Practical Nepali: Learning Nepali the Easy Way

Bibliography

PART 1 -

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Tips on getting started

Pronunciation

Word order

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Writing a Nepali language book was never my original aim but came about as a result of my efforts to learn a language where there are not many resources available. After compiling several notebooks of grammar, verbs and vocabulary I decided I could have a go at organising it all into a book to make it easier for myself. One thing lead to another and eventually I decided I could attempt to get it published, but could not really imagine how I could ever find the time to accomplish that! It took a badly broken kneecap and months of relative enforced inactivity for this to happen.

This book has been an ongoing project over several years. My fondness for Nepal and the people I have met has been the result of 20 trips to the country over the last 18 years. This book would not have been possible without the patience and assistance of several special individuals I have encountered along the way.

I would like to express a huge amount of gratitude and appreciation to the following people who have helped make my still basic Nepali language skills and this book a reality:

• Firstly to Mohan Rai and Lhakpa Chetar Sherpa (known as Saila) I would like to say a huge thank you.

These special individuals have accompanied me on many trips in Nepal in their roles of porter, porter guide and sirdhar and this book would not have been possible without their incredible patience and willingness to help. They spent many trekking afternoons and evenings extending my vocabulary, not to mention many hours whilst walking testing me on my numbers, anatomy words, and time telling skills! I could not have compiled such an extensive volume without their invaluable help and good humour. A percentage of the sales of this book will be donated to each of them.

• Secondly I would like to acknowledge the generosity of Shanker and Hema Bairagi who were responsible for my initial 18 months of formal Nepali lessons during their time as diplomats in Canberra, Australia. Shanker was a wonderful teacher who gave me a great beginning foundation in the complexities of Nepali grammar, and Hema was a good friend and wonderful cook!

• Thirdly I would also like to acknowledge the assistance, patience, consistency and attention to detail of Samsed Sherpa (known as Samden) and his brother Pemba, who accompanied me on recent treks to Langtang, with the unusual job, not as guide or porter but to help me with this book.

• I would also like to say a huge thank to Binod Nepal in Canberra for giving up his time and helping me every Saturday morning at Gungahlin library with the final edit of this book and for clarifying my continued confusion on many aspects of Nepali grammar!

• Last, but not least, I would like to express my appreciation to Dawa Geljen Sherpa and Ang Gombu Sherpa from ‘Adventure Thamserku’ www.adventurethamserku.com for their friendship and for providing me with the opportunity of visiting Nepal more regularly than I would have done otherwise! If anyone is interested in trekking Dawa definitely runs the best trekking and mountaineering trips in the country! (www.adventurethamserku.com).I would also like to thank you both for also helping me with the final editing.

I would also like to acknowledge the many people in Nepal who have crossed my path, and contributed to the contents of this book. If I was to name you all I would be worried I would leave someone out, but if you hear about this book, you will know who you are. The nurses at Phaplu Hospital however deserve special recognition for helping me with the medical sections! Thank you also to the authors of the books listed in the bibliography – they have been a big help in my continued quest for fluency in the Nepali language!

Part of the incentive in writing this book is for part of the proceeds to provide a supplementary income for Saila and Mohan, and also to support a selection of charities doing wonderful work in Nepal. 50% of the sales of this book will be donated – 10% to Saila and 10% to Mohan in appreciation of their hard work and assistance over the years. 10% will go to The ‘Australian Himalayan Foundation’ www.australianhimalayanfoundation.org. 10% to ‘Classrooms in the Clouds’ www.classroomsintheclouds.org and the remaining 10% will be donated to ‘Langtang Valley Health’ www.langtangvalleyhealth.org.

Writing this book has been one of life’s new experiences for me as I have never written a book before, and I am not a teacher, or an academic, or a linguist, but a nurse. The many evenings sitting around lodge dining rooms listening to heated debate between Nepali people from many walks of life over which word to use and how to say it correctly has been fun and to me a real education into the culture of language. It has also meant that this book has been a combined effort by many people which has advantages and disadvantages (6 people all suggesting different spellings for the same word!). I do however have to say that this book is not written in perfect grammatically correct Nepali, as spoken by a well educated Brahmin or Chetri. Instead it is written in everyday Nepali, which should make it easier to communicate with the people as a visitor to Nepal, you will come across.

If you have any suggestions, corrections, additions, or deletions please feel free to contact me. I would be very happy to hear from you and I am hoping this book will be the first edition of many!

Enjoy learning Nepali, and the doors speaking the language will open for you.

