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.
How sentences work
2 sectionsFirst sentences: greeting someone, and the two words for “is”
- नमस्तेnamaste“hello” works at any hour, to anyone, and doubles as goodbye.
- Nepali has two words for “is”: होho says what a thing is; छcha says where or how it is.
- Each has a one-word negative: होइनhoina and छैनchaina.
- Both change their ending for the person speaking or spoken about.
- Nepali has three levels of “you”; stories use the middle one, तिमीtimī.
Four things people genuinely say
| English | Nepali | When |
|---|---|---|
| hello, goodbye | नमस्तेnamaste | any time, to anyone |
| thank you | धन्यवादdhanyavād | said “dhan-ya-bād” |
| yes | होho | literally “it is” |
| all right, that works | हुन्छhuncha | the everyday word for agreeing |
English uses one word for both jobs. Nepali splits them: what a thing is takes हो, where or how it is takes छ. Ask yourself which question the sentence answers and the choice makes itself.
This योyo is होho a house एउटा घरeuṭā ghar.
यो एउटा घर हो।
yo euṭā ghar ho
एउटाeuṭā“one, a” is as close as Nepali comes to “a”, and it is dropped whenever nothing hangs on it. The little vertical stroke । is the full stop.
The mouse मुसाmusā is छcha in the house घरमाgharmā.
मुसा घरमा छ।
musā gharmā cha
A place, so छ and not हो. Describing words take छ too: मुसा सानो छmusā sāno cha“the mouse is small”.
The two is-words, by person
| Who | what it is | where or how it is |
|---|---|---|
| मma“I” | हुँhũ | छुchu |
| तिमीtimī“you” | हौhau | छौchau |
| ऊū“he, she, it” | होho | छcha |
| हामीhāmī“we” | हौंhaũ | छौंchaũ |
| not | होइनhoina | छैनchaina |
The negatives in the last row are the third-person ones, which is what narration uses, and each is a single word.
The people words a story leans on
| English | Nepali | Note |
|---|---|---|
| I | मma | as the doer of a past action it becomes मैलेmaile |
| you | तिमीtimī | the middle level: friends, children, animals in fables |
| he, she, it | ऊū | as the doer of a past action, उसलेusle |
| he, she — with respect | उनीunī | used of an adult you are being polite about |
| my | मेरोmero | म wearing the “of” tag |
| this / that | योyo / त्योtyo | also do the job English does with “the” |
Nepali leaves a pronoun out whenever the sentence before it made the person obvious. A sentence with no subject is not broken.
Which is-word, and is it a yes or a no?
- यो मेरो नाम हो।
It answers “what is it?”
Show answer +Hide answer −
yo mero nām ho — “This is my name.” - बाघ बनमा छ।
It answers “where is it?”
Show answer +Hide answer −
bāgh banmā cha — “The tiger is in the forest.” - त्यो मेरो घर होइन।
A single word does the denying.
Show answer +Hide answer −
tyo mero ghar hoina — “That is not my house.”