Useful phrases in Lingala

A collection of useful phrases in Lingala, a Bantu lanuage spoken mainly in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and in the Republic of Congo.

Jump to phrases

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: frm = formal, inf = informal, sg = singular (said to one person), pl = plural (said to more than one person).

Phrase	Lingala
Welcome	Boyei bolamu
Hello (General greeting)	Mbote Mbote na yo (sg) Mbote na bino (pl) Sango nini
Hello (on phone)	Halo
How are you?	Ndenge nini? Ozali malamu? (Are you well?) Nsango nini? Sango nini? (What's new?)
Reply to 'How are you?'	Malamu Nazali malamu (I'm well) Sango te (Nothing's new) Nsango te Na yo? (And you?)
Long time no see	Kala to monana
What's your name?	Kombo na yo?
My name is ...	Kombo na ngaï ...
Where are you from?	Owuta Wapi?
I'm from ...	Na wuti na ...
Pleased to meet you	Nasepeli Nasepeli koyeba yo
Good morning (Morning greeting)	Mbote
Good afternoon (Afternoon greeting)	Mbote
Good evening (Evening greeting)	Mbote
Good night	Butu elamu Lala elamu (Sleep well)
Goodbye (Parting phrases)	Tokomonana (frm) Kende malamu (go well) Tikala malamu (stay well)
Good luck!	Libaku malamu
Have a nice day	Mokolo malamu
Bon appetit / Have a nice meal	Kolia mboté Kolia malamu
Bon voyage / Have a good journey	Nzela elamu
Yes	Ee
No	Te
Maybe	Mbala mosúsu
I don't know	Na yebi té
I understand	Na yoki
I don't understand	Na zali kososola té Nazo yóka elóko mókó té
Please speak more slowly	Okoki koloba malembe?
Please say that again	Loba lisusu
Please write it down	Koma eloko wana s'il te plaît
Do you speak English?	Olobaka Lingelésa?
Do you speak Lingala?	Olobaka lingala?
Yes, a little (reply to 'Do you speak ...?')	Ee, nayebi lingala moke
Speak to me in Lingala	Lobela ngaï na lingala
How do you say ... in Lingala?	Balobaka boni na lingala ...?
Excuse me	Limbisa ngaï Bolimbisi
How much is this?	Ezali talo boni?
Sorry	Nandimi te Bolimbisi Limbisa ngaï
Please	Soki okosepela (frm - rare) S'il vous plait S'il te plait
Thank you	Merci Botondi Natondi Natondi yo Ebote mingi
Reply to thank you	Likambo te
Where's the toilet / bathroom?	Wapi cabinet? Cabinet ezali wapi?
This gentleman will pay for everything	Ndéko mobali oyo ako futa nyosso
This lady will pay for everything	Ndéko mwassi oyo ako futa nyosso
Would you like to dance with me?	Olingi ko bina na ngaï?
Do you come here often?	O yakaka awa mingi?
I love you	Nalingi bino
Get well soon	Bika noki!
Go away!	Nkendé kuna!
Leave me alone!	Tika ngaï ngaï-moko!
Help!	Salissa Ngaï!
Fire!	Moto!
Stop!	Tika!
Call the police!	Bénga ba mbila!
Christmas greetings	Mbótama elámu
New Year greetings	Mbula elamu Bonane
Birthday greetings	Mbotama elamu
Easter greetings	Pasika ya esengo
One language is never enough	Lolemu moko ezali nyosso te

Recordings and some Lingala phrases provided by LaPolyglotte

Hear some Lingala phrases

Download 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 Lingala | Phrases | Numbers

Links

Other collections of Lingala phrases
http://www.17-minute-world-languages.com/en/lingala/
http://pascal.grouselle.pagesperso-orange.fr/voca.htm
https://lobalingala.wordpress.com/kobanda-to-start/
http://www.multiphrasebook.com/data/pdf/Lingala%20-%20English%20phrase%20book.pdf
https://quizlet.com/80939187/lingala-useful-phrases-flash-cards/

Phrases in Bantu languages

Bemba, Chichewa, Chokwe, Duala, Herero, Ibinda, Kikuyu, Kinyarwanda, Lingala, Lozi, Luganda, Ndebele (Northern - South Africa), Ndebele (Northern - Zimbabwe), Ndebele (Southern) Nkore, Northern Sotho, Oshiwambo, Shona, Southern Sotho (seSotho), Swahili, Swati, Tsonga, Tswana, Tumbuka, Umbundu, Venda, Xhosa, Zulu

Phrases in other languages

[top]

You can support this site by Buying Me A Coffee, and if you like what you see on this page, you can use the buttons below to share it with people you know.

Conversations - learn languages through stories

If you like this site and find it useful, you can support it by making a donation via PayPal or Patreon, or by contributing in other ways. Omniglot is how I make my living.

Note: all links on this site to Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.fr are affiliate links. This means I earn a commission if you click on any of them and buy something. So by clicking on these links you can help to support this site.

[top]