Virginia

Canberra, Australia, April 2013

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the world of learning Nepali!

This book is an ideal beginning place for those who are trekking or travelling, visiting or working, living or volunteering in Nepal because you do not need to read or understand the Nepali script. All the words are written phonetically in what I have termed ‘Neplish’ – essentially Nepali words written in English, and they are intended to be spoken according to the way they are spelt.

Use of this book will enable you to communicate on a wide range of everyday subjects in correct Nepali. It will not be perfect Nepali – for that you will have to learn to read and write the very old, beautifully written Nepali script which I cannot (and spend a significant time in Nepal coming to terms with the pronunciation!) For me the main motivation for learning Nepali was to be able to communicate with the people I encountered so speaking and understanding were more important than reading or writing.

Whilst Nepali is the official language in Nepal and is spoken by about 50% of the population, there are actually 93 different languages used throughout the country. As with the use of English in India Nepali is the language Nepali people use to communicate with each other. There is however a huge variation in the grammatical correctness of spoken Nepali due to educational differences between people in a country which has almost a 50% illiteracy rate. Not everyone for example will conjugate their verbs perfectly, or use masculine and feminine endings. This also makes it a forgiving language to learn! Please however keep in mind that those who taught me do not speak perfect Nepali either…one day I hope to find the time not only to learn to read and write Nepali, but to have this volume edited by a perfect Nepali speaker and then I can get this book published by a reputable publisher in Kathmandu.

Enjoy the challenge!

TIPS ON GETTING STARTED

The words in this book have been translated according to the sounds made by the letters of the Nepali alphabet not according to the translation of the actual Nepali letters themselves, and the section on ‘Pronunciation’ deals with how to say these ‘Neplish’ words and syllables.

Before you read anything else, it is probably best to read the grammar sections on ‘You, you, you, he and she’ to give you an appreciation of the complexity of forms of address. Also read the verb chapter on ‘different ways to say ‘is’ & ‘are’ and be aware of the present tense conjugation of the verb ‘hu-nu’ which means ‘to be’ or ‘to have’. Next go to the section on ‘personal pronouns’, ‘subject pronouns’, then ‘object pronouns’, finishing up with ‘possessive pronouns’.

After doing this you will probably feel completely overwhelmed however I have indicated that short cuts are available… and if you start by using them Nepali will suddenly become much easier. In time you can progress to plural and feminine adjectival endings, possessives and other verb endings, and I promise, if I can learn Nepali anyone can! Be careful though if you speak another language…I speak very interesting French these days (which I use only occasionally) but it comes interspersed with a heavy smattering of Nepalese vocabulary!

When explaining some grammatical points I have made occasional references to coffee breaks, though sometimes felt like a stiff gin and tonic would be more appropriate! To use the words of my younger son when describing how maths made him feel, these parts ‘do my head in’. It may help to read through them and revisit them on multiple occasions!

Hyphens are used throughout this book for three purposes:

1. Firstly when used with vocabulary hyphens break a word up into different sounds to try to ensure you say it with the best pronunciation possible in the circumstances. All words with two or more sounds have been hyphenated, and if there is no hyphen the word must be pronounced as a single syllable -the word ‘seeyau’ (apple) is a single sound whilst the word ‘baa-toe’ (path) has two syllables.

2. Secondly hyphens differentiate parts of a grammatical construction. By hyphenating a structure I am hoping to make it easier to identify. A grammatical construction like ‘vhan-daa-pah-hee-lay’ is hyphenated to indicate all those discretely pronounceable components of those two words are part of the same construction because the words ‘vhan-daa’ and ‘pah-hee-lay’ can also mean different things when used separately or as part of another grammatical construction.

3. Thirdly hyphens differentiate components of verb conjugations and emphasise ‘pattern’ which I have found to be especially important when trying to remember the many different ways to conjugate each verb correctly! Hyphens are therefore used extensively with verb conjugations but when you are saying these verbs in Nepali the components need to run together so that the verb sounds like a single word. The hyphenated sections of verbs therefore provide a structure and a pattern for each tense.

To give an example the past progressive tense looks very long – the 3rd person singular verb conjugation ‘bus-e-ra-hae-ko-cha’ (‘has lived’) does not have 6 syllables as such but 6 different components which all have to be joined together and flow beautifully! ‘Bus’ is the stem of the verb and in Neplish ‘e-ra-hae-ko’ is one of the progressive tense constructions to which different endings like ‘cha’ are added. The entire word is hyphenated to help with pronunciation and to identify structure, because if I wrote it as ‘buserahaekocha’ I hate to think what could come out! Use your Nepali resources to say the words and mimic then to ensure perfect pronunciation!

