How to Say Mother, father, brother, sister in Nepali — आमा, बुवा, दाइ, दिदी | KidSchooler

Q: How do you say "Mother, father, brother, sister" in Nepali?

You say "आमा, बुवा, दाइ, दिदी" — romanized as "Aama, Buwa, Dai, Didi" and pronounced "ah-mah, boo-wah, dah-ee, dee-dee". Nepalis use family terms with strangers as a sign of respect — 'dai' for an older man, 'didi' for an older woman.

Q: What's the cultural context for "Mother, father, brother, sister" in Nepal?

Calling a shopkeeper 'dai' or 'didi' instead of by name is warmer and more local. Younger people are 'bhai' (brother) or 'bahini' (sister).

How to say mother, father, brother, sister in Nepali

Mother, father, brother, sister

A multi-generational Nepali family on the porch of a stone house — Unsplash / source

आमा, बुवा, दाइ, दिदी

Aama, Buwa, Dai, Didi

Pronunciation: ah-mah, boo-wah, dah-ee, dee-dee

Native speakers (Forvo)

Listen + repeat

Pronunciation A/B

Listen to both — your ear is the judge.

Listen + speak

Say what you hear

Listen to the phrase, then speak it back. We'll compare word-by-word.

Expected

आमा बुवा दाइ दिदी

You said

—

When to use it

Nepalis use family terms with strangers as a sign of respect — 'dai' for an older man, 'didi' for an older woman.

Example sentence

नमस्ते दिदी, तपाईंलाई कस्तो छ?

Hello older sister, how are you?

Namaste didi, tapailai kasto chha?

Keep going — these are commonly used right after.

नमस्ते
Learn how to say hello in Nepali
Namaste · greetings
तपाईंलाई कस्तो छ?
Learn how to say how are you? in Nepali
Tapailai kasto chha? · greetings

Pronunciation A/B

Say what you hear

When to use it

Example sentence

Related Nepali phrases