Time, Hours and Days in Lingala

Being able to say when things happen is one of the first practical skills you need in a new language. You need a handful of everyday time words to set up a meeting, ask what time a pharmacy opens or tell someone about your week. In Lingala, these words turn up in almost every daily conversation, at the market and at family celebrations alike. This article covers the core vocabulary (morning, evening, week, month, year, hour), then real sentences recorded by native teachers, dialogues and a practical case, so you can place an action in the past, the present or the future.

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Time in Lingala: cultural context

In Lingala conversations, time is rarely abstract. People talk about the morning (tongo) when they sent a message, the evening (mpokwa) when they meet up to chat, the rainy season and the weekend celebration. Time markers are tied to everyday life: work, the market, family and getting around.

A good example comes from an exchange between a child and a father. The father asks the child about the season:

• Mwana, oyebi eleko ya lelo? = Child, do you know what season it is now?
• Ezali eleko ya mbula, tata. = It's the rainy season, dad.

Look at the word mbula: it means both "rain" and "year". It is one word with two meanings, and context tells you which one is meant. Lingala has another word for "year": mobu. You'll find it in mobu ya sika, "the new year". To wish someone a happy new year, people say Bonana, a loanword from French (bonne année). It shows how much languages mix in real life.

Another feature to know about: the word lobi means both "tomorrow" and "yesterday". That surprises most learners at first. In practice, the verb in the sentence and the context clear up any doubt. We'll come back to this below with concrete examples.

Finally, the religious and family calendar shapes a lot of plans. Sunday (eyenga) is a day of celebration, and Saturday (mokolo ya poso) is often a wedding day. In the recorded lessons, one character's brother gets married "on Saturday", and another character promises not to miss "next Sunday". So learning the days of the week also means learning to talk about social life.

Essential time vocabulary in Lingala

These are the words to learn first. All of them come from lessons recorded by native teachers.

Two more expressions are worth adding to your notebook: nsuka ya poso (the end of the week, the weekend) and mobu ya sika (the new year). You may also come across ntongo, another form of the word for "morning".

Here are a few tips to help you remember them faster.

One pattern for "last" and "next". Compare poso eleki (last week) with poso ekoya (next week). The word poso stays the same, and only the second word changes: eleki points to the past, ekoya points to what is coming. You'll find ekoya again in sanza ekoya (next month). In the recorded sentences it also shows up in mobu ekoya (next year) and Eyenga ekoya (next Sunday). With this pattern you can quickly build many expressions from a single base word.

Two ways to say "Sunday". The vocabulary list gives both eyenga (feast day, Sunday) and mokolo ya eyenga (Sunday). The first is shorter and very common in speech, as in Eyenga ekoya, "next Sunday".

Saturday is built on the word for week. Mokolo ya poso literally reads as "the day of the week". Keep this in mind: when you hear it, people are talking about Saturday, as in the sentence about the brother's wedding.

The word for "hour". Ngonga means hour. To ask a question, add nini: ngonga nini, "at what time". In the examples below you'll see ngonga in full sentences, for instance for a closing time or a long commute.

Lingala sentences and dialogues about time

Now let's practise with exact sentences recorded by a native teacher. Read them aloud, then listen to the native audio in Targumi's courses to fine-tune your pronunciation.

Durations and appointments

• Amen. Toko monana lobi. = Amen. See you tomorrow.
• Iyo, lobi. Likambo te! = Yes, tomorrow. No problem!
• Malamu. Eko ya minuti mwambe. = Good. About eight minutes.
• Te, minuti mitano ata. = No, five minutes at most.
• Tuku mibale ya minuti, kasi na suka douane esali mingi. = Twenty minutes, but customs takes a long time.

Here lobi means "tomorrow": Toko monana lobi announces a meeting that hasn't happened yet. Notice also how a duration is given with minuti (minutes).

