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 e/ê „e‟ in bet

ah/âh „a‟ in father o „o‟ in hot
i/î „ee‟ in see, but shorter ai/aî „ai‟ in aisle
u/û „u‟ in put au/aû „ow‟ in vow, but shorter

Generally, Nepali consonants are pronounced the same as in English.

b as in bat ng as in finger
c as in chew ny as in canyon
d as in dog p as in pin
g as in get r as in rabbit, but slightly trilled
h as in how s as in sit
j as in jaw sh as in ship
k as in kennel t as in stop
l as in last w as in women
m as in mill y as in yolk
n as in neat

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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 jh „j‟ in jump

ch „ch‟ + „h‟ as in punch hard kh „k‟ in kill
dh „d‟ in duck ph „p‟ in pit, or like an „f‟
gh „g‟ in go 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

Welcome swah-ga-tam
Introd
Hello na-ma-ste uction
Goodbye na-ma-ste s
See you later. phe-ri bhe-taû-lah Etique
How are you? ke cha? tte
1 Note: t
I‟m fine, and you? ma-lai san-cai cha ani ta-paî-lai? he phra
Okay thik cha; hun-cha; has se “tha
Cool kha-ta-rah nk you”
is rarel
y used in Nepali. It is generally reserved as a response only to particular
favors.
2
My name is… me-ro nahm … ho. 06.577.
What is your name? ta-paî-ko nahm ke ho? 0515 •
info@v
I am from America. me-ro desh a-me-ri-kah ho. illagev
Where are you from? ta-paî kun desh-ba-ta au-nu bha-ya-ko? oluntee
I am a student. ma bi-dyahr-thi hû. rs.org
• www
.villagevolunteers.org
Page 2 of 7

Thank you dhan-ya-bahd 1

You‟re welcome swah-gat cha
Please -hos 2
My deepest sympathy me-ro sa-hah-nu-bhu-t i li-nu-hos
Excuse me/I‟m Sorry mahph gar-nu-hos
May I? ga-re-hun-cha?
Congratulat ions! ba-dhai

The spoken form of “please,” which is added as a suffix to the infinitive form of the verb being used.
 Relationships/Titles

I/me ma-lai
You (formal) ta-paî 3 Sign
You (informal) ti-mi of resp
Friend sah-thi ect or
Family pa-ri-bahr affectio
Daughter cho-ri n adde
Son cho-rah d to th
e end
Brother dai (older); bhai (younger) of a na
Sister di-di (older); ba-hi-ni (younger) me.
Father bu-wah
Mother ah-mah 06.577.
0515 •
Husband log-ne (own); sri-mahn (someone else‟s) info@v
Wife swahs-ni (own); sri-ma-t i (someone else‟s) illagev
Doctor dahk-tar oluntee
rs.org
Teacher shi-chak • www
Man pu-rus .village
Old Man bu-dho volunte
Young Man ke-tah ers.org
Woman ma-hi-lah age 3 o
f7
Old Woman bu-dhi
Young Woman ke-t i
Respectful Title -ji 3

Food and Drinks

I am hungry. ma-lai bhok lahg-yo.

I am thirsty. ma-lai tir-khah lahg-yo.
I would like… ma-lai … cah-hi-yo
Food khah-nah
Bread pau-ro-t i
Meat mah-su
Fish mah-chah
Vegetables tar-kah-ri
Fruit pahl-phul
Chicken ku-khu-rah-ko mah-su
Rice bhaht; cah-mal
Yogurt da-hi
Nat ional dish dahl bhaht tar-kah-ri (lent ils, rice, vegetable curry)
Drinks/beverages pahn
Coffee ka-phi
Tea ci-yah
Water pah-ni
Milk dudh
Beer bi-yar
 The meal was delicious. khah-nah mi-tho lahg-yo.

Important Locations

Market ba-jahr
Temple (Buddhist) stu-pah Cost
Temple (Hindu) man-dir Time o
Mosque mas-jid f Day
4
Church gir-jah-ghar
seful W
Shop pa-sal ords a
School bi-dyah-la-ya nd Phr
Hospital as-pa-tahl ases
Home ghar The suf
fix used
Bathroom snahn kak-sha; bahth-rum depen
Toilet (flushing) bahth-rum ds on t
Toilet (pit) car-pi he subj
ect of t
Toilet (public) shau-cah-la-ya he sent
Shower snahn ence. “-
Kitchen bhahn-chah Na” is
used wi
Garden ba-gaî-cah th I, he
, she or it. “-Nau” is used 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.
How much is this? yo ka-t i pai-sah ho? 06.577.
How many? ka-t i? 0515 •
info@v
Money pai-sah illagev
Price mol oluntee
Expensive ma-hâ-go rs.org
• www
Cheap sas-to .village
volunteers.org
Page 4 of 7

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
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 t ired. 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?

Miscellaneous
206.577.0515 • [email protected] • www.villagevolunteers.org
Peace shahn-t i
Love mah-yah; prem
Work kahm
Enough pra-shas-ta
Beaut iful sun-dar
Slowly bi-stah-rai
Strength bal
Bad kah-rahb
Good rahm-ro
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 Numbers

The Nepali counting system has no discernable patterns. Below are a few helpful numbers. An
easy way of saying numbers not included on this list is to say a larger number, followed by a
smaller number – for example, “tis ra pâhc” (“thirty and five,” “ra” meaning “and”) for thirty-five.

0 sun-ya 14 cau-dha 28 at-thais

1 ek 15 pan-dhra 29 u-nan-t is he
2 du-I 16 so-hra 30 t is Nep
3 t in 17 sa-tra 40 cha-lis ales
4 cahr 18 a-thah-ra 50 pa-cahs e Al
pha
5 pâhc 19 un-nais 60 sah-thi bet
6 cha 20 bis 70 sat-ta-ri (Dev
7 saht 21 ek-kais 80 a-si ana
gari
8 ahth 22 bais 90 nab-be scrip
9 nau 23 teis 100 ek say t)
10 das 24 cau-bis 1,000 ek ha-jahr Vow
els
11 e-ghah-ra 25 pac-cis 10,000 das ha-jahr Nasal
12 bah-hra 26 chab-bis 100,000 ek lankh vow
13 te-hra 27 sat-tais 1,000,000 das lankh els a
re indicated by a dot over the letter (or a half circle and dot = .(‫ٽ‬
a C i O or O{ e P aî P]+
ê P+ au cf}
O{+
ah Cf u p or pm o cf] aû cf}+
ai P] ri C
pm+
There are also special forms of some vowels whenever they follow consonants. The letter “a” is
not on this list, because it is assumed that all consonants are followed by “a” unless otherwise
indicated.
ah
O+ or f
â c+ î o f]
e ]
i l or L
u or
p+ [
âh cf+
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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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