Chapter 16 – Shopping
Unit 4 — Grammar Focus
Shopping Language: Prices, Quantity, and Polite Requests
In this section, you will learn useful Nepali phrases for shopping. You will practise asking prices, saying prices, asking for quantity, and making polite requests in shops, markets, cafés, and everyday transactions.
These patterns are useful when buying food, clothing, household items, books, phones, or other objects.
Asking the Price
In Nepali, there are two common ways to ask the price of something.
यस्को कति हो?
yasko kati ho?
How much is this?
यस्को कति पर्छ?
yasko kati parcha?
How much does this cost?
Both are useful. The form हो (ho) works like “is,” while पर्छ (parcha) is often used for cost or price. In shopping situations, कति पर्छ? (kati parcha?) sounds very natural.
Simple Rule
Use कति हो? (kati ho?) to ask “How much is it?”
Use कति पर्छ? (kati parcha?) to ask “How much does it cost?”
For example:
यस्को कति हो?
yasko kati ho?
How much is this?
यो कति पर्छ?
yo kati parcha?
How much does this cost?
Asking the Price of a Specific Item
When asking the price of a specific item, Nepali often uses –को (–ko), meaning “of” or “’s.”
The question means something like:
What is the price of this item?
Common patterns are:
X-को कति हो?
X-ko kati ho?
How much is X?
X-को कति पर्छ?
X-ko kati parcha?
How much does X cost?
For example:
यो कारको कति हो?
yo kārko kati ho?
How much is this car?
यो फोनको कति पर्छ?
yo phonko kati parcha?
How much does this phone cost?
यो कमिजको कति पर्छ?
yo kamijko kati parcha?
How much does this shirt cost?
You may also use मूल्य (mūlya), meaning “price” or “value,” especially in more formal or careful speech.
यो कारको मूल्य कति हो?
yo kārko mūlya kati ho?
What is the price of this car?
Table 16.4.1 – Asking the price: common question forms
| Nepali | Transliteration | English |
|---|---|---|
| यस्को कति हो? | yasko kati ho? | How much is this? |
| यस्को कति पर्छ? | yasko kati parcha? | How much does this cost? |
| यो कारको कति हो? | yo kārko kati ho? | How much is this car? |
| यो कारको कति पर्छ? | yo kārko kati parcha? | How much does this car cost? |
| त्यो फोनको कति पर्छ? | tyo phonko kati parcha? | How much does that phone cost? |
| यो टी–शर्टको कति पर्छ? | yo ṭīsaṛṭko kati parcha? | How much does this T-shirt cost? |
Try It Now
Read the questions aloud.
यस्को कति हो?
yasko kati ho?
How much is this?
यस्को कति पर्छ?
yasko kati parcha?
How much does this cost?
यो किताबको कति पर्छ?
yo kitābko kati parcha?
How much does this book cost?
यो झोलाको मूल्य कति हो?
yo jholāko mūlya kati ho?
What is the price of this bag?
Saying the Price
To say the price in Nepali, you can use रुपैयाँ (rupaiyā̃), meaning “rupees.”
Nepali often uses यसको (yasko), meaning “of this,” and त्यसको (tyasko), meaning “of that,” to connect the item to its price.
For example:
यसको पाँच सय रुपैयाँ हो।
yasko pā̃c saya rupaiyā̃ ho.
This is five hundred rupees.
त्यसको हजार रुपैयाँ पर्छ।
tyasko hajār rupaiyā̃ parcha.
That costs one thousand rupees.
Two verb forms are common:
हो
ho
is
पर्छ
parcha
costs
Both are correct, but पर्छ (parcha) is especially common in shopping conversations.
Table 16.4.2 – Saying the price
| Nepali | Transliteration | English |
|---|---|---|
| यसको एक सय रुपैयाँ हो। | yasko ek saya rupaiyā̃ ho. | This is 100 rupees. |
| यसको दुई सय रुपैयाँ पर्छ। | yasko duī saya rupaiyā̃ parcha. | This costs 200 rupees. |
| एक किलो स्याउको तीन सय रुपैयाँ पर्छ। | ek kilo syāuko tīn saya rupaiyā̃ parcha. | 1 kg of apples costs 300 rupees. |
Simple Rule
Use रुपैयाँ हो (rupaiyā̃ ho) to identify the price.
Use रुपैयाँ पर्छ (rupaiyā̃ parcha) to say what something costs.
Try It Now
Read the price sentences aloud.
यसको दुई सय रुपैयाँ हो।
yasko duī saya rupaiyā̃ ho.
This is two hundred rupees.
यसको दुई सय रुपैयाँ पर्छ।
yasko duī saya rupaiyā̃ parcha.
This costs two hundred rupees.
त्यसको पाँच सय रुपैयाँ पर्छ।
tyasko pā̃c saya rupaiyā̃ parcha.
That costs five hundred rupees.
Asking for Quantity: किलो and वटा
When shopping, you often need to ask or answer how much or how many you want.
A common general question is:
तपाईंलाई कति चाहिन्छ?
tapāī̃lāī kati cāhincha?
How much do you want? / How many do you need?
Use किलो (kilo) when talking about weight.
कति किलो चाहिन्छ?
kati kilo cāhincha?
How many kilos do you want?
Use वटा (waṭā) when counting general objects or pieces.
कति वटा चाहिन्छ?
kati waṭā cāhincha?
How many pieces do you want?
Table 16.4.3 – Asking for quantity
| Nepali | Transliteration | English |
|---|---|---|
| कति किलो चाहिन्छ? | kati kilo cāhincha? | How many kilos do you want? |
| मलाई एक किलो स्याउ दिनुस् न। | malāī ek kilo syāu dinus na. | Please give me 1 kg of apples. |
| मलाई दुई वटा केरा दिनुस् न। | malāī duī waṭā kerā dinus na. | Please give me two bananas. |
| आधा किलो तरकारी चाहिन्छ। | ādhā kilo tarakārī cāhincha. | I want half a kilo of vegetables. |
Simple Rule
Use किलो (kilo) for weight.
Use वटा (waṭā) for general countable items.
For example:
एक किलो स्याउ
ek kilo syāu
one kilo of apples
दुई वटा किताब
duī waṭā kitāb
two books
तीन वटा कमिज
tīn waṭā kamij
three shirts
Try It Now
Practise the questions and answers.
A: तपाईंलाई कति चाहिन्छ?
tapāī̃lāī kati cāhincha?
How much do you want?
B: मलाई एक किलो चाहिन्छ।
malāī ek kilo cāhincha.
I want one kilo.
A: कति वटा चाहिन्छ?
kati waṭā cāhincha?
How many pieces do you want?
B: मलाई दुई वटा चाहिन्छ।
malāī duī waṭā cāhincha.
I want two pieces.
Polite Shop Requests
In everyday Nepali, –न (na) is often used to soften requests. It makes the request sound more natural and polite.
You will often hear –न (na) with useful shopping verbs such as:
दिनुस्
dinus
please give
देखाइदिनुस्
dekhāidinus
please show
गरिदिनुस्
garidinus
please do / please help do
For beginners, it is helpful to memorize complete request sentences first. Later, you can change the item as needed.
Table 16.4.4 – Polite shop requests
| Nepali | Transliteration | English |
|---|---|---|
| मलाई मोमो दिनुस् न। | malāī momo dinus na. | Please give me momo. |
| मलाई यो टी–शर्ट दिनुस् न। | malāī yo ṭīsaṛṭ dinus na. | Please give me this T-shirt. |
| कृपया मलाई पानी दिनुस्। | kṛpayā malāī pānī dinus. | Please give me water. |
| पानी ल्याइदिनुस्। | pānī lyāidinus. | Please bring water. |
| यो देखाइदिनुस् न। | yo dekhāidinus na. | Please show me this. |
| अलि सस्तो हुन्छ? | ali sasto huncha? | Can it be a little cheaper? |
Useful Shopping Requests
मलाई यो दिनुस् न।
malāī yo dinus na.
Please give me this.
मलाई एक किलो स्याउ दिनुस् न।
malāī ek kilo syāu dinus na.
Please give me one kilo of apples.
यो देखाइदिनुस् न।
yo dekhāidinus na.
Please show me this.
अलि कम गरिदिनुस् न।
ali kam garidinus na.
Please reduce it a little.
अलि सस्तो हुन्छ?
ali sasto huncha?
Can it be a little cheaper?
Learner Tip
The particle –न (na) softens the request. It does not change the basic meaning, but it makes the sentence sound more conversational and polite.
Compare:
यो दिनुस्।
yo dinus.
Please give this.
यो दिनुस् न।
yo dinus na.
Please give this. softer / more natural
Common Shopping Exchange
Practise this short conversation.
A: यो कति पर्छ?
yo kati parcha?
How much does this cost?
B: यसको पाँच सय रुपैयाँ पर्छ।
yasko pā̃