38 Comments
The translation is "May I come in?" but why doesn't it accept "May I enter?"
Yea, I think people should only downvote when someone else deliberately posts wrong translations or something. Not for jokes or questions :/ I see lots of people unrighteously getting downvoted and it kinda pisses me off.
Yep. A lot of people are complaining about downvotes on Duolingo. Especially in the forums.
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Indeed. It actually is a great way to remember this one. I'm even considering giving a lingot for this.
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Hodi means something like "knock". In this lesson you also learn "Hodi hodi" - "Knock knock".
Tried using "Knock knock" as a reply - got it wrong... perhaps that would be "hodi hodi"?
My native language is a bantu dialect and we say "kodi" to mean the same as the swahili "hodi". I always find it interesting to draw parallels between Swahili and bantu languages.
That's right, but from my experience, a lot of speakers of other pure Bantu languages don't consider Swahili pure because of the heavy borrowings from Arabic dialects. It's comparable to saying that English is a Germanic language, but highly altered due to the influence from French and Latin.
It is a greeting used before/when entering someone's property or house, so it's a bit hard to translate.
It is spoken loudly to ask for permission to enter - it is used instead of knocking (as we do in our/many/other cultures) - and the speaker should/would wait for "Karibu" (welcome) before entering - if nobody answers, the "hodi" calls may go on for quite a while before they assume no one is at home and return/leave.
"Can I come in" should work. Please, no prescriptivists tell me it has to be "may I". There's a huge subset of English speakers who don't use "may I" at all, even in a formal register.
"Hodi" reflects a culture where some people had doors and some didn't. To call out "hodi" meant "hi anyone in?", and you never entered until you received a "karibu" (welcome). This ensured privacy and recognition of property, even if there was no door or gate. So these direct translations are somewhat limiting as they come from a different cultural perspective. I think it should accept "may I come in?", "knock" or "anyone in?"
karibu (welcome which gives them permission to enter) subiri kidogo If you want them to wait
So is this a question or a statement? Are you requesting permission to enter or proceed, or are you simply notifying someone you are entering and proceeding?
I would say it is similar to knocking on a door and a person saying come in or wait a minute .
It might be a stretch, but couldn't this be translated as hello? It's what I would say if I'm standing at an entrance trying to show I'm there.
I agree it is a stretch; for the purpose of Duolingo and language learning, I would say no (a knock is very different from hello as a greeting), but good for remembering yourself. :)
I'd say for the purpose of language learning "hello?" Is a pretty damn accurate translation. Also they should just provide you with some context of how words are used. It's absolutely useless learning a translation that makes no sense.
it is used here in Tanzania when you are outside a persons home etc wanting to come in. simular to how some people knock on a door and say can i come in? It's a way of letting people know you are wanting to enter.
You say "hodi!" when you knock on the door, but also hodi when you're asked to come in. To avoid confusion a question mark would be better suited.
Here in Tanzania you do not use it when asked to come in. you say hodi then the person inside will say karibu(welcome) or subiri kidogo(wait a little bit). Once you enter inside you start the regular greetings. At least that is my experience here in Tanzania. But it is not uncommon to say more than once. I will usually say it outside a person's gate and again right outside the person's home.
You could report it. "hodi" is not actually a knock, but the word you say/shout instead of knocking - it's a cultural term that is difficult to translate.
Not really. "Hodi" isn't really a question, but is a call for attention when you are about to enter a house, appartment or also a rural building complex. It's so that the people living there have the opportunity to say "Karibu!" (welcome) or "Subiri" (wait). It only functions the same way as the question "May I enter" or the same way as a knock on the door, but grammatically, it doesn't pose a question.
