Bengali/Lesson 1

Now that you have at least been exposed to the basics of the Bengali script, we shall discuss the most basic elements of conversation in this first section.

=কথা - dialogue=

You are walking down Gulshan Avenue in Dhaka when you hear Habib and Anjan pass each other by.

You decide to go over and introduce yourself.

=মান - meaning=

First thing's first: if the Wikipedia links didn't tip you off, then you should know that the speakers in the last dialogue were Bengali musicians, one from. Gulshan Avenue is also the most affluent thoroughfare in Dhaka.

(Politeness is important too!)

শুভেচ্ছা - greetings
There aren't clear-cut equivalents for the simple words 'hello' and 'goodbye'. On the other hand, basing your greeting on the time of day is much easier:
 * When the listener is Hindu, you can use নমস্কার (lit. I bow to your likeness) in both greeting and parting.
 * When the listener is Muslim, you use আসসালামু আলাইকুম (lit. peace be upon you) in greeting and either আল্লাহ হাফেজ or খোদা হাফেজ (khoda hafej, lit. may God be your guardian) in parting.
 * When you are uncertain of the listener's religion, it is perfectly acceptable to use a simple হ্যালো (hello) and বাইবাই (bye-bye).
 * শুভ সকাল: good morning
 * শুভ দুপুর (shubho dupur): good afternoon (when it's closer to noon)
 * শুভ বিকাল (shubho bikal): good afternoon (when it's farther from noon)
 * শুভ সন্ধ্যা (shubho shondha): good evening
 * শুভ রাত (shubho rat): good night

অবস্থা - status
The phrase আপনি কেমন আছেন, or আপনারা কেমন আছেন for multiple people, is the most formal version of a 'how are you' in Bengali.

In most informal situations, কি অবস্থা (ki ôbostha, lit. what's the status), কি খবর (ki khôbor, lit. what's the news), and কি হচ্ছে (ki hocche, lit. what's happening) serve as the equivalents to "what's up".

চেনা - recognition
আপনার নাম কি is a perfectly polite way to ask someone their name. আপনি কে (apni ke, lit. who are you), on the other hand, is generally avoided in conversation.

পরিপোষণ - affirmation
জি and জি না (ji na) are the more polite versions of 'yes' and 'no'. In most informal situations–or in most situations altogether–হ্যাঁ (hã) and না are almost always used.

আচ্ছা is the ubiquitous word for 'okay' found in practically any Indian language.

বিদায় - farewell
Aside from what was discussed under শুভেচ্ছা, phrases such as পরে দেখা হবে, পরে কথা হবে, and আবার দেখা হবে function well as equivalents of 'see you later'.

=ব্যাকরন - grammar=

বিশেষ্যপদ - noun
There are no articles in Bengali–there are no equivalents to If one needs to be definite about something, one can attach -টা (-ţa) to the end of the word.

For forming plurals, one tacks on -গুলো (-gulo) to objects and -রা (-ra) to people.

শিষ্টাচার - etiquette
Ideally this section should be named 'সর্বনাম - pronouns', but while politeness levels in pronouns aren't present in modern English (think 'you' vs. 'thou'), they're markedly important in Bengali–and what better way to introduce the concept than through a discussion of pronouns?

উত্তম পুরুষ - first person
Unlike in, say, Japanese, there's no politeness distinction for 'I' (আমি) and 'we' (আমরা, amra).

মধ্যম পুরুষ - second person
The word 'you' has three equivalents depending on the politeness level.


 * আপনি: This is the formal word used in the dialogue and almost always recommended when speaking to strangers or to those elder than you in some way. The plural is আপনারা.
 * তুমি (tumi): This is the familiar word; you'd use it when speaking to family and friends in more normal circumstances. The plural is তোমরা (tomra).
 * তুই (tui): This is the most informal word, used when speaking to those inferior to you in some way or to animals, objects, or your significant other. The plural is তোরা (tora).

Each version has its own form in verb conjugation, which we'll get into later.

প্রথম পুরুষ - third person
(Caveat: the Bengali literally means 'first person'.)

Pronouns in the third person, contrary to what is found in many languages, are based on the location of the thing or person being referred to. (They also have formal forms.)


 * এ: This is used for those near the speaker.
 * ইনি (ini) is the formal version.
 * ও: This is used for those near the speaker.
 * উনি (uni) is the formal version.
 * সে (she): This is used for those that either were mentioned previously or are outside the view of the speaker or listener.
 * তিনি (tini) is the formal version.

এ and ও may be pluralized as described above (এরা, ওরা), but সে becomes তারা (tara) in the plural. The formal plurals are the same as the regular ones except that their first vowels are nasalized (i.e. এঁরা, ওঁরা, তাঁরা).

হওয়া - to be
The simple present tense of 'to be' is not used in Bengali, which means direct descriptions of objects can be made by putting the nouns/adjectives right after them.