Days of the week in Swahili are one of the hardest things to learn for English speakers.
Even though Swahili was my first language (but English is now my primary language), and I have been living in Tanzania for almost two decades, I still get tripped up about the days of the week sometimes and have to do a mental count to get it right.
Before I actually begin to tell you what the days of the week are in Swahili, let me begin to tell you about how the week is structured in the Swahili language.
In most of the English-speaking world (which has historically been mostly Christian), Sunday is the holy day of the week and so the new week begins on Monday, the following day.
In the primarily Muslim Swahili-speaking part of the world, the Holy Day of the week is Friday or Ijumaa.
Ok, so now…let’s get to it.
READ ALSO: Days in Swahili
Table of Contents
Days of the Week in Swahili and English (Including Jumatatu in English)
- Day 1 of the week (Saturday) is Jumamosi (literally ‘day one’).
- Day 2 of the week (Sunday) is Jumapili (literally ‘second day’).
- Day 3 of the week (Monday) is Jumatatu (literally ‘third day’).
- Day 4 of the week (Tuesday) is Jumanne (literally ‘day four’).
- Day 5 of the week (Wednesday) is Jumatano (literally ‘day five’).
Alhamisi in English
Then for the last two days of the week, things switch up a bit:
- Day 6 of the week (Thursday) is Alhamisi, and
- Day 7 of the week, the Holy Day (Friday) is Ijumaa.
That is it: that is how you say the days of the week in Swahili. Good luck on learning and rememebering them.
Photo credit: LizMundi1