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Basic Nepali for Travelers
This is a brief introduction to Nepali, the national language of Nepal. This introduction contains
basic instruction about pronunciation and important words and phrases. Anywhere you travel in
Nepal, the ability to communicate in Nepali will greatly enhance your experience. Even if you do
not plan on studying the language in-depth, we strongly suggest learning and using basic
greetings and phrases. The locals will greatly appreciate your efforts and will be all the more
welcoming to you during your stay. If you would like to complete a beginning course in Nepali,
there are a number of self-study books and tapes. Lonely Planet‟s Nepali Phrasebook (2002) is
one of the more helpful books.
Pronunciation
Nepali is written in the Devanagari script, which is also the script used for Sanskrit, Hindi, and
many other languages. There are 67 characters, each with only one pronunciation. The
Devanagari script is not used in this guide; however, a list of the Devanagari characters can be
found at the end of this document.
Nepali has six vowels and two diphthongs. Five of the vowels can also have nasal
pronunciations, which will be indicated by a karat (^) over the letter. The nasals are pronounced
with the airstream coming out of the nose, which can also be accomplished by putting a weak „n‟
at the end of the syllable in which the nasal vowel appears.
a/â „u‟ in cup
ah/âh „a‟ in father
i/î „ee‟ in see, but shorter
u/û „u‟ in put
e/ê „e‟ in bet o „o‟ in hot ai/aî „ai‟ in aisle au/aû „ow‟ in vow, but shorter
Generally, Nepali consonants are pronounced the same as in English.
b as in bat
c as in chew
d as in dog
g as in get
h as in how
j as in jaw
k as in kennel
l as in last
m as in mill
n as in neat
ng as in finger ny as in canyon p as in pin r as in rabbit, but slightly trilled s as in sit sh as in ship t as in stop w as in women y as in yolk
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The spoken form of “please,” which is added as a suffix to the infinitive form of the verb being used.
There are two special types of consonants: aspirated consonants and retroflex consonants.
Aspirated consonants are pronounced much more forcefully and with a puff of air. Aspirated
consonants are indicated by an „h‟ following the consonant.
bh „b‟ as in bus
ch „ch‟ + „h‟ as in pun ch h ard
dh „d‟ in duck
gh „g‟ in go
jh „j‟ in jump kh „k‟ in kill ph „p‟ in pit, or like an „f‟ th „t‟ in time
Retroflex consonants are pronounced by touching the tongue to the roof of the mouth while
pronouncing the consonants. Only four consonants can be pronounced this way (d, t, n, dh). In
this guide, retroflex consonants will be indicated by an underline (d, t, n, dh).
In Nepali, two syllable words are pronounced with a stress on the last syllable. For words with
three or more syllables, the stress is on the second to last syllable. In this guide, the stressed
syllable will be in italics.
Greetings
Introd uction s Etiquet te (^1) Note: the
phrase “t hank you” is rarely used in Nepali. It is generally reserved as a response only to particular favors. 2
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Welcome swah - ga-tam Hello na-ma- ste Goodbye na-ma- ste See you later. phe - ri bhe - taû-lah How are you? ke cha? I‟m fine, and you? ma - lai san-cai cha ani ta- paî - lai? Okay thik cha; hun - cha; has Cool kha - ta-rah
Thank you dhan - ya-bahd 1
You‟re welcome swah - gat cha Please - hos 2
My deepest sympathy me - ro sa- hah - nu-bhu-ti li - nu-hos Excuse me/I‟m Sorry mahph gar - nu-hos May I? ga - re-hun-cha? Congratulations! ba - dhai
My name is… me - ro nahm … ho. What is your name? ta- paî - ko nahm ke ho? I am from America. me - ro desh a- me - ri-kah ho. Where are you from? ta- paî kun desh - ba-ta au - nu bha - ya-ko? I am a student. ma bi- dyahr - thi hû.
The meal was delicious. khah -nah mi -tho lahg -yo.
Important Locations
Cost Time o f Day 4
seful Words and Ph rases The suffix used de pends on the subje ct of the sentence. “-Na” is used with I, he, sh e or it. “- Nau” is u sed with you, singular or plural. “-Naû” is used with we. And “-nan” is used with they. The suffix is added to the end of the verb in the sentence. 206.577.0515 • info@villagevolunteers.org • www.villagevolunteers.org Page 4 of 7
Market ba- jahr Temple (Buddhist) stu - pah Temple (Hindu) man - dir Mosque mas - jid Church gir - jah-ghar Shop pa - sal School bi- dyah - la-ya Hospital as - pa-tahl Home ghar Bathroom snahn kak - sha; bahth - rum Toilet (flushing) bahth - rum Toilet (pit) car - pi Toilet (public) shau- cah - la-ya Shower snahn Kitchen bhahn - chah Garden ba- gaî - cah
How much is this? yo ka - ti pai - sah ho? How many? ka - ti? Money pai - sah Price mol Expensive ma- hâ - go Cheap sas - to
Morning bi- hah - na Afternoon diû - so Evening be - lu-kah Night raht
Yes ha- jur No (^) hun - dai-na; or, add - na, - nau, - naû or - nan 4
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Maybe shah - yad
Sure pak - kah
Now a - hi-le
Long Life dir- ghah - yu
No worries/problems bhai - hahl cha
What is this called? yas - lai ke bahn- cha?
What is this/that? yo/tyo ke ho?
Which way? kun bah - to?
I would like… ma - lai … cah - hi-yo
I want to go to… ma … - mah jahn - chu.
I would like to buy… … kin - na man lahg - yo.
I am tired. ma - lai tha - kai lahg - yo.
I am lost. ma - lai ha- rau - na lahg - yo.
I am ill. ma - lai bi- rah - mi lahg - yo.
I am happy. ma - lai khu - si lahg - yo.
I don‟t know. ma - lai thah - hah chai - na.
I don‟t understand. mai - le bu- jhi - na.
How do you say …? …-lai ke bhan-cha?
Please say it again. phe - ri bhan - nu-hos.
Please speak more slowly. bi- stah - rai bol - nu-hos.
Good night shu-bha- rah - tri
Help! gu- hahr!
Who? ko?
Where? ka - hâh?
Why? ki - na?
What? ke?
When? ka - hi-le?
How? ka - sa-ri?
Peace shahn - ti
Love mah - yah; prem
Work kahm
Enough pra- shas - ta
Beautiful sun - dar
Slowly bi- stah - rai
Strength bal
Bad kah- rahb
Good rahm - ro
Consonants
k s d b kh v dh w
g u t ^ gh # th &
c r d * ch % dh (
j h n g jh Of n )f
p k ng *· ph km ny `
b a m d bh e l n
s if or ; y o sh z w j
t t r / th y h x
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