Lessons for English speakers
Learn to read Nepali
A short, active path into reading Nepali: learn how a Devanagari letter carries its own vowel, decode ten real words before the full alphabet, follow the verb to the end of the sentence, and read a small story before opening your first book.
13 core sections · ≈ 33 min + 3 optional lookups · ≈ 45 min with everything
Words
2 sections9
Describing words, owning words, and more than one
≈ 2 min
What you'll learn
- A describing word goes in front of its noun; standing after one it almost always pairs with छcha, not होho.
- One ending in ो swaps to ी for a female and ा for a group; the rest never change.
- मेरोmero“my” and तिम्रोtimro“your” are the pronouns wearing the “of” tag.
- हरूharū makes a plural, left off whenever the number is obvious.
Eight describing words
| English | Nepali | English | Nepali |
|---|---|---|---|
| small | सानोsāno | happy | खुसीkhusī |
| big | ठूलोṭhūlo | sad | दुखीdukhī |
| good, nice | राम्रोrāmro | a lot, very | धेरैdherai |
| bad | नराम्रोnarāmro | another, the next | अर्कोarko |
नराम्रो is राम्रो with the negative न on the front.
The ending that agrees
सानो रूखsāno rūkh“a small tree”
सानी बहिनीsānī bahinī“a small sister”
a female pulls the ो round to ी
सानो रूख
साना रूखहरूsānā rūkhharū“small trees”
more than one pulls it to ा; हरू is the plural on the noun
The tree is big.
रूख ठूलो छ।
rūkh ṭhūlo cha
In front of the noun: ठूलो रूखṭhūlo rūkh“a big tree”. The word does not change, only where it stands.
Owning something
मma“I”
मेरोmero“my”
तिमीtimī“you”
तिम्रोtimro“your”
उनीunī“he, she”
उनकोunko“his, her”
चराcarā“bird”
चराको नामcarāko nām“the bird’s name”
an ordinary noun does the same thing with the same tag
Six more nouns
| English | Nepali | English | Nepali |
|---|---|---|---|
| bird | चराcarā | stream | खोलाkholā |
| jackal | स्यालsyāl | night | रातrāt |
| friend | साथीsāthī | wind | हावाhāvā |
हावा is said “hāwā” — व again.
In front, or at the end?
- चरा सानो छ।
The is-word for how a thing is.
Show answer +Hide answer −
carā sāno cha — “The bird is small.” - त्यो मेरो साथी हो।
Which is-word does “what a thing is” take?
Show answer +Hide answer −
tyo mero sāthī ho — “That is my friend.”