Learning a few of the basics is really opens up a country to the traveler, visitor, tourist… Just a little of the language will help you to get around, to meet people and to really deepen your experience of a culture. It shows the locals that you want to learn about them and care about their country and culture. So start with these basics…note: Underlined words are shown as samples only, you should substitute as necessary
Basic Greetings and Pleasantries
| Nepali Tranliteration | English Translation |
| Namaste | Hello, Greetings, I bless the divine in you |
| Namaskar | The more respectful version of Namaste |
| Hajur | All purpose term meaning yes? Pardon, Excuse me? |
| (Tapaiilai) Kasto Cha? | How are you? |
| (Malai) Thik Cha | I am fine |
| Khana khannu bhaiyo? | Have you eaten? (used often as informal greeting) |
| Dhanybhad | Thank you |
| Tapaiiko naam ke ho? | What is you name? |
| Mero naam Ann-Marie ho | My name is Ann-Marie |
| Maaph garnuhos | Excuse me/ pardon me/ sorry |
| Maile bhujhina | I don’t understand |
| Maile bhujhe | I understand |
| Pheri bhetaunla | I hope we meet again |
| Addressing People / things | |
| Ann-Marie-ji | Formal way to address someone using their name |
| Aama / Buwa | Mother / Father, but also friendly term men/women roughly in your parents generation |
| Didi / Bahini | Older / Younger sister, but also friendly term used to refer to other women roughly in your generation |
| Dhai / Bhai | Older / Younger brother, same as above |
| Nanu / Babu | Young girl / boy child |
| Ma / Hami | I / We |
| Tapaii | You |
| Yo / Tyo | This / That |
| Verb bases (infinitive form) & Verb Conjugation | |
| Janu To go | Bolnu To speak |
| Aunu To come | Roknu To stop |
| Basnu To sit | Hidnu To walk |
| Khannu To eat | Khelnu To play |
| Rakhnu To put | Sutnu To sleep |
| Garnu To do | Hernu To see |
| Dinu To give | Pewnu To drink |
| Linu To take | Oothnu rise/wake up |
| Kinnu To buy | |
| Note: the order of sentences is reversed in Nepali. The conjugated verb is always last. | |
| To politely ask someone to do something, add a ‘s’ to the verb base. | Ex. Aunus / Basnus / Khannus – Please come / Please eat |
| Add ‘na’ at the beginning to make it negative | Ex. Chinni narakhnus -Please don’t put sugar in (ex. the tea) |
| For first person action, drop the ‘u’ and add ‘choo’ and add ma ( I ) at the beginning | Ex. Ma janchoo/ aunchoo/ baschoo -I am going / coming / sitting. It can also be understood for future action. I will go / come / sit. |
| For respectful past tense but not first person (I) just add bhaiyo to the verb base | Ex. aunu bhaiyo / khannu bhaiyo -came / ate |
| For informal way of asking someone if they want to do something, drop ‘u’ and add ‘e’ | ex. momo khanne? / Thamel jane? -Want to eat momos? / Want to go to Thamel? |
| Informal way of asking someone to join you in doing something, drop ‘nu’ and add ‘am’ | Ex. Jaam / Basaam / Khaam -Let’s go / let’s sit / let’s eat |
| To combine two verbs, drop ‘u’ & add ‘a’ to first, and drop ‘u’ & add ‘chu to second. | Ex. Ma auna sakchu – I can come |
| Useful Adjectives | |
| Mahango / Sasto | Expensive / Cheap |
