Malagasy
Malagasy: When the Power Goes Out 1
Practical Dialogue
| Tapaka no jiro! | The lights went out! | jiro – light (noun), lightbulb, lamp, etc. |
| Nahoana no maty ny jiro? | Why did the lights go out? | nahaona – why (question word) |
| Tsisy herinaratra! | No electricity! | herinaratra – electricity |
| Jirama! | Jirama! [The name of the Malagasy national power and water company.] | |
| Indray? | Again? | |
| Manana labozia ve ianao? | Do you have any candles? | labozia – candles |
| Eny, manana aho. | Yes, I have [some]. | |
| Eny, manana baoritra misy labozia aho. | Yes, I have box(es) of candles. | baoritra – box(es) |
| Eny, manana labozia iray baoritra aho. | Yes, I have one box of candles. | labozia – carton/box |
| Manana afokasoka ve ianao? | Do you have matches? | afokasoka – match(es) |
| Eny, manana tranon’afokasoka aho. | Yes, I have a matchbox. | tranon’afokasoka – box of matches |
| Tsia, fa manana ity sigara sigara [sic] ity aho. | No, but I have this cigarette lighter. | sigara sigara – cigarette lighter |
| Tokony hijanona amin’ny sigara ianao. | You should stop smoking. [Lit: You should stop with the cigarettes.] | tokony – should
mijanona – to stop |
| Tsy mifoka aho! | I don’t smoke! | mifoka – to smoke [a cigarette] |
Advanced
| Nipoaka ny fuse elektrika ho an’ny tranoko. | The electrical fuse for my house exploded. | fuse elektrika – electrical fuse
mipoaka (to explode) |
| Taorian’ny fipoahana dia tsy nanana jiro nandrita ny adiny dimy abin’ny folo izahay, saingy nanana jiro tokoa ny mpiara-monina. | After the explosion, we had no electricity for fifteen hours, but the neighbors did have electricity. | fipoahana – explosion
|
| Nialona aho. | I was jealous. | mialona (to be jealous) |
