muraho
Hello in Kinyarwanda is muraho.
muraho is a general greeting used when meeting someone, regardless of the time of day.
Meaning: greeting (intj)
What does it mean word for word?
The word muraho is derived from the root -ho, which relates to being or existing and it is used in a sense of wishing someone to be well or be healthy.
Which one should you use?
While muraho is a general greeting, if you are addressing a group, you might add mwese to say hello to you all.
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
muraho is a formal or polite way to say hello, suitable for strangers or people of higher status.
When do people say it?
To say Good morning formally, you can use Mwaramutse until around midday and Mwiriwe is a formal way to say Good afternoon. After an initial greeting, it is common to use Amakuru? to continue the conversation.
Did you know?
- While muraho is common for strangers, Rwandans often use a series of very specific greetings based on the exact activity the other person is doing, such as farming or walking.
- The formal greeting Mwaramutse is not just a way to say 'good morning', but is linguistically tied to the idea of having 'passed the night' well.
- Because Kinyarwanda is a tonal language, the melody of how you say muraho can subtly convey the level of warmth or the urgency of the encounter.
Examples in context
- Muraho, amakuru?Hello, how are you?
- Muraho mwese.Hello everyone.
Example conversation
Olivier and Alice meet on the street during the day.
- OlivierMuraho, Alice!Hello, Alice!
- AliceMuraho, Olivier. Amakuru?Hello, Olivier. How are you?
- OlivierNi meza, murakoze.I am fine, thank you.
- AliceNishimiye kukubona.I am happy to see you.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “hello” translations and entries muraho, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
