Jifunze Kiswahili

The Swahili phrase “kiasi kidogo” is made up of two words:kiasi → means amount, measure, portion, extent.kidogo → means small, little, few.So when joined together, “kiasi kidogo” literally means “a small amount” or “a little bit.”

Origin Both words come from standard Swahili, which is a Bantu language with heavy influence from Arabic.Kiasi comes from the Arabic word “qiyās” (قياس), meaning measure, comparison, scale.Kidogo is a native Bantu word in Swahili, commonly used to indicate smallness or littleness.

Usage in Sentences 1. Nipe maji kwa kiasi kidogo.→ Give me a small amount of water.2. Alikula chakula kwa kiasi kidogo kwa sababu hakuwa na njaa. → He ate only a little food because he was not hungry.3. Tunapaswa kutumia fedha kwa kiasi kidogo ili tusipoteze.→ We should use money sparingly so we don’t waste it. Sometimes, in casual speech, people just say “kidogo” (a little) instead of the full phrase “kiasi kidogo.”