sahani
The Swahili word for plate is sahani.
sahani is a noun used to refer to a flat dish.
Meaning: flat dish (noun)
How does it change in a sentence?
sahani belongs to the N noun class. This means the word itself does not change form to show singular or plural. Instead, the noun class prefix on the accompanying verb or adjective will indicate whether you are talking about one plate or many plates.
Did you know?
- In some coastal contexts, the word sahani can refer to the courtyard of a house or a basin, reflecting its Arabic roots.
- In many Swahili-speaking households, the concept of a 'plate' is often secondary to the 'sahani' used for communal eating, where several people might share from a single large dish.
- The word sahani shares a common ancestor with the Arabic word ṣaḥn, which also refers to a tray or a large shallow dish.
Examples in context
- Weka sahani ya mkate na siagi juu ya uma.Place the bread and butter plate above the fork.This sentence is useful for describing where to place a sahani in relation to a fork.Tatoeba #10875544 by ecorralest101, translation #5335442 by Hybrid
- Susan anakula kama ndege na kubakisha chakula kwenye sahani yake.Susan eats like a bird and leaves most of the food on her plate.This sentence describes someone leaving food on their sahani.Tatoeba #10811807 by ecorralest101, translation #52399 by CN
- Kula sahani kubwa ya chapati maji pengine ni hatari zaidi ya kuvuta sigara.Eating a huge plate of pancakes is probably more dangerous than smoking.This sentence uses sahani to describe a large amount of food.Tatoeba #10889339 by ecorralest101, translation #6731891 by Eccles17
- Tafadhali niletee sahani ili niweze kula.Please bring me a plate so that I can eat.
- sahani ya chakulaA plate of food
Example conversation
Aisha is helping Juma set the table for dinner.
- JumaJe, nimeleta sahani zote?Did I bring all the plates?
- AishaNdiyo, una sahani tano hapa.Yes, you have five plates here.
- JumaSawa, nitaziweka mezani sasa.Okay, I will put them on the table now.
- AishaAsante sana, Juma.Thank you very much, Juma.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “plate” translations and entries sahani, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries sahani, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