| Ramro / Naramro | Good / Bad |
| Sapha / Phohar | Clean / Dirty |
| Thulo / Sano | Big / Small |
| Sajilo / Gahro | Easy / Hard |
| Thada / Najik | Far / Close |
| Chito / Dhilo | Fast / Slow |
| Tato / Cheeso | Hot / Cold (for food) |
| Garmi / Jaado | Hot / Cold (for weather) |
| Naya / Purano | New / Old |
| Dhani / Garib | Rich / Poor |
| Add ‘dherai’ to show ‘very’ | |
| Ex. Trekking dherai gahro cha | Trekking is very hard |
| Question Words | |
| Ke | What |
| Kahaang | Where |
| Kati | How much |
| Kina / kinabhane | Why / because |
| Kasko | Whose |
| Kahile | When |
| Kun | Which |
| Kasari | How |
| Kasto | How (of quality) |
| Food adjectives | |
| Mitho / namitho | Tasty / Not tasty |
| Bhuteko | Fried |
| Umaaleko | Boiled |
| Noonilo | Salty |
| Gooliyo | Sweet |
| Amilo | Sour |
| Tito | Bitter |
| Piro | Spicy |
| Food Items | |
| Tarkari / Vegetables | Gajur / Carrots |
| Kaulee / Cauliflower | Bandakobi / Cabbage |
| Alu / Potato | Makai / Corn |
| Saag / Spinach | Kerau / Peas |
| Parsi / Pumpkin | Pyaaj / Onion |
| Lasun / Garlic | Kaankro / Cucumber |
| Simee / Beans | Coursani / Chili |
| Adhuwa / Ginger | Bhatamas / Soybean |
| Golbheraa / Tomato | Dhal / Lentil |
| Bhadam / Peanut | Kaju / Cashew |
| Mohar / Honey | Bhat / Rice |
| Dudh / Milk | Daihee / Yogurt |
| Pauroti / Bread (Loaf) | Chapati / Bread (flat round) |
| Tel / Oil | Noon / Salt |
| Chinni / Sugar | |
| Syaau / Apple | Keraa / Banana |
| Nariwal / Coconut | Angur / Grapes |
| Kagati / Lemon | Aanp / Mango |
| Suntalaa / Orange | Mewaa / Papaya |
| Masu / Meat | Andaa / Egg |
| Macha / Fish | Kukhura / Chicken |
| Kasi / Goat | Sungur / Pork |
| Kalo chiya / Black tea | Kagatiko chiya / Lemon tea |
| Dudh chiya / Milk tea | Adhuwa chiya / Ginger tea |
| Kalo coffee / Black coffee | Dudh chiya / Milk tea |
| Pani / water | Umaleko pani / Boiled water |
| Raksi / Alcohol | Toomba / Millet beer |
| Chyang / Rice beer | Ras / Juice |
| Useful nouns | |||
| Bato / Road | Pul / Bridge | Des / Country | Bajar / Market |
| Kotha / Room | Gau / Village | Khola / River | Pasal / Shop |
| Khanna / Food | Ghar / House | Mithai / Sweets | Koseli / Gift |
| Topee / Hat | Jhola / Bag, pack | Git / Song | Kitaab / Book |
| Manche / Person | Mancheharu / People | Chorachori / Children | Bideshi / Foreigner |
| Pariwar / Family | Dharma / Religion | ||
| Numbers | |||
| 1 / ek | 6 / cha | 15 / pandhra | 50 / pachaase |
| 2 / dui | 7 / saat | 20 / beece | 60 / sathi |
| 3 / tin | 8 / aath | 25 / pacheece | 70 / sattari |
| 4 / char | 9 / nau | 30 / teece | 80 / assi |
| 5 / panchs | 10 / das | 40 / chaleece | 90 / nabbe |
| 100 / ek saye | 200 / dui saye | 1000 ek hazar | |
| Expressions of Time | |||
| Aaja / Today | Hijo / Yesterday | Bholi / Tomorrow | Ghanta / Hour |
| Din / Day | Haptaa / Week | Mahina / Month | Barsa / Year |
| Bihaana / Morning | Diunso / Afternoon | Beluka / Evening | Raatri / Night |
| Subha raatri | Good night | ||
| Kati bhajyo? | What time is it? | Ek bhajyo | One o’ clock |
| Possession | |
| Add ‘ko’ to a formal name, pronoun to show possession | Tapaiiko / Ann-Marie-ko / Didi-ko -Your / Ann-Marie’s / Didi’s (older sister’s) |
