50 Basic Bengali Words to Start With
If you learn nothing else, learn these. They are chosen for how often they come up rather than how easy they are, and two grammar facts at the end will do more for you than another fifty words.
| English | Bengali | In English letters |
|---|---|---|
| Yes | হ্যাঁ | hyañ |
| No | না | na |
| I | আমি | ami |
| You (familiar) | তুমি | tumi |
| You (respectful) | আপনি | apni |
| He / sheno gender in Bengali pronouns | সে | she |
| We | আমরা | amra |
| This | এটা | eta |
| That | ওটা | ota |
| What | কী | ki |
| Where | কোথায় | kothay |
| When | কখন | kokhon |
| Why | কেন | keno |
| How much / how many | কত | koto |
| Good | ভালো | bhalo |
| Bad | খারাপ | kharap |
| Big | বড় | boro |
| Small | ছোট | chhoto |
| Today | আজ | aj |
| Tomorrow / yesterdaythe same word for both | কাল | kal |
| Now | এখন | ekhon |
| Please | দয়া করে | doya kore |
| Sorry | দুঃখিত | dukkhito |
| I don't understand | আমি বুঝি না | ami bujhi na |
| I don't know Bengali | আমি বাংলা জানি না | ami bangla jani na |
| Speak slowly, please | একটু আস্তে বলুন | ektu aste bolun |
| How much is it? | এটার দাম কত? | etar dam koto? |
| Where is the toilet? | টয়লেট কোথায়? | toilet kothay? |
| Help! | সাহায্য করুন | shahajjo korun |
| I need a doctor | আমার ডাক্তার দরকার | amar daktar dorkar |
What a phrasebook will not tell you
The verb goes last, and that is most of the difficulty
Bengali is subject-object-verb. 'I eat rice' is ami bhat khai — I, rice, eat. Every English sentence you try to build will come out backwards until this becomes automatic, and no amount of vocabulary fixes it. It is also why word-for-word translation between English and Bengali produces nonsense in both directions.
There is no 'is' in the present tense
'He is a doctor' is she daktar — literally 'he doctor'. Bengali simply omits the verb to be in the present. Learners insert it constantly, and while everyone will understand you, it is the most audible foreign-sounding mistake.
'Kal' means both tomorrow and yesterday
The same word, disambiguated by the verb tense. Kal ashbo is 'I will come tomorrow'; kal esechhilam is 'I came yesterday'. This surprises everyone and stops mattering quickly.
Pronouns have no gender
She (সে) means he and she both. Bengali marks respect — she, tini — but not gender, anywhere in the language. Bengali speakers learning English find this the other way round, which is why 'he' and 'she' get mixed up by fluent Bangladeshi English speakers who make no other mistakes.
Questions
What are the most useful Bengali words to learn first?
The pronouns (ami, tumi, apni), the question words (ki, kothay, koto) and ami bujhi na ('I don't understand'). Those will carry a conversation further than fifty nouns.
Is Bengali hard for English speakers?
The word order and the script take time; the pronunciation and the grammar are gentler than most European languages. There are no gendered nouns and no verb agreement by gender.
Is Bengali the same as Bangla?
Yes. Bangla is the language's own name for itself; Bengali is the English name. Bangladeshis usually say Bangla even when speaking English.
Do I need to learn the script?
Not to speak. But the script is phonetic and more regular than English spelling, so it repays the week it takes — and it is the only way to read a sign, a menu or a name.