Marathi phrasebook

Pronunciation guide / Vowels / Consonants / Phrase list / Basics / Numbers / Time / Clock time / Duration / Days / Months / Writing time and date / Colors / Transportation / Bus and train / Directions / Taxi / Lodging / Money / Eating / Marathi phrasebook nightlife, bars, clubs and pubs. / Shopping / Driving / Authority

Marathi is the main language of Maharashtra, India. Marathi is written in the Devanagari script, like Hindi and some other Indian languages. It is the 4th most widely-spoken language in India, after Hindi, Bengali and Telugu. Regional literature in Marathi dates back to around 1000 AD.

Marathi grammar is largely based on Sanskrit and Pali. Unlike Hindi and similar to Sanskrit, Marathi has not 2, but 3 genders, masculine, feminine and neutral. Figuring out the gender of a word is very easy as it can be distinguished by the word's last vowel. This is not the case in many other Indian languages, such as Hindi or Urdu, where gender is probably the most difficult aspect of grammar.

Goa was a Portuguese colony from the 16th to the 18th century, as a result of which Marathi has had influence from the Portuguese language. बटाटा (ba-tA-tA, potato) is a common example used in everyday speech.

Pronunciation guide

See Learning Devanagari for detailed information on the subject. Marathi is nearly 100% phonetic, so pronunciation is not as much of a problem as it may seem at first glance. Anglophones tend to pronounce आ as in cat or bat. This sound is non-existent in Marathi, and you will not be easily understood if you pronounce it this way. Vowels are added to consonants, similar to other Devanagari languages, but picking up the Devanagari script is not that essential. You will manage fine with the romanization used in this phrasebook.

Vowels

In Marathi, vowels are added to consonants. Most of them are easy to pronounce, ऋ and ॠ are slightly challenging. Marathi vowels retain much of their original Sanskrit pronunciation making some of them different from their Hindi counterparts. A notable example is औ (au), pronounced as owl in Marathi but as Oxford in Hindi. ऑ (Ao) is a special vowel used for loan English words, and is pronounced as in doctor.

Consonants

Many Marathi consonants come in three different forms: aspirated, unaspirated and retroflex.

Aspiration means with a puff of air, and is the difference between the sound of the letter p in English pin (aspirated) and spit (unaspirated). Retroflex consonants, on the other hand, are not really found in English. They should be pronounced with the tongue tip curled back. Practice with a native speaker, or just pronounce as usual — you'll usually still get the message across.

Phrase list

Basics

Hello.: नमस्कार ( na-ma-skA-r )
How are you? (to a male): तू कसा आहेस? ( thU ka-sA A-he-s )
How are you? (to a female): तू कशी आहेस? ( thU ka-shI A-he-s )
How are you? (formal): आपण कसे आहात? ( A-pa-N ka-she A-hA-th )
Fine, thank you.: मी ठीक आहे ( mI TI-k A-he )
What is your name?: तुझं नाव काय आहे? ( thu-jha nA-v kA-y A-he )
What is your name? (formal): आपले नाव काय आहे? ( A-pa-le nA-v kA-y A-he )
My name is XYZ.: माझं नाव XYZ आहे ( mA-zha nA-v XYZ A-he )
Nice to meet you.: तुम्हाला भेटून आनंद झाला ( thu-mhA-lA bhe-tU-n A-na-ndha jhA-lA )
Please.: कृपया ( ktR-pa-yA )
Thank you.: धन्यवाद ( Dha-nya-vA-dh )
You're welcome.: आपले स्वागत आहे ( A-pa-le svA-ga-tha A-he )--it is a literal welcome and not something you would say in response to "thank you"
Yes.: हो ( ho )
No.: नाही ( nA-hI )
Excuse me.
Excuse me. (begging pardon): . ( )
I'm sorry.: मला माफ करा ( ma-lA mA-f ka-rA )
Goodbye: ("we'll meet again") पुन्हा भेटू ( pU-nhA bhe-tU )
I can't speak Marathi: मला मराठी बोलता येत नाही ( ma-lA ma-rA-TI bo-la-thA ye-th nA-hI )
Do you speak English?: तुम्हाला इंग्रजी येते का? ( thu-mhA-lA I-ngra-jI ye-the kA? )
Is there someone here who speaks English?: इथे कुणाला इंग्रजी येते का? ( i-The ku-NA-lA I-ngra-jI ye-the kA )
Help: मदत ( ma-dha-th )
Look out!: ("careful!") ! (sA-va-kA-sh)
Good night.: शुभ रात्री ( shu-bha rA-thrI )
I don't understand.: मला समजत नाही ( ma-lA sa-ma-ja-tha nA-hI )
Say it again.: पुन्हा सांगा! (pu-nhA sA-nGA)

Numbers

1 Ek एक

2 don दोन

3 tIn तीन

4 ch-ar चार

5 pa-ch पाच

6 sa-ha सहा

7 saa-th सात

8 aa-th आठ

9 nau नऊ

10 da-ha दहा

11 aka-raa 12 baa-raa 13 te-raa 14 chav-daa 15 pan-dha-raa 16 so-laa 17 sa-ta-raa 18 atha-raa 19 ako-nis 20 vees 21 ek-vees 22 ba-vees

Time

Clock time

Duration

How much time?: किती वेळ? ( ki-thI ve-La )

Hour: तास ( thA-sa )

Half an hour: अर्धा तास ( A-DhA thA-sa )

15 minutes: पाव तास ( pA-va thA-sa )

45 minutes: पाउण तास ( pA-u-Na thA-sa )

Days

Monday: सोमवार ( so-mavA-ra )

Tuesday: मंगळवार ( ma-Gga-La-vA-ra )

Wednesday: बुधवार ( bu-Dha-vA-ra )

Thursday: गुरुवार ( gu-ru-vA-ra )

Friday: शुक्रवार ( shu-kra-vA-ra )

Saturday: शनिवार ( sha-ni-vA-ra )

Sunday: रविवार ( ra-vi-vA-ra )

Months

Months for marathi calendar are different than English calendar. Chaitra,Vaishak,Jeshtha,Ashad,Shravan,Bhadrapad,Ashwin,Kartik,Margashish,Paush,Magh,Falgun.

Writing time and date

Colors

Red: लाल ( lA-la )
Green: हिरवा ( hi-ra-vA )
Blue: निळा ( ni-LA )
Black: काळा ( kA-lA )
White: पांढरा ( pAn-Dha-rA )
Yellow: पिवळा ( pi-va-LA )
Orange: नारंगी ( nA-ra-GgI )

Transportation

Bus and train

Directions

Left: डावा ; Dawa

Right: उजवा; Ujwa

UP: वर; var

Down: खाली Khali

Left Side: डावी कडे Dawikade

Right side: उजवी कडे Ujwikade

upside: वरती Varti

downside: खालती Khalti

Taxi

Lodging

Money

Eating

Breakfast

नाश्ता ( nA-shthA )

Food

जेवण ( je-va-na )

Water

पाणी ( pA-nI )

Ice

बर्फ ( ba-rphA )

Tea

चहा ( cha-hA )

Sugar

साखर ( sA-kha-ra )

Milk

दूध ( dhU-Dha )

Fruit

फळ ( pha-la )

Vegetable

भाजी ( bhA-jI )

Rice

भात ( bhA-tha )