Keeping it simple:

One of the main things I have found with the Nepali language is not to use too many words – just keep your sentences simple. Also in Nepali, as with English, there are often several different ways of saying the same thing, so in some cases I have put in alternatives. Occasionally however my ‘tutors’ have suggested alternatives and I have been unsure why the sentence is spoken the way it is. When this happens I have said so. There are often several different ways of saying the same thing, and I have sometimes but not always, included alternatives.

With spoken Nepali, feminine and even plural forms are not always used, in which case when you are first learning, using the masculine singular or what I sometimes refer to as the ‘unconjugated’ form for everything to do with possessives, possessive pronouns and adjectives makes life much simpler.

Also using the ‘high’ pronoun forms when you are referring to one of the 4 forms of ‘you’ or the 4 different words for ‘he’ and ‘she’ can make learning verbs initially very much easier because these ‘high’ pronouns – ‘ta-pai’ or ‘hajur’ (‘you’) and either ‘wa-haa’, or ‘oo-haa’ (‘he’ or ‘she’) along with their plural forms are followed by verb conjugations that do not change according to number and gender. Also by doing this you do not run the risk of offending anyone either!

Verbs:

On many occasions you will notice (l), (m) or (h) following some pronouns, in some examples of phrases and present in all the verb tables. They stand for ‘low’, ‘middle’ or ‘high’ and indicates the level of respect you need to show someone when using that specific pronoun. This sometimes but not always determines the verb conjugation. As a general rule use the ‘high’ verb ending with ‘high’ pronouns and the ‘middle’ ending for everything else except for inanimate objects where you use the ‘low’ ending. Occasionally you will come across places where I have to admit that I do not know why a particular tense has been used – I am told it just ‘is’!

In all the verb tense sections the parts of the verb that change are in bold type to make it easier to identify the components that change.

Vocabulary:

95% of the vocabulary in this book uses Samden’s spellings to ensure consistency. With respect to vocabulary if you notice an occasional inconsistency with the same word spelt slightly differently in 2 different places, apologies… There have been so many changes to this book as a consequence of relying on the spoken form. An inconsistency does not mean the word is wrong – it is just a reflection of different people telling me to pronounce the word in a slightly different way. The best spelling however will always be found in the vocabulary chapter the word belongs in.

Sometimes in Nepali additional words are included in sentences which are not necessary in English. When this is the case the word(s) have been inserted in brackets, for example we say ‘talk to’ someone but the Nepalese say ‘talk with’ someone – the word ‘with’ will be in brackets.

Grammar:

To reinforce difficult aspects of grammar such as the use of the different forms of ‘hu-nu’, verb conjugations according to the level of respect and specific verb constructions, short explanations have sometimes been given following the example. Sometimes it might seem like I am labouring the point, but I am doing it when I come across things I still regularly get wrong, and this would have helped me enormously when I was first learning Nepali!

With respect to grammar, please remember I am not an English teacher, though I wish I was for the purpose of this book! Keep in mind the following words of wisdom from my Auntie Helen (who is an English teacher!) who replied when I was getting myself tied in knots over the differences between transitive and intransitive verbs:

No word can be defined as a part of speech without reference to its context!

And remember in Nepali keep it simple, remember there is often more than one way to say a sentence, and there seem to be exceptions to everything!

PRONUNCIATION

INTRODUCTION TO PRONUNCIATION:

All words in this book are intended to be spoken the way they are spelt in ‘Neplish’ which corresponds to the way they are pronounced in Nepali. This is not perfect, but it is a start, and also means that you do not have to learn to read and write the script to learn the language. The words have been translated according to the sounds of the Nepali letters of the alphabet (not the actual letters themselves). This is not perfect either. Consequently you may find some variances between the way I have spelt things and the way they are spelt in other texts, especially with ‘bh’ and ‘vh’ and ‘w’ which still all sound identical to me!

I have Samden Sherpa to thank for his marathon effort, concentration and consistency in ensuring the pronunciation and spelling for each word is as correct as possible. This was a huge help, as often if you ask a Nepali how to write a particular word in English you will get as many variations as the number of people you ask!

It was often difficult for Samden to establish the best way to spell things in ‘Neplish’, especially those words made up of sounds that we do not have. 95% of the words in this book use Samden’s pronunciation so your Nepali may sound more like a Sherpa’s rather than a Brahmin’s, or a Chetri’s or someone from the Terai!

