Ways to say it
| Swahili |
|---|
| shilingi ngapi |
| pesa ngapi |
| bei gani |
These phrases are used to ask about the cost/price?
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase shilingi ngapi literally means how many shillings. The phrase pesa ngapi literally means how much money, and bei gani literally means what price.
Which one should you use?
Use shilingi ngapi when you are asking for a specific numerical amount in the local currency. Use pesa ngapi to ask for an amount of money in a more general sense instead of specifying a currency. Use bei gani to ask about the price or cost of an item rather than asking for a specific count of currency units.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In Kenya, the phrase Bei ikoje? is used informally to mean "How much is it?" In Tanzania, Inagharimu kiasi gani? is used to ask "How much does it cost?"
How does it change in a sentence?
The word ngapi is the interrogative form used for countable nouns in Swahili.
Did you know?
- The word pesa used in pesa ngapi is not native to Africa, but was borrowed from the Hindi word 'paisā'.
- In Kenyan markets, using the informal Bei ikoje? is a common way to signal that you are ready to negotiate the price.
- While ngapi is used for counting, the word gani in bei gani is used to ask 'which' or 'what kind' of price.
Examples in context
- Nataka kununua kitabu hiki. Ni bei gani?I want to buy this book. How much is it?This sentence is useful for practicing using bei gani to ask the price of a book.Tatoeba #13838658 by ecorralest101, translation #13838650 by ecorralest101
- Ni bei gani?How much is it?This sentence shows how to use bei gani to ask for the price of something.Tatoeba #1121720 by megamanenm, translation #2418 by brauliobezerra
- "Una pesa ngapi?" "Dola elfu mbili kwa dhahabu, na tano kwa noti.""How much money have you?" "Two thousand dollars in gold, and five in notes."This sentence demonstrates using pesa ngapi to ask how much money someone has.Tatoeba #10886543 by ecorralest101, translation #6359744 by Hybrid
Example conversation
Said is buying a bag from Neema at a market.
- SaidHabari Neema, mkoba huu ni shilingi ngapi?Hello Neema, how much is this bag?
- NeemaHabari Said, mkoba huo ni shilingi elfu kumi.Hello Said, that bag is ten thousand shillings.
- SaidHiyo ni bei ya juu sana.That is a very high price.
- NeemaNdio, lakini ni mkoba mzuri sana.Yes, but it is a very beautiful bag.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “how much” translations and entries shilingi ngapi, pesa ngapi, bei gani, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries bei, bei gani, ngapi, pesa, pesa ngapi, shilingi, shilingi ngapi, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
