Shopping in Nepali, part 2

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Here are some phrases you can use while shopping and bargaining in Nepal:

Phrases


अलिकति मिलाउनुस न! Alikati milaunus na! (Ah-lee-kah-tee mih-lau-noos nah!)
- Please cut the price a little!
After a vendor has stated his/her price for the item you want to buy, you can try this out to start the bargaining process.



अलि महँगो भयो. Ali mahango bhayo. (ah-lee mah-hahn-go bah-yo). It's a little expensive.
महँगो mahango (mah-hahn-go) expensive
सस्तो Sasto (sahss-toh) - cheap

 _____ रुपैया दिन्छु.  ____ rupaiya dinchu. (roo-pay-yaa deen-choo.)
- I will give ____ rupees.
See the number section below to use Nepali numbers - but you can use English numbers too if you wish, as they are usually understood.
E.g. 500 rupaiya dinchu - I will give 500 rupees.

____ भन्दा धेरै दिन्नँ.   ____ bhanda dherai dinna. (bhan-dah dae-ray deen-nah.)
- I won't give more than ____(name your price).
Drag out the "nn" part of the last word to show your conviction: I won't give more than that!

मलाई मन पर्यो Malai man paryo (mah-lai mahn par-yo) I like it
मलाई मन परेन Malai man parena (mah-lai mahn par-eh-na) I don't like it
मलाई यो/त्यो मन पर्यो Malai yo/tyo man paryo (mah-lai yo / tyo mahn par-yo) I like this/that
Yo = this
Tyo= that


Colors


निलो nilo (nee-lo) Blue
हरियो hariyo (hah-ree-yo) Green
रातो rato (rah-toh) Red
पहेंलो pahenlo (Pah-hen-lo) Yellow
सेतो seto (seh-toh) White
कालो kalo (kah-lo) Black
प्याजको pyajko (pyahj-ko) Purple (literally, "the color of an onion!")
सुन्तला suntala (soon-tah-la) Orange (also the name of the fruit)

Numbers

Most vendors and shopkeepers know and use the English number system. But if you want to be authentic, you can use the Nepali way as well.

Nepali numbers are a bit complicated in that each number and combination of numerals from 1-99 have their own name and don't exactly follow a formula like in English. To get you started, here are numbers 1-20:

1 १ एक ek
2 २ दुइ dui (dwee)
3 ३ तिन tin (teen)
4 ४ चार char
5 ५ पाँच panch (paahnch)
6 ६ छ chha
7 ७ सात saat (saht)
8 ८ आठ aath (aht)
9 ९ नौ nau (now)
10 १० दस das (dahss)
11 ११ एघार eghaara (eh-gah-ra)
12 १२ बाह्र baarha (bah-ra)
13 १३ तेह्र terha (tehr-uh)
14 १४ चौध chaudha (chow-da)
15 १५ पन्ध्र pandhra (pahn-dra)
16 १६ सोह्र sorha (soh-ra)
17 १७ सात्र  satra (sah-tra)
18 १८ अठार athaara (ah-tah-ra)
19 १९ उन्नाइस unnais (oo-naiss)
20 २० बिस bis (bees) - soft S sound as in "nice" - not a Z sound like "bees" 😄

सय Say - hundred
हजार Hajaar- thousand
लाख Lakh - hundred thousand

You can use any combination of numbers with say, hajaar, and lakh to name a price:
3 hundred - tin say
11 hundred (1 thousand, 1 hundred) - eghaara say
4 thousand - char hajaar

Time to go

I've heard it said that you don't need to say thank you to vendors or servers at restaurants since they're just doing their job. But I don't feel right leaving without a smile and a thank you which is usually met with a kind greeting in return.

धेरै धन्यवाद dherai dhanyavad (deh-ray dhahn-ya-bahd) - Thank you very much!
आउंदै गर्छु aundai garchu (aun-day gar-choo) - I will keep coming here

And as always, when leaving you can hold your hands together and say नमस्ते "namaste" to give a polite 'goodbye'.



If you have any more shopping phrases that you would like to say in Nepali, ask in the comments!


Comments

  1. wonkamomJuly 5, 2017 at 8:48 AM

    Fantastic info! It may be helpful to put the syllable to be accented in bold to help those who don't know (like me).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. RangiChangi-AngelinaJuly 7, 2017 at 3:16 AM

      I updated it with bold font! Some words/phrases don't really have that much of an added stress on any particular syllable, though.

      Delete

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