English→Kenyan English

Translate English to Kenyan English like a local.

Kenyan English sounds like itself through British spelling, direct local phrasing, and easy switches into Swahili, Sheng and words such as matatu, stage and mzee.

Going the other way? Kenyan English to English

474 local dialects

AIRTranslate on iPhone choosing between English varieties

What locals actually say

Can you help me find a minibus to the city centre?

Please sort me out with a matatu to town.

“Sort me out” is a familiar Kenyan way to ask for help, while “matatu” and “town” carry the local transport context.

Are you home yet?

Umefika home?

The Swahili perfect form “ume-” combines naturally with the English loanword “home” in everyday Kenyan family talk.

Tell the older man I want to get off at the next stop.

Mwambie mzee nitaalight at the next stage.

“Mzee” is a respectful form of address, while “alight” and “stage” are common Kenyan English choices for matatu travel.

I'll send you the money now.

I’ll send it to you via M-Pesa now.

M-Pesa is Kenya’s widely used mobile-money service and signals an everyday local way to send payment.

Please reply to my email when you have time.

Please revert to my email when you get time.

Revert is used in Kenyan business English to mean reply or respond, rather than return to an earlier state.

Please pack some roasted meat for me to take away.

Please pack some nyama choma for me to take away.

Nyama choma is the common Swahili name for roasted meat and signals a familiar Kenyan food-ordering context.

The rainy season has started.

The rains have started.

The plural rains is a common Kenyan English construction for the onset of the rainy season.

I don’t feel well today.

I’m feeling somehow today.

Feeling somehow is a Kenyan English expression meaning feeling off, unwell, or not quite oneself.

Notes like these come with every AIRTranslate translation, so you learn why locals phrase it that way as you go.

How Kenyan English differs

Kenyan English. British spelling; local flavour (sort out, alight from a matatu, mzee respectfully); casual register may borrow common Sheng/Swahili loanwords locals mix in (sawa, pole).

Sound like a local everywhere, not just here.

Every one of 474 dialects, with voice, camera, a keyboard for any app, and offline packs.

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Localization Notes explaining why locals say it that way