Can we mere more-tals successfully make out what more is? Perhaps, the more we think of it, the more we do not understand it. Hmm…I think I have heard this quote somewhere. Smore. ZZZ
Let’s look over words that describe ’more’ in Nepali! As an added bonus, I have added how to use ‘all’ (sabai) as well.
ATI
अति (ati) has a meaning of ’very’ or ’too’. Hence, it describes things to a higher degree, or is an intensifier. It can also precede dherai to mean ’Too much/many’. Most of the times, dherai is omitted because it is derived from the context itself.
For example:
राम अति छिटो कुद्छ (ram ati chito kudcha)
= Ram runs very fast.
तिमी काम अति धेरै चोटि गर्छौ (timi kam ati dherai choti garchau)
= You do your work too many times.
अति भयो (ati bhayo)
= Too (much) happened (Its English meaning is more like the English Phrase ’Enough!’)
मलाई अति रिस उठ्यो (malai ati ris uthyo)
= I am very angry.
अति नगर (ati nagara)
= Don’t do too (much)
You can also attach it to ’thorai’ to give a meaning of ’Too less’. However, you cannot omit ’thorai’ if you want to mean ‘Too less’:
त्यो रेस्टुरेन्टमा अति थोरै ग्राहक आउँछन् । (tyo resturent`ma ati thorai grahak aauchan)
= Too few customer(s) come to that restaurant.
परीक्षामा अति थोरै अङ्क आयो (pariksha`ma ati thorai anka aayo)
= Too less marks came in Exam. (fig. I received very less marks in Exams)
KHUB
खुब (khub) has a meaning of ’very’ (or equivalent) as well. An alternate spelling would be ‘खूब’. Like above, dherai may or may not be attached:
म खुब धेरै भात खान्छु (ma khub dherai bhat khanchu)
= I eat very many rice. (= I eat a lot of rice)
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However, I mentioned khub because it is used for an emphasis…usually on a sarcastic/satirical tone. For example:
खुब ठुलो भइस् (khub thulo bhais)
= You became (a) big (person).
While the sentence seems innocent, it is actually sarcastic in nature. Here, a person is mocking the subject because the subject apparently boasted of something or showed arrogance, hence became ‘big’. Big doesn’t mean physically big but rather like ‘great’ as in ‘a great person’.
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Such sarcasm cannot be replicated so easily with ’dherai’, for example:
धेरै राम्रो काम गरिस् (dherai ramro kaam garis)
= You did a good job. (genuine)
खुब राम्रो काम गरिस् (khub ramro kaam garis)
= You did a good job! (sarcasm)
This doesn’t mean that the first sentence cannot display sarcasm at all. The tone also plays a major role. In a sarcastic tone, khub is given more emphasis and lengthened. It is just that, when only text is displayed…khub is more likely to indicate sarcasm than dherai.
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The emphatic version of khub is खुबै (khubai).
त्यो खुबै हिरो बन्दै छ (tyo khubai hiro bandai cha!)
= He is being very hero-ish! (= He is acting like he is the boss)
JYADA
ज्यादा (jyada) has a meaning of ’Excess’ or ’Too (much/many quantity)’. For example:
त्यो अलिक ज्यादा भयो (tyo alik jyada bhayo)
= That is a little bit too much.
ज्यादा बोल्नु हुन्न (jyada bolnu hunna)
= Don’t speak excess(ively)
फूलहरुमा ज्यादा पानी हाल्नु हुँदैन (phul`haru`ma jyada pani halnu hudaina)
= (We should) not place excess water on flowers.
Much/ many quantity doesn’t necessarily mean that it has to be a big thing or describe large lengths. It can also be something like ‘short’ or ‘low’:
लुगा त ज्यादा सानो छ (luga ta jyada sano cha)
= Cloth is too (much) short
ASAADHYA
असाध्य (asaadhya) comes from the word ‘साध्य’ (saadhya) which means ’Feasible’. So, asaadhya means ’infeasible’. However, asaadhya also has another meaning, which is similar to ‘jyada’ {excess, too (much/many quantity)}
यो किताब असाध्य मोटो छ (yo kitab asaadhya moto cha)
= This book is too thick.
त्यो बाटो नगए नि हुन्छ, असाध्य लामो छ (tyo bato nagae ni huncha, asaadhya lamo cha)
= It is better to not go (from) that road, it is too long.
सारी असाध्य छोटो सिलाइदिएछौ (sari asaadhya choto silaaidiechau)
= (You) stitched the saree too short.
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SABAI
सबै (sabai) is the Nepali version of ‘All’ or sometimes, ‘every X’. It is to be noted that although सबै (sabai) is an emphatic version of ‘सब’ (sab), सबै (sabai) is used more frequently. Hence, I recommend using ‘sabai’ rather than ‘sab’.
हामी सबै नेपाली (hami sabai nepali)
= We all Nepali
मेरा सबै साथीहरु बिवाह गरिसके (mera sabai sathi`haru bibah garisake)
= All of my friends have married.
सबैजना आएका छन् ? (sabai`jana aaeka chan)
= Has everyone come?
यहाँ सबैवटा समान आइसकेका छन् (yaha sabai`watat samaan aaisakekaa chan)
= Here all the things have arrived already.
सबै घरमा कोठा हुन्छ (sabai ghar`ma kotha huncha)
= Every house has room(s).
You can also use ’sab’:
सब मान्छे एकै हुन् (sab manche ekai hun)
= All/ Every person is the same. (lit. all people are one)
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EXERCISE
A. TRANSLATE AND TRANSLITERATE THE FOLLOWING FROM NEPALI INTO ENGLISH
1. अति गर्नु तर अतिचार नगर्नु
2. घर पुगेपछि खुब खानुपर्छ
3. ज्यादा खानु हुँदैन
4. असाध्य ठूलो आवाज आइरहेको छ
5. सबैजना बस
B. FILL IN THE BLANKS WITH THE CORRECT WORDS GIVEN IN THE BRACKETS AND TRANSLATE THE SENTENCE
1. यहाँ पुग्न ____ समय लाग्यो (सबै, अति) /yaha pugna ___ samaya lagyo/
2. ___ हाँसियो (खुब, सब) /___ hasiyo/
3. यो ठाउँमा ___ छ (सबै, अति) /yo thau`ma ___ cha/
ANSWERS (for illustrative purposes only)
A. 1. Do too much but don’t cross the limits (ati garnu tara atichar nagarnu)
A. 2. Once after reaching home, (we will) eat a lot (ghar pugepachi khub khanuparcha)
A. 3. Do not eat a lot (jyada khanu hudaina)
A. 4. Very loud sound is coming (asaadhya thulo awaj aairaheko cha)
A. 5. Everyone sit (sabaijana asa)
B. 1. अति; It took a lot of time to reach here
B. 2. खुब; Laughed a lot
B. 3. सबै; Everything in this place