Tibetan phrasebook

Table of Contents

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

Tibetan is the main language of Tibet and among Tibetan communities around the world.

Pronunciation guide

Tibetan spelling and pronunciation diverged around the 11th century, and there is no widely agreed standard on how to spell phonetic Tibetan with the Latin alphabet.

Vowels

ཨ: Like "a" in "alone" (a).
ཷ: Like "aw" in "paw" (å).
ེ: Like "e" in "bet" (e).
ི: Like "i" in "in" (i).
ཱི: Like "ee" in "seen" (í).
ོ: Like "o" in "so" (ó).
ྲྀ: Like "e" in "father" (ö).
ཱུ: Like "ue" in "glue" (ú).
ུ: Like "oo" in "soon" (ū).
ུ: Like "ee" in "seen" but with rounded lips (ü).
ེ: Like "ay" in "day" (ą).

Consonants

ཀ: Like "k" in "skill" (k).
ག: Like "g" in "garden" (g).
ང: Like "ng" in "sing" (ng).
ཅ: Like "ch" in "charge" (ç).
ཇ: Like "j" in "jar" (j).
ཉ: Like "ny" in "canyon" (ñ).
ཏ: Like "t" in "stop" (t).
པ: Like "p" in "spot" (p).
ཙ: Like "ts" in "weights" (ţ).
ཛ: Like "ds" in "adds" (ds).
ཟ: Like "z" in "zoo" (z).
ཞ: Like "s" in "treasure" (ž).
ར: A throaty "r", not rolled (r).
ས: Like "s" in "suck" (s).
ཤ: Like "sh" in "shut" (š).

Common diphthongs

ཁ: Like "k" in "kill" (kh).
ཆ: Like "ch h" in "punch hard" (çh).
ཐ: Like "t" in "time" (th).
ཕ: Like "p" in "pit" (ph).
ཚ: Like "ts h" in "fights hard" (ţh).

Phrase list

Basics

Hello.: Tashi delek ()
Hello. (informal): ()
How are you?: Khye-rang ku-zug de-po yin-pe ()
Fine, thank you.: De-po yin ()
What is your name?: Khye-rang gi tshen-la ga-re zhu-gi yod? ()
My name is ______ .: Nga-ee ming-la ______ zi-gi yod ()
Nice to meet you.: Khye-rang jel-ney ga-po joong ()
Please.: Thuk-je zig ()
Thank you.: Thuk-je-che ()
You're welcome.: ()
Yes.: Rey
No.: Ma-rey
Excuse me.
Excuse me.
I'm sorry.
Goodbye
Goodbye
I can't speak name of language [well].
Do you speak English?
Is there someone here who speaks English?
Help!
Look out!
Good morning.
Good evening.
Good night.
Good night
I don't understand.
Where is the toilet?

Problems

Numbers

One

  Chig

Two

Nyi

Three

Sum

Four

Zhi

Five

Nga

Six

Dug

Seven

Dun

Eight

  Gyed

Nine

Gu

Ten

Chu

Twenty

  Nyi-shu

Thirty

  Sum-chu

Forty

  Zhi-chu

Fifty

  Nga-chu

One Hundred

  Gya tham-pa

Time

Clock time

Duration

Days

Months

Writing time and date

Colors

Transportation

Bus and train

Directions

Taxi

Lodging

Money

Eating