Occasionally when words sound identical to me I have used two different Neplish spellings, one of which is different to the one suggested by Samden, to distinguish Neplish words from each other that sound the same and avoid confusion.

Samden for example got me to change most of my ‘bh’s to ‘vh’s because he said the actual sound made by ‘bh’ is closer to our ‘vh’. After changing them all I decided it would be better to use both in order to differentiate some grammatical constructions from verbs, and to distinguish words that sound the same in Neplish from each other, just to make it less confusing.

I have spelt some words with ‘bh’, for example ‘bhan-nay (‘called’) and some with ‘vh’ – ‘vha-nay’ (‘if’) – and because they sound identical to me and this book is dealing with spoken Nepali only, I did not think it would matter too much. To me the advantages of reducing all avenues of potential confusion outweigh the disadvantages.

If the words for ‘if’ and ‘called’ had identical Neplish spellings the sentence ‘aap mah-hung-go cha vha-nay muh kin-de-na’ could be interpreted correctly as ‘If mangoes are expensive I will not buy them’ or it could be translated something along the lines of ‘mangoes are expensive called I will not buy them’ which makes very little sense. For this reason Neplish words which sound almost identical are consistently spelt slightly differently in this book.

Some sounds are unique to Nepali – we do not have them in English so there are some sounds that I just cannot replicate in written English using the Roman alphabet. When this is the case I have suggested that the best thing to do to ensure correct pronunciation is to ask a Nepali person to say the word for you and remember it!

Remember too that hyphens have been used for several reasons, one of which is to break words into sounds, and whilst hyphens do sometimes indicate syllables this is not always the case. Throughout this book I have not done anything to accommodate word stress. As a general rule some authors advocate that two syllable Neplish words usually have word stress added to the last syllable and three syllable words have the middle syllable stressed. There is nothing like spending time in a country though to get a feel for how the language should sound, and again, use your Nepali resources as much as possible.

PRONUNCIATION GUIDELINES:

English vowels are different to Nepali vowels. The Nepali language has 11 vowels, 33 consonants and also a number of syllables and obviously they do not correspond to ours.

The position of the tongue is responsible for making certain sounds, especially with the letters ‘t’ and ‘d’ and the sounds ‘ta’ and ‘da’. The best way to come to grips with the exact pronunciation is to get a Nepalese person to say the word for you and repeat it endlessly (or purchase one of the books listed in the bibliography which covers the Nepali alphabet).

Sounds that we do not have in English include what I have termed ‘difficult t’ and ‘difficult d’ which you will encounter very regularly and there is also a nasal sound which we do not have in English. A ‘greater nasal sound’ is indicated by (ng) whilst a ‘lesser nasal sound’ is indicated by (n) and the Neplish ‘ae’ is always nasal.

NEPLISH VOWELS:

The meaning of the Nepali word in English is indicated in brackets:

• -a is pronounced like the ‘a’ in ‘charge’ – ‘cha’ (is)

• -aa is a longer ‘a’ – ‘maa’ (to, at, in, on) like the ‘a’ in ‘baa lamb’

• -aa(n) is a long ‘a’ as above but it has a nasal sound at the end like ‘tya-haa(n)’ (there) or ‘paa(n)ch’ (the number 5)

• -ah is a softer ‘a’ as in ‘father’ – ‘kah-haa(n)’ (where)

• -ae is pronounced like a combination of the individual letters of the alphabet ‘a’ and ‘y’, and the ‘uy’ in in ‘guy’ – ‘ga-ae’ (went). It is a nasal sound but the ‘nasal-ness’ of it is not enough to warrant the nasal ‘n’. It is used a lot with verb constructions so when you are using ‘ae’ remember to ‘nasalise’ it! ‘muh ga-ae’ (I went), ‘oo ga-ae-ko-chu’ (he has been).

• -ay is pronounced like the ‘ay’ in ‘may’ –‘bay-la’ (time)

• -ai is pronounced a bit like the ‘ay’ as in ‘say’ – ‘dhe-rai’ (very) or ‘mai’ – my-ye (my) (ask a Nepali!)

