There is a sentence in the Igbo dictionary that reads almost like an instruction manual for this topic:
Mmadụ bịa be gị, i sị ya nnọọ.
When someone comes to your house, you tell him welcome.
Not you might. Not it is polite to. You tell him welcome. That is the custom stated as a fact.
The Word
Note the gloss on nnọọ — particularly for a visitor. It is not a general-purpose greeting. It belongs to the moment someone arrives somewhere.
And ndị ọbịa is the plural — guests as a group: Ndị ọbịa dị iche iche bịara ya bụ mmemme. — Many different guests came for the ceremony.
The Full Welcome
The dictionary gives the two-part version, and it is worth learning exactly as it stands:
- Bata n’ime ụlọ! Nnọọ! — Come into the house! Welcome!
Two moves. First the instruction to come in — bata, a bare imperative. Then the welcome.
N’ime ụlọ is na contracted before a vowel plus ime (inside) plus ụlọ (house) — into the inside of the house. Igbo is specific about interiors.
Welcoming a Group Formally
For arriving in-laws or any formal party, the dictionary has the sentence:
- Anyị na-anabata ndị ọgọ anyị si Abakeleke! — We welcome our in-laws from Abakaliki!
Three things worth copying from it. The welcome is in the first person plural — anyị, we, a household speaking as one. The guests are named as a group. And they are identified by where they came from.
The verb is nabata — to accept or receive. Receiving someone is an action, not a feeling.
What Comes After the Welcome
Food and drink, and the vocabulary is straightforward:
- nri — food
- mmanya — wine
- mmiri — water
Offering something is expected rather than optional, and in many homes water comes first without being asked for.
Use biko when you offer, and remember to use unu rather than gị if more than one person has arrived.
Why This Topic Carries Weight
In many cultures hospitality is a kindness. In Igbo homes it is closer to an obligation — which means its absence is read as a statement rather than an oversight.
That is why nnọọ is worth knowing even if you learn almost no other Igbo. A visitor who is not welcomed notices; a visitor welcomed in Igbo by someone still learning notices that too, and warmly.
Go Deeper on Igbo Hospitality
Welcoming guests is the fourth topic in Simple Igbo Conversations, alongside greeting elders, conversations at home, and talking on the phone.
👉 See Simple Igbo Conversations on IgboLearn
🎤 Practise welcoming a visitor in a live Igbo conversation
Related reading: how to say welcome in Igbo goes further into nnọọ and why it is reserved for arrival. If the welcome runs to a full meal, the ten Igbo soups and what their names mean covers what is likely to be in the pot — and how to say thank you in Igbo is what the guest owes in return.
Nnọọ — and the dictionary’s gloss is specific: particularly for a visitor. It is not a general-purpose greeting but belongs to the moment someone arrives somewhere. The two-part version pairs it with bata, come in.
Three things to copy from the dictionary’s sentence: the welcome is in the first person plural, anyị, a household speaking as one; the guests are named as a group; and the verb is nabata, to accept or receive. Receiving someone is an action, not a feeling.
Where hospitality elsewhere is a kindness, in Igbo homes it is closer to an obligation — so its absence is read as a statement rather than an oversight. That is why nnọọ is worth knowing even if you learn almost no other Igbo.