Vocabulary

We do feel sick, sometimes.  Fever: ज्वोरो (jworo) Wound/ Injury: चोट (chot)/ घाउ (ghau) Symptom: लक्षण (lachyan) Cold: रुघा (rugha) Cough: खोकी (khoki) To have a Headache: टाउको दुख्नु (tauko dukhnu) Patient: बिरामी (birami) / रोगि (roghi) Sickness: रोग (rog) Vomit: छाद (chhad) To vomit: छाद्नु (chadnu) Diarrhea: पखाला (pakhala) Diabetes: मधुमेह (madhumeha) Cataracts: मोतिबिन्धू (motibindhu) Cancer: क्यान्सर (kyanser) Did you know that DIabetes is referred in Nepal as ‘Sugar’ while Hypertension as ‘Pressure’? Don’t be shocked when people say ‘Sugar ra Pressure le satairacha’ (Lit. Sugar and Pressure is bothering me) Also, … Read more

Lets see our stationery items . A note is that some of the words are loan words: Pencil: सिसाकलम (sisaakalam) / पेन्सिल (pensil) Pen: कलम (kalam) Eraser: मेट्ने (metne)* Marker: मार्कर (markar) Sharpener: तिखार्ने (tikharne)** Exercise Book/ Notebook/ Copy: कापी (kapi) Book: किताब (kitab) / पुस्तक (pustak) Scissors: कैँची (kaichi) Glue: ग्लु (glu) Paper: कागज (kaagaj) File: फाईल (faail) Ink: मसी (masi) Brush: ब्रुस (brus) Stapler: स्टेप्लर (steplar)  *Literally means ‘Eraser’…wait a minute…. ** Literally means ‘Sharpener’…oh right….

APPAREL English Nepali Notes Bhoto भोटो (bhoṭo) A traditional garment usually worn during winter Blouse ब्लाउज (blāuj) Generally refers to a blouse worn with a saree Chaubandi चौबन्दी (caubandī) A traditional form of blouse Cholo चोलो (colo) Generic blouse, usually compounded with the specific type of blouse Cloth(es) लुगा (lugā); कपडा (kapaḍā) Coat कोट (koṭ) … Read more

Let’s look at the reaction sounds we make when we encounter something.  Like, when we touch a hot object, we say ‘Hot!!’ or when we see something disgusting, we say ‘yuck’ and so on. Such sounds are called ‘बिस्मयादिबोधक शब्द’ (bishmayadibodhak shabda) in nepali. Also, there might be more sounds: Hot!: आत्था (attha) Cold!: आच्छु (acchhu) What?: के (ke) Why?: किन (kina) Yuck!: छ्या(chyaa) Ewww!: छि (chhi) … Read more

Ever wondered what is in your Kitchen? Daggers, guns and nuclear weapons are not advisable in kitchens. :  FOOD PREPARATION AND COOKING Kitchen = भान्छा (bhancha) Utensil = भाँडा (bhada)* Knife = छुरी (churi) Pressure Cooker = प्रेसर कुकर (presar kukar) Kettle = कित्ली (kitli) Wok = कराही (karaahi) Flat pan = तावा (tawa) Stove = चुला (chula) LPG = ग्यास (gyas) Mortar and Pestle = ओखल (okhal) Scissors = कैँची (kaichi) Grinding Stone = सिलौटा (silauta) Sieve = चाल्नी (chalni) … Read more

A difficult thing in Nepali are the words which mean the same but have different meanings. Such synonyms are called पर्यायवाची शब्द in Nepali. Let’s look at some common synonyms in Nepali. अति (ati): too much Synonyms: धेरै (dherai), असाध्यै, (asadhyai), बढी (badhi) निकै (nikai), ज्यादै (jyadai) These have their own uses, which I’ll explain later. आमा (ama): mother Synonyms: जननी (janani), मुमा (muma), माता (mata) Janani is rare, while mata sounds ‘divine’. Muma is usually said by children.  आँखा (akha): … Read more

Nepali is full of loan words. Words such as ‘Radio’ are relatively new. Most words today are borrowed from Sanskrit. It is easy to guess a word’s meaning if it’s a loanword. But a note is that, English speakers might expect English words to sound, English. That’s not the case! You have say it with … Read more