Table Of ContentNepalese Grammar
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Grammar of Nepali Language
Adjectives in Nepalese language
Coordinating conjunction in Nepal
Expression of feelings in Nepali
“How”
“How” much and “How” many
Negative questions in Nepali
Nominal and verbal inflections of Nepalese language
Singular and plural in Nepali
‘There is’ and ‘there are’
Postposition in Nepalese Language
“In”, “to”, “at”
“without”
“with”
Interrogative particles
Word order in Nepal
Nepalese Verbs
‘I need’
“I like”
“I want to…”
"to have"
"to be"
Present-future tense in Nepalese
Phrase using two verbs in Nepali
Terminasion in present
Terminaison with “ I ”
Conjugation of “we” in present tense in Nepali
Verbal inflection of the Nepali language
Verbs Nepal - Tense in Nepali verbs
Nepali or Nepalese (नेपाली) is a language in the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-
European language family.
It is the official language and de facto lingua franca of Nepal and is also spoken in
Bhutan, parts of India and parts of Myanmar (Burma). In India, it is one of the country's
23 official languages: Nepali has official language status in the formerly independent
state of Sikkim and in West Bengal's Darjeeling district. The influence of the Nepali
language can also be seen in Bhutan and some parts of Burma. Nepali developed in
proximity to a number of Tibeto-Burman languages, most notably Kiranti and Gurung,
and shows Tibeto-Burman influences.
Historically, the language was first called Khaskura (language of the khas 'rice farmers'),
then Gorkhali or Gurkhali (language of the Gurkha) before the term Nepali was taken
from Nepal Bhasa. Other names include Parbatiya ("mountain language", identified with
the Parbatiya people of Nepal) and Lhotshammikha (the "southern language" of the
Lhotshampa people of Bhutan). The name 'Nepali' is ambiguous, as it was originally a
pronunciation of Nepal Bhasa,[citation needed] the Tibeto-Burman language of the
capital Kathmandu.
Script and literature
Nepali is commonly written in the Devanagari script, as are Hindi and Sanskrit. There is
some record of using Takri script in the history of Nepali, especially in western Nepal,
Uttarakhand, and Himachal Pradesh. Bhujimol is an older script native to Nepal, while
Ranjana script is another writing system historically used.
Nepali developed a significant literature within a short period of hundred years in the
19th century, fueled by Adhyatma Ramayana; Sundarananda Bara (1833); Birsikka, an
anonymous collection of folk tales; and a version of the South Asian epic Ramayana by
Bhanubhakta. The contribution of trio-laureates Lekhnath Poudyal, Laxmi Prasad
Devkota Muna Madan, and Balkrishna Sama took Nepali to the level of other world
languages. The contribution of expatriate writers outside Nepal, especially in Darjeeling
and Varanasi in India, is also notable. In the past decade, there are many contributions
to Nepalese literature from Nepalese diaspora in Europe, America and other Asian
countries.
The goal of this Nepali grammar is to provide a reference to the fundamental Nepali
parts of speech, its word types, and its rules of word formation from the Nepali
perspective. The book begins with a brief description of the Devanagari script and of
common pronunciation rules. Then a brief history of the Nepali language is presented.
The subsequent chapter on word types and origins is followed by a chapter on the parts
of speech. The remainder of the text concerns Nepali word formation and its paradigms.
Taken all together, the foundation in Nepali grammar is intended to be useful in
conjunction with other learning materials, or literary works, in Nepali itself.
Grammar of Nepali Language
Adjectives in Nepalese language
Adjectives ending in « -o » can be changed according to the gender masculine «-o» or
feminine «-i » or if it is plural «-a». Some adjectives derived from Sanskrit into Hindi and
has no inflections. This is the case « asal - good » that we can change to say « asal
keta - good boy » and «asal keti - good girl » or with the plural form « asal gauleharu -
good villagers ».
Some Nepali suffix marks the creation of word that become adjectives. This is the case
suffixes « -ilo » that can be used to change words like « has - smile » in « hasilo -
smiling.'' The suffix''- li '' has the same value and can create adjectives with nouns. We
can therefore form the word « gorkhali - in connection with the Gurkhas ».