Weeks, months and years

• Na poso mibale. = In two weeks.
• Na sanza ya motoba. = In June.
• Elanga ekoya ntango nini? = When will the dry season come?
• Na bambula 60-80. = In the '60s to '80s.

The small preposition na often introduces the moment: Na poso mibale, Na sanza ya motoba. It's a simple pattern you can reuse.

A dialogue about last week

Two friends meet and catch up on their week:

• Mbote Gloria! Sango nini? Osalaki nini poso eleki? Namonaki yo te. = Hi Gloria! What's new? What did you do last week? I didn't see you.
• Te, nakendaki na lopitalo te. Nakendaki kaka na farmasi, nasombaki nkisi mpe nalalaki mokolo mobimba. Lelo nazali malamu. = No, I didn't go to the hospital. I just went to the pharmacy, bought some medicine and slept all day. Today I'm fine.

This dialogue shows poso eleki in a real situation, along with the word lelo (today), which brings the conversation back to the present.

A dialogue about the future

Two people talk about their plans:

• Patrick, okosala nini na poso ekoya? Nayoki ete okokende na mobembo. = Patrick, what are you doing next week? I heard you're going on a trip.
• Ee, nakokende Matadi na motuka mpo ete ndeko na ngai ya mobali akobala na mokolo ya poso. = Yes, I'm driving to Matadi because my brother is getting married on Saturday.
• Kitoko! Okozonga tango nini? Nalingi tokutana liboso ya sanza ekoya. = Great! When will you be back? I'd like us to meet up before next month.

Poso ekoya, mokolo ya poso and sanza ekoya all fit naturally into the same conversation. This is the vocabulary from the table, used by native speakers.

Yesterday, today, tomorrow: the lobi trap

Here is the word lobi in both of its meanings:

• Tokende! Kasi liboso, nakosilisa mosala oyo. Nabandaki yango lobi mpe nasilisi naino te. = Let's go! But first I'll finish this work: I started it yesterday and I haven't finished yet.
• Christian, lobi oyaki na feti ya libala ya ndeko na ngai te. Mpo na nini? = Christian, yesterday you didn't come to my brother's wedding party. Why?
• Mpe yo, telephone na yo ezali wapi? Nabengaki yo lobi na butu, oyanolaki ngai te. = And you, where's your phone? I called you last night and you didn't answer.
• Limbisa ngai, ndeko na ngai. Telephone na ngai ebebaki, nakobongisa yango lobi soki nazwi mbongo. = Forgive me, my sister. My phone broke, and I'll get it fixed tomorrow if I have the money.

In the first three sentences the action is already done, so lobi means yesterday. In the last one, the verb nakobongisa announces something still to come, so lobi means tomorrow. Make this a habit: always look at the rest of the sentence to work out which day is meant.

Practical case: asking when a pharmacy closes

Imagine you're in a neighbourhood, you need some medicine and you want to know whether the pharmacy is open. Here is a real exchange recorded by a native teacher:

• Papa Mbuyi, mbote. Bolimbisa ngai, nakoki kotuna bino mwa likambo? Boyebi soki farmasi ya Mama Nicole ezali kosala lelo? = Hello, Papa Mbuyi. Excuse me, may I ask you a quick question? Do you know if Mama Nicole's pharmacy is open today?
• Iyo, ezali kosala, kasi bakokanga yango na ngonga ya libwa. Kende noki, mpe keba na mituka, batambwisaka makasi na balabala oyo. = Yes, it's open, but they'll close at nine o'clock. Go quickly, and watch out for cars: people drive fast on this road.

What can you learn from this exchange?

1. Politeness comes first. You greet the person (mbote), apologise for bothering them (Bolimbisa ngai), then ask your question. This is the natural way to ask an older person for information.
2. "Today" is lelo. The question is about today: "... ezali kosala lelo?".
3. The hour is given with ngonga. The answer gives the closing time with na ngonga ya libwa, "at nine o'clock". The word ngonga is at the centre of every question about time.

