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Unit 20 · Intermediate
Pull the threads together: the big ideas behind everything you've learned, a quick self-check, and where to take your Nepali next.
Review and final recap (lesson 30)
Public-domain audio — FSI Nepali Basic Course (via Live Lingua).
Tourist
नमस्ते! यो कति पर्छ?
Namaste! Yo kati parchha?
Hello! How much is this?
Seller
तीन सय। कहाँबाट हुनुहुन्छ?
Teen saya. Kahaabaata hununhunchha?
Three hundred. Where are you from?
Tourist
म अष्ट्रेलियाबाट। अलि कम गर्नुहोस् न।
Ma Australia-baata. Ali kam garnuhos na.
I'm from Australia. Lower it a bit, please.
Seller
ल, दुई सय पचास।
La, dui saya pachaas.
Okay, two hundred fifty.
Tourist
हुन्छ, लिन्छु। धन्यवाद!
Hunchha, linchhu. Dhanyabaad!
Okay, I'll take it. Thanks!
If you remember one thing from this course, remember ho vs chha. ho is identity ("X is Y", equals): Yo chiyaa ho ("this is tea"). chha is existence, location and state ("there is", "is at", "is [feeling]"): Chiyaa chha? ("is there tea?"), Ma yahaa chhu ("I'm here").
Their negatives are hoina and chhaina. Get this split right and most sentences fall into place.
Nepali word order is Subject–Object–Verb: the verb sits at the very end, every time. Ma Nepali sikchhu is literally "I Nepali learn". Front-load the who and the what; finish with the doing.
With strangers, lean on tapai and the -nuhos / -nuhunchha forms; namaste, dhanyabaad and maaph garnuhos carry you through almost anything. From here your Nepali grows fastest by listening a lot and adding vocabulary — keep the FSI audio playing, and use what you've learned out loud at every chance.
1. ho or chha: "There is tea." — Chiyaa ___.
छ (chha) — existence.
2. ho or chha: "This is tea." — Yo chiyaa ___.
हो (ho) — identity.
3. Say "I'm learning Nepali."
म नेपाली सिक्छु। (Ma Nepali sikchhu.)
4. Bargain: "Lower it a bit, please."
अलि कम गर्नुहोस् न। (Ali kam garnuhos na.)