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Unit 6 · Elementary
Family words come up fast in Nepal — and they split by age and respect in ways English doesn't. Learn to name your relatives and say "this is my…".
Family members and kinship (lesson 6)
Public-domain audio — FSI Nepali Basic Course (via Live Lingua).
Maya
यो तपाईंको परिवार हो?
Yo tapaiko pariwaar ho?
Is this your family?
Ram
हो। यी मेरा आमाबुवा हुन्।
Ho. Yi mera aamaabuwaa hun.
Yes. These are my parents.
Maya
यो को हो?
Yo ko ho?
Who is this?
Ram
यो मेरो बहिनी हो।
Yo mero bahini ho.
This is my younger sister.
Maya
तपाईंको बिहे भयो?
Tapaiko bihe bhayo?
Are you married?
Ram
भएको छैन।
Bhaeko chhaina.
Not yet.
Nepali has no plain "brother" or "sister" — you must mark age. daai is an older brother, bhai a younger one; didi an older sister, bahini a younger one.
These same words are used warmly with strangers: call a young man bhai, a woman a little older than you didi. It's friendly, not rude.
The pattern is Yo mero X ho — "This is my X." For people you respect, especially parents, Nepali switches to the honorific: the possessive becomes mera and the verb becomes hun: Yi mera aamaabuwaa hun = "These are my parents."
Younger relatives stay plain: Yo mero bhai ho ("This is my younger brother").
Ask Tapaiko bihe bhayo? — literally "Did your marriage happen?" Answer bhayo (yes, it happened) or bhaeko chhaina (it hasn't yet).
1. What word means "older brother"?
दाइ (daai).
2. Say "This is my younger sister."
यो मेरो बहिनी हो। (Yo mero bahini ho.)
3. Ask "Is this your family?"
यो तपाईंको परिवार हो? (Yo tapaiko pariwaar ho?)
4. Say "I'm not married yet."
मेरो बिहे भएको छैन। (Mero bihe bhaeko chhaina.)