | mu |
| (past tense) | na |
| come | bwera |
| yesterday | dzulo |
| because | chifukwa |
| I | ndi |
| was | nali |
| busy | busy |
John
(Kodi) chifukwa chiyani simunabwere dzulo?
Why didn’t you come yesterday?
Emma
Chifukwa ndinali busy dzulo.
Because I was busy yesterday.
6. How much have you bought the phone?
Vocabulary
| English | Chichewa |
| (word introducing a question) | Kodi |
| you’ve | mwa |
| buy | gula |
| how much | bwanji |
| phone | foni |
John
(Kodi) mwagula bwanji foni?
How much have you bought the phone?
Emma
Thirty thousand kwacha.
MK30,000.
7. What time do you sleep?
Vocabulary
| English | Chichewa |
| (word introducing a question) | Kodi |
| you | mu |
| (present habitual tense) | ma |
| sleep | gona |
| what time | nthawi yanji |
| I | Ndi |
| 10 o’clock | 10 koloko |
John
(Kodi) mumagona nthawi yanji?
What time do you sleep?
Emma
Ndimagona 10 koloko.
I sleep 10 o’clock.
