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- Topic: Swahili >
- "hodi nyumbani!"
36 Comments
40
Because it isn't really a question. It's more like a shorter way of saying "I'm at your door", just like saying "hello" in English is a short way of saying "I am here". It's a call for attention, and only functions as a request for permission to enter.
In the rural areas it is also used when approaching a compound to warn them of your approach (in case they were bathing outside or something). Some traditional houses don't have doors to knock on and it can feel very sudden to have someone appear outside your door when you live on a farm, far from others.
I was wondering the same... I came across two exercises that both asked "May I come in, Mom? The swahili translation was written with an exclamation point for one exercise and a question mark for the other...
There are several ways to answer this, and even when I repeat the answer exactly like the quiz, it refuses to accept my answer...sigh
House is Nyumba and home is nyumbani. Nyumbani is the locative of Nyumba. The general suffix for expressing the location is -ni. For more information you can look at the Wiktionary page for Noun Classes.
There are a lot of problems with the Swahili lessons. I lived in East Africa for 6 years and did a lot of translating. I've tried to inform the duolingo people of the problems but am not hearing back from them. So, I leave Swahili and return to French or Spanish.
- 121
after several attempts, I just copied and pasted what it said was the correct answer - and it still told me that was wrong!
I've copied and pasted the correct answer at this point and it still continues to mark it wrong. what??
I translated it as "May I come into the house" which wasn't accepted. They wanted 'in'. Can anyone explain why this made the sentence unacceptable?
Knock Knock., May I come into the house? This is what the suggestion and this is exactly what i answered.. but it is rejecting me.. huh !
- 40
Did you write both the sentences at once? Those are two different suggestions. I do agree, though, that you could potentially translate the whole social interaction of shouting "hodi" to those two sentences together (the "knock, knock" being actually knocking on a door).
"can" instead of "may" is not accepted for this one. I wanted to report it, but the only options are: -The audio does not sound correct. -The dictionary hints on hover are wrong or missing. -The Swahili sentence is unnatural or has an error. It's definitely not one of these, but "can" should be accepted (as it is in all similar sentences in this course), how can I report it?
The copy paste function still does not work today. Let's hope "wanaamka hivi karibuni" and fix this sentence.
I am copying the answer exactly and it is marking it as incorrect no matter what I do.
Now it wont accept home for nyumbani and earlier on it wont accept house for nyumbani?
I think there is a bug as it never accepted my answer. I have reported it to them. I even went through the main help section to send them a detailed bug report.
If hodi mama can be knock knock mom then why can't this be knock knock home
May I come into the home should be accepted. Why is it sometimes acceptable as house and not home and sometimes acceptable as house and not home? Come on DuoLingo. Give us a break.
When I was in Tanzania we would just shout, "hodi!" Untill someone answered, as would teh locals. "Nyumbani" was never used.
There is an exclamation mark at the end of the statement. It is not a question. If it has to stay that way credit should be given for both. On the other hand, if the word indicates a question, it should be written as such please.
- 40
Grammatically, it's not a question. It's a call for attention, meaning roughly "Hello!" or "I am at your gate!". But the word implies the question "May I enter?".