• -au is a nasal sound which is hard for us native English speakers to pronounce correctly as we do not have this sound in English ‘au-nu’ (to come). Often the nasal (n) is added – ‘au(n)-dai-chu’ (is coming)

• -e is pronounced just like the ‘e’ in ‘he’ or ‘we’ – ‘he-joh’ (yesterday)

• -ee is a long ‘e’ like ‘cheese’ – ‘hah-mee’ (we), ‘oo-nee’ (she)

• -eh is almost like the ‘e’ in ‘fed’ but soft – ‘maan-cheh’ (person), ‘mai-leh’ (I)

• -i is almost like the ‘i’ in ‘idiot’- ‘di-dee’ (sister), ‘dhe-khi’ (since). It sounds a bit like an ‘e’ but is a soft ‘i’, not like the ‘i’ in ‘chime’

• -ii is ‘i’ as in ‘ice’ –‘bou-dhee-ii-mai’ (old lady)

• -o is pronounced ‘o’ as in the word ‘go’ not ‘o’ as in ‘do’ – ‘thu-lo’ (big)

• -oh is a softer ‘o’ – ‘he-joh’ (yesterday)

• -oo is pronounced like the ‘oo’ in school not the ‘oo’ as in ‘book’– ‘dhoo-ni-yah’ (world).

• -oe is the same as the ‘oe’ in ‘toe’ – ‘kas-toe’ (how), ‘baa-toe’ (path)

• -u is pronounced like the ‘u’ in the word ‘under’ or the ‘uh’ in ‘uh oh’ – ‘puh-ni’ (also),‘muh’ (I).

NEPLISH CONSONENTS:

• ‘b’, ‘v’ and ‘w’ - The English consonants ‘v’, ‘w’ and ‘b’ all sound the same and interchangeable to native Aussie-English speakers like me, but to the Nepali ear they are different! To me these letters all sounded like they are pronounced like the ‘b’ in ‘budgie’! Samden says ‘b’ is often mistakenly written in English Nepali texts instead of ‘v’, so as discussed above, I have used both. This explains why sometimes ‘v’ is used in this book whilst in other texts you might find the same word starting with ‘b’.

• There are different ‘t’ and ‘d’ sounds which correspond to different letters of the Nepali alphabet. I have referred to them as ‘normal t & d’ and ‘difficult t & d’ to differentiate them. The difficult ‘d’ and ‘t’ is a pronunciation challenge! I am convinced that native English speakers are incapable of making these sounds without a huge amount of difficulty! They are almost like a ‘tdt’ sound but very soft – almost a cross between ‘the’ and ‘tuh’.

‘Difficult t & d’ are underlined to distinguish them from ‘normal t & d’. The former either exist as a single letter sound for example ‘di-dee’ (sister) in which case the single letter is underlined, or they combine with another letter – ‘thu-lo’ (big), ‘dhe-khi’ (since, from).

• ‘Difficult d’ – Get a Nepali person to repeat this sound for you umpteen times and when you try to replicate it, place the tip of the tongue up at the top of the front teeth – it is a bit like a cross between ‘dtee’ and ‘dhee’ and is a soft sound e.g. dhi-lo (slow), ‘au-suh-dee’ (medicine).

• ‘Difficult t’ - The ‘th’ sound is not a soft ‘th’ as in ‘the’, but a ‘th’ with the tongue curled up in front of the front top teeth, almost like a ‘dth’ e.g. ‘thi-yo’ (was) ‘saa-thee’ (friend), ‘tya-haa(n)’ (there). Remember ‘difficult t’ can also exist on its own as with ‘ta-pai’ or ‘ti-mee’ (both words for ‘you’).

• ‘normal ‘d’ is pronounced like the ‘d’ in ‘dog’ e.g. ‘saa-dak’ (road).

• ‘normal ‘t’ is pronounced like the ‘t’ in ‘toe’ – ‘mo-toe’ (fat), ‘baa-toe’ (path).

• -tr is pronounced like a mixture between the ‘tr’ in ‘tree’ and the ‘dr’ in ‘dream’. It is a ‘difficult t’ so is underlined – ‘oo-nun-saa-tree’ (number for 69).

• -‘g’ can be a hard ‘g’ as in ‘grass’ or ‘plug’ – ‘ko laa-gi’ (for), ‘laag-nu’ (to feel).

• ‘gh’ is a soft ‘g’ as in ‘gharr’ (house) because the ‘g’ is followed by ‘h’.

• -‘h’ – anything with ‘h’ softens and lengthens the preceding vowel or consonant if there is one – ‘gho-da’ (horse).

• -Soft ‘j’ is a soft ‘j’ like ‘juhh’- either a ‘j’ as in ‘ha-jur’ (formal word for ‘he’ or ‘she’) pronounced more like the ‘z’ in the English word ‘azure’ or the ‘j’ in the word ‘conjure’- ‘he-joh’ (yesterday). Nepali people have trouble with the correct English pronunciation of this letter and often pronounce it as ‘zhee’.