You can also use ngonga nini, "at what time", to ask about opening hours yourself and then listen for the answer.

Another common situation is talking about how long a journey takes, especially in a big city:

• Kasi Lemba ezali mosika na mosala na yo. Okolekisa ngonga mingi na nzela, mpo nzela ya Kinshasa etondaka na mituka. = But Lemba is far from your work. You'll spend hours on the road, because the roads in Kinshasa are always full of cars.

Here, ngonga mingi means "many hours". The same word, ngonga, gives both a shop's closing time and the length of a commute.

Finally, to plan an evening out or a get-together, a few useful sentences combine well with the vocabulary from the table:

• Tokobina rumba soir? = Shall we dance rumba tonight?
• Ezali mokano ya malamu! Tango nakozonga, nakobenga yo, tokosolola na pokwa. = That's a good decision! When I get back, I'll call you and we'll talk in the evening.
• Natindaki yo sango na tongo. = I sent you a message in the morning.

These three sentences bring together soir (a French word slipped into everyday Lingala), pokwa (evening, a variant of mpokwa) and tongo (morning) in very concrete situations: dancing, chatting and sending a message.

Key points and common mistakes

Recap

• Times of day: tongo (morning), mpokwa (evening).
• Days: mokolo ya poso (Saturday), eyenga or mokolo ya eyenga (Sunday).
• Week and weekend: poso, nsuka ya poso.
• Months and years: sanza, mobu, mbula, mobu ya sika.
• Past and future: poso eleki (last week), poso ekoya (next week), sanza ekoya (next month).
• Hour: ngonga, ngonga nini.
• Yesterday or tomorrow: lobi, depending on context.
• New Year wishes: Bonana for Happy New Year.

Common mistakes

1. Always translating lobi as "tomorrow". This is the number one mistake. With a verb that shows a finished action, as in Nabengaki yo lobi na butu, it means yesterday. With a verb that announces a future action, as in nakobongisa yango lobi, it means tomorrow.

2. Mixing up mbula (rain, year) and mobu (year). When you talk about "the new year", use mobu ya sika. When you talk about the season, eleko ya mbula means the rainy season.

3. Forgetting the word that means "last" or "next". Poso on its own just means "week". To talk about the past or coming week, add eleki or ekoya. Without it, the person you're talking to won't know which week you mean.

4. Confusing poso and mokolo ya poso. The first is the week and the second is Saturday. Don't swap them when you're setting a date.

5. Overlooking the spelling mposo. The vocabulary notes that poso can also be spelled mposo. If you see that form in a text or on a sign, it's the same word.

6. Not learning by ear. Accents and tones matter. The vocabulary marks sanza as /sánzá/ and mobu as /móbú/. Always listen to a native recording before repeating a word.

Going further with Lingala

Here's a simple four-step method to keep improving.

1. Learn the 15 words in the table first. Write them out by hand, then cover the English column and test yourself.
2. Memorise whole sentences. Sentences like Na poso mibale or Na sanza ya motoba are more useful than single words, because they show you how a sentence is built.
3. Listen to native audio. On Targumi, the Lingala courses include human recordings made by native teachers. Repeat each sentence aloud, then compare yourself with the audio.
4. Talk about your week. Every evening, try to say in one sentence what you did or what you're going to do, using lelo, lobi, poso eleki or poso ekoya. Use the dialogues with Gloria and Patrick as models.

You can also check where you're starting from before picking your next lessons with the level test linked at the top of this article.

Conclusion. Talking about time in Lingala comes down to a small set of very frequent words: tongo, mpokwa, lobi, poso, sanza, mobu and ngonga. With them you can set up a meeting, ask about opening hours, describe last week and share your plans. Above all, remember the eleki and ekoya pattern for past and future, and watch out for the two meanings of lobi. Keep listening to native speakers and repeating their sentences, and these words will soon come naturally.

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