| Some pronouns have special forms | Ma – Mero / Hami – Hamro – I – mine / We – Ours |
| Prepositions | |
| ______maa / At, in, on | ex. Kathmandumaa / in Kathmandu |
| ______baata / From | ex. Kathmandubaata / from Kathmandu |
| ______sanga / With | ex. Ann-Mariesanga / with Ann-Marie |
| Baahira / Bhitra | Outside / Inside |
| pachhi | After |
| Conjunctions | |
| ra / and | ani / and then |
| kinabhane / because | tara / but |
| Idiomatic use of Bhaiyo | |
| If someone asks is something was done, to indicate it was, simply answer ‘bhaiyo’ | |
| If someone is serving you food, to indicate enough, answer ‘bhaiyo’ | |
| Ke bhaiyo | What happened? |
| Abera bhaiyo | It’s late |
| Different ways to say Yes / No | |
| 1. Cha / Chainna | To Locate something on you, to have something |
| ex. Chiya Cha? | ex. Chiya Cha? |
| 2. Ho / Hoina | To state facts, truths, to define, to be or not to be |
| ex. Yo Thamel ho? | Is this Thamel (tourist area of Kathmandu)? |
| 3. Huncha / Hunna | To agree to do/not do something, some action |
| ex. Momo khanne? Huncha. | Shall we eat momos (dumplings)? Yes, let’s eat. |
| Cha / Chaiina & Ho / Hoina are also the active verb form for ‘to be’ conjugated as ‘I am / You are / He is. You can add ‘ho’ or ‘cha’ to make simple sentences. | |
| Simple sample sentences | |
| Thamel, kahaang ho? | Where is Thamel? |
| Kahaang jane? | Where are you going? |
| Esko kati parcha? | How much does this cost? (useful in stores) |
| Kati ho? | How much? (useful for asking taxi drivers) |
| Kahile jane? / kahile khanne? | When are we going? When are we eating? |
| Tapaiiko ghar kahaang ho? | Where is your home? |
| Mero ghar America-ma ho | My home is in America |
| Ma ali-ali Nepali bolchu | I only speak a little Nepali |
| Bistaari bhannus | Please speak slowly |
| Tapaiiko bihe bhaiyo? | Are you married? (your marriage happened?) |
| Mero bihe bhaiyo / bhayeko chaina? | I am married / not married.(My marriage happened) |
| Ma American hun | I am American |
| Jomsom jane baato kun ho? | Which is the road to Jomsom? (Jomsom going road) |
| Ali sastoma dinus | Please give it a little cheaper |
| Dherai mahango bhaiyo | It’s very (too) expensive |
| Yo / tyo ke ho? | What is this / that? |
| Ek raatiko kati ho? | How much for one night? |
| Feelings and Emotions | |
| Ma ______ lagyo / lagena. | I feel / don’t feel ______. |
| Birami / sick | Bhok / hungry |
| Raksi / drunk | Thirkaa / thirsty |
| Khushee / happy | Dukha / sad |
| Thakai / tired | Alchee / lazy |
| Dar / scared | Nindra / sleepy |
| Jaado / cold | Garmi / hot |
| Other simple sentences | |
| Tapaiilai ______ man parcha? | Do you like ______? |
| Malai ______ man parcha. | I like ______. |
| ex. Malai Nepali khanna man parcha. | I like Nepali food. |
| To express that you like to do something, use a verb, drop the ‘u’ and add ‘a’ | |
| ex. Malai aath ghanta sutna man parcha. | I like to sleep eight hours. |
| To express that you can do something, use a verb, drop the ‘u’ add ‘a’ and sakchu | |
| Ex. Ma kotha herna sakchu. | Can I see a room. |
| Malai ______ chahincha. | I need ______ . |
| Malai ______ chahindaina | I don’t need ______ . |