Useful Ewe phrases

A collection of useful phrases in Ewe, a Niger-Congo language spoken in Ghana, Togo and Benin.

See these phrases in any combination of two languages in the Phrase Finder. If you can provide recordings, corrections or additional translations, please contact me.

Key to abbreviations: sg = singular (said to one person), pl = plural (said to more than one person).

English	Eʋegbe (Ewe)
Welcome	Woé zɔ (sg) Miawoe zɔ (pl) Yooo (response)
Hello (General greeting)	No equivalent
How are you?	Ɛfoa?
Reply to 'How are you?'	Me fo. Wo ha ɛfoa?
Long time no see	Ɛdidi Ɛ nyteƒe (response)
What's your name?	Nkowode?
My name is ...	Nkↄnye nye ...
Where are you from?	Fika netso?
I'm from ...	Metso ...
Pleased to meet you	No equivalent. Smile and repeat the person's name
Good morning (Morning greeting)	Ŋdi Ŋdi na mi
Good afternoon (Afternoon greeting)	Ŋdɔ Ŋdɔ na mi
Good evening (Evening greeting)	Fiɛyi Fiɛyi na mi
Good night	Dɔ agbe
Goodbye (Parting phrases)	Hede nyuie (safe journey) Mia dogo (we'll meet again)
Good luck!	Eme nenyo
Cheers! Good Health! (Toasts used when drinking)
Have a nice day	Nkekea nenyo Ŋkekea me nenyo
Bon appetit / Have a nice meal
Bon voyage / Have a good journey	Hede nyuie (safe journey)
I understand	Se eme Me se eme Me se egɔme
I don't understand	Nye me se eme o Nye me se egɔme o
Yes	E
No	Ao
Maybe	Do ma hii
I don't know	Nye me nya o
Please speak more slowly	Meᶑekuku, ƒonu gbleũ
Please say that again	Meᶑekuku, ga gbloe ake
Please write it down	Meᶑekuku ηlↄe
Do you speak English?	Ese yevugbe a? Ese English a?
Do you speak Ewe?	Ese ʋegbe a?
Yes, a little (reply to 'Do you speak ...?')	E, vide E, vide vide
How do you say ... in Ewe?	Leke a gblↄ ... le Eʋe gbe me?
Excuse me	Kafla Meɖekuku
How much is this?	Nenie?
Sorry	Baba Babanawo
Please	Meɖekuku
Thank you	Akpe
Reply to thank you	Woezo Mia woezo Akpe melio Mesu akpe o
Where's the toilet / bathroom?	Fika afɔdzi le?
This gentleman will pay for everything	Afetↄ ke axe fe na nuwo katᾶ
This lady will pay for everything	Afenↄ ke axe fe na nuwo katᾶ
Would you like to dance with me?	Aᶑu wu kplim a?
I miss you	Me susu wo lo
I love you	Me lↄ wo
Get well soon	Na haya kaba
Go away!	Dzo le gbonye!
Leave me alone!	Heda le gbonye!
Help!	Kpedeŋu nye!
Fire!	Dzo!
Stop!	Tↄ!
Call the police!	Yↄ kpovi tↄ wo!
Christmas greetings	Blunya na wo
New Year greetings	Eƒé bé dzogbenyui nami Fè Yéyè Fé Dzogbenyui Nami
Easter greetings
Birthday greetings	Dzigbenyue nawo Dzigbe zã nyuie na wò
One language is never enough	Gbe deka mede blibo o
My hovercraft is full of eels

Corrections and translations provided by Kelvin Delali Abba of Ghana Nature Tours, with recordings, and some corrections, supplied by Dzidzɔ

Download all the audio files

If you would like to make any corrections or additions to this page, or if you can provide recordings, please contact me.

Information about Ewe | Phrases | Numbers | Tower of Babel

Links

Other collections of Ewe phrases
https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Ewe_phrasebook
http://zorinco.com/djembe/ghana/lang/ewe.html
https://wikitravel.org/en/Ewe_phrasebook

Phrases in Volta-Niger languages

Ewe, Igbo, Yorùbá

Phrases in other languages

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