Coordinating conjunction in Nepal
The conjunctions of coordinations are part of a class well apart from closed word and
can not be changed through inflections (suffixes or prefixes). It’s used to make the
connection, establishing a relationship of coordination between two clauses of equal
scope (without surbodonnate). Some of these words in Nepali:
ani: and then
ki: or
tara: But
ra and
ki … ki : or more .... or else
Expression of feelings in
Nepali
Expressing feelings in Nepalese: Expressing sentiments and emotions is always translated
by using the past tense. Thus, the expression «nice to meet you» is translated as «tāpaï sāngā
bheteraa khusi laagyo». The verb used comes from « laagnu : to feel, to fall». Please note
the presence of the indirect object complement « -laï ».
a) mālaï khusi laagyo
I feel happy/I am feeling happy/I felt happy
b) mālaï aalchhi laagyo
I feel lazy
c) mālaï laaz laagyo
I feel shy/I feel ashamed
d) tāpaïlaï nepāl kāsto laagyo?
How do you like Nepal?
e) tāpaï-laï waak waak laagyo
You feel nauseous/you feel like throwing up
f) tāpaï-laï gārmi laagyo
You feel hot
g) mālaï jhyaau laagyo
I am feeling bored
h) mero sāthilaï dukha laagyo
My friend feels sad.
i) mālaï nindraa laagyo
I feel sleepy
j) mālaï thaakaï laagyo
I feel tired.
k) mālaï nā ramaïlo laagyo.
I feel unpleasant
Gender in Nepali words
The adjectives have both a shape change depending on the type and number "see
adjectives".
In Nepali only animated words have a masculine form and another form in the feminine.
Thus, we say "keti - girl" and "keta - boy". Traditionally, the Nepali language speaks of
three kinds of gender: Maculine, feminine and neutral. But if you look at the combination
(or bending) verbally, we find that there are distinctions only between masculine and
feminine form.
The personal pronouns in Nepal showed no particular gender. Thus, "u" or "waha"
can be translated by both "he" as "she". Only the context shows the distinction between
these two concepts.
“How”
Question words are very important when learning a new language. Nepali also has
these interrogative adjectives and the travelers should take some time to learn them.
“kasto” is one of them and means “how”.
a) tâpaïlaï kâsto chhâ?
How are you (how is it to you)?
b) kâsto râmro
How great!
c) nepâli bhaasaa kâsto chhâ?
How is the Nepalese language?
d) tâpaïlaï aajâ kâsto chhâ ?
How are you today?
e) tâpaï-ko ghâr kâsto chha?
How is your house?
f) ârnâkot kâsto chhâ ?
How is Arnakot?
“How” much and “How” many
kāti «How much» : Depending of the question we want to ask, an adapted vocabulary
is essential.
kāti paisa ho? ou kāti parchhā? How much does this cost?
a) Ek kaalo chya kāti paisa ho? How much does a black tea cost?
b) Internet ko ek ganda kāti paisa ho?
What’s the cost for one Internet access hour?
kāti taadhaa chhā? How far?
a) Yahabata kāti tadhaa chhā? How far is it from here?
b) Baglung kāti taahdhaa chhā? How far is Baglung?
kāti+ samaya+ laagchhā How much time does it take?
a) chiyaa paaknaa kāti samaya laagchhā
How much time does it take to prepare the tea?
b) kāthmandu jaana kāti samaya laagchhā
How much time does it take to go to Kathmandou?
kāti pātāk How many times?
a) tāpaï nepal-maa kāti pātāk aaeko?
How many times have you been to Nepal?
b) tāpaï hārek din kāti pātāk dal-bhat khannuhunchhā?
How many times a day are you eating dal-bhat?
kāti jaanaa How many people…?
a) tāpaï-ko kāti-jaanaa chhora-chhori chhān?
How many children do you have?
b) yo grup-maa kāti kāti-janaa chhān?
How many persons are in that group?
kāti otaa How many things?
a) tāpaï-sāngā kāti-otaa kalam chhān?
How many pencils do you have?
b) yo shāhār-maa kāti-otaa hotel-hāru chhān?
How many hotels are in that town?
Negative questions in Nepali
We noticed that the indirect speech was really popular in Nepalese. One of the most
frequent formulas is the negative question. The particle « ra », studied in chapter 6.3.3
can be often found in the negative questions. This particle is used in order to ask short
questions.
a) tâpaï phâlphul khaannuhunnaa?
Don’t you eat vegetables?
b) tâpaï Nepali boluhunnaa ra?
Don’t you speak Nepali?
c) tâpaïko aamaa Nepaal–laï mayaa gârnuhunnaa ra?
Doesn’t your mother like Nepal?
d) jânâk-ji pokhaaraa aaunuhunnaa ra?
Doesn’t Janak come to Pokhara?
e) tâpaï mâlaï chinnuhunnaa ra?
Don’t you remember me?
f) pokhaaraa-maa paani pardaïna ra?
Isn’t it raining in Pokhara?
g) tâpaï le bihe gârnu hunnaa ra?
Aren’t you married?
h) tâpaï bholi aauna saknuhunnaa ra?
Can’t you come tomorrow?
i) wâhaa-laï bhok laagdaïna re, ho?
Isn’t she/he hungry?
j) hâjurlaï gaïd chahidaïna ra?
Don’t you need a guide?
Nominal and verbal inflections of Nepalese language
We talk of inflection when a word changes its end according to its function in the
sentence. The inflection doesn't create new words, but simply derives the meaning of
the original word. We talk about nominal inflection when that change affects a noun and
verbal inflections when this change affects a verb.
The verbal inflections are the equivalent of conjugasion and nominal inflections are
very similar to cases, very common in languages like Latin, or Russian. In English, for
example, the nominal inflection is extremely simple because it only allows to distinguish
the number (singular or plural) by adding an "-s" at the end of the word. In Nepalese,
inflections are much more numerous and vary in relation to the function of the word in
the sentence. Nepali language is special as it is easy to confuse the nominal inflection
and the addition of post-position at the end of a word. Indeed, in the Devanagari script,
post-positions are attached to the word they accompany.
Singular and plural in Nepali
The plural of nouns is done by adding the suffix "- haru" end of word. The adjectives
do not mark the plural in the spoken language. On the other hand, in the written
language, the adjectives change their endings "-a" to mark the plural character. Also
note that in Nepal, the plural marker is omitted when:
The plural nature of the word is clear (eg: when a number or words as "many, much,
very")
When the plural character refers to a generality (eg I love traveling in THE
MOUNTAINS)
When the suffix « - haru » is affixed to a noun that can not be effective, it implies the
idea of « and that sort of thing ». Thus the word "bhat - rice" may be called "bhatharu -
rice and anything else to eat"
It is also possible to add the suffix « -haru » to proper names. In such a case, it implies
the idea of "and his family." Ex: "ranjit - Ranjit" becomes "ranjitharu - Ranjit and all the
other".
Regarding verbs, conjugation has endings evoking the plural nature of the action. For
example, if the verb "chha" becomes "chhan" and « ho » becomes « hun ».
The plural mark ”-hāru” : the plural is formed by using the suffix « hāru ».
This way, « kitaab » (book – singular) becomes « kitaabhāru » - the books (plural).
The plural mark is always placed between the work (also called substantive) and the
postposition, if there is one. If we want to add the postposition « -maa » meaning « in,
on » we will say « kitaabhāru-maa – in the books » . It should be added that the plural
for non-human concepts (books, jobs, shops etc.) will be translated as singular in
Nepalese if they express something general (e.g. I love books) or if they are preceded
by a number or by a word which shows the plural of the substantive (e.g. I have three
brothers)
a) raja king rajahāru kings
b) manche person manchehāru persons
c) kitaab book kitaabhāru books
d) pāsāl shop pāsālhāru shops
e) bhaïsi buffalo bhaïsihāru buffalos
f) jholaa suitcase jholaahāru suitcases
g) charaa bird charaahāru birds
h) des country deshāru countries
i) gau village gauhāru villages
j) shāhār city shāhārhāru cities
Also note that the words « yo » et « tyo » become « yi » et « tyi » in plural. Moreover,
the adjectives never use the plural mark. Finally, the plural mark can be omitted if the
name is accompanied by a number.