• -Hard ‘j’ is pronounced like the ‘j’ in ‘jar’ – ‘jib-bro’ (tongue).

NASAL SOUNDS:

For the purpose of this book there are 3 degrees of nasal sounds. In order from mild to strong they are:

• -ae – pronounced like a combination of the individual letters of the alphabet ‘a’ and ‘y’, like the ‘uy’ in in ‘guy’ – ‘ga-ae’ (went). It is a nasal sound but the ‘nasal-ness’ of it is not enough to warrant the nasal ‘n’. It is used a lot with verb constructions – ‘muh ga-ae’ (I went), ‘oo ga-ae-ko-chu’ (he has been), muh khai-ae (I ate).

• ‘(n)’ – I have called this the ‘nasal n’. It is a stronger nasal sound where a decreasing tone of voice and a sort of ‘n’ noise is used. The ‘nasal (n)’ is common with irregular verbs whose stem ends in a vowel as with the second form of the progressive tenses. Again use your Nepali resources to say the word for you and then mimic it – ‘muh jaa(n)-chu’ (I go).

• -‘(ng)’ is the strongest nasal sound which is longer and more nasal than ‘the nasal (n)’. I have called it the ‘nasal (ng)’. You can even try holding your nose whilst you say this syllable but it still does not sound right! e.g. ‘hah-mee chau(ng)’ (we are).

Remember Neplish deals with spoken Nepali only which has its limitations – your best resource in establishing correct Nepali pronunciation are the Nepali people themselves and they are usually only too happy to help!

WORD ORDER

One of the hardest things in learning, speaking and understanding Nepali is the order in which to put the words, because it is so different from the word order in English. In addition to this, spoken Nepali is often grammatically simplified and you may find various words omitted altogether which can make things very confusing.

To give an example of the difference in word order between English and Nepali the simple sentence ‘tomorrow morning I will go to Namche with my friend’ is said in Nepali in the following order: ‘I tomorrow morning my friend with Namche to go will’! And that is an example of a simple sentence! More complex grammar means more complex word order!

The sentence ‘what is the name of your village? – ‘ta-pai-ko gau(ng) ko nam kay ho’ is translated literally as ‘your village of name what is’! Whilst the sentence ‘I waited for Mohan until he came’ is ‘Mohan a-un-jel mai-leh oos-lai koor-ae’ which is literally translated as ‘Mohan came until I for him waited’! The sentence ‘this is the medicine I usually take’ is ‘yo pra-yuh-ja-so mai-leh kha-nay au-suh-dee ho’ translates literally as ‘this usually I eat medicine is’!

I am sure you don’t need any more examples to get the picture!

Any change to the usual conventions of word order will usually change the meaning of the sentence. The modified construction may add emphasis to something, or express hesitation or doubt, or involve the inclusion of additional words in English which are not written in Nepali or indicate a completely different meaning altogether.

In Nepali unless there is a good reason not to:

• The subject usually goes at the beginning of the sentence.

I will go home tomorrow – muh bho-lee meh-ro gharr jaa(n)-chu

• The object usually goes in front of the verb.

Please give me some more rice – muh-lai ah-ru bhaat di-nu-hos

• The verb always goes at the end of the sentence (unless the verb is functioning as a noun).

He is a good boy – oo rahm-ro keh-taa ho

• When using proper names put the other person’s name in front of yours as a mark of respect.

Saila and I – Saila ra muh

• Interrogatives or question words either precede the verb or come at the beginning of the sentence to establish that the sentence is a question. The word ‘kay’ always comes first and turns a sentence into a question.

Where is your home? – ta-pai-ko gharr kah-haa(n) cha?

Are you Australian? – kay ta-pai Australian hu-nu-hun-cha?

• Demonstrative pronouns or adjectives like ‘this’, ‘that’, ‘these’, ‘those’ can come at the beginning of the sentence or can come before the noun.

Whose book is this – yo kih-taab kas-ko ho?

I don’t like this one – muh-lai yo cha-hee mun-par-dai-na

• Adverbs precede the verb they qualify or describe.

He walked quickly – oo chee-toe hid-yo

I slept well – muh rahm-ro sa(n)-ga sut-ae

• Adjectives precede the noun they qualify or describe, just like they do in English.

She is a tall woman – oo-nee ahg-lee ai-maii ho

• Some words, especially words to do with time, can either precede or follow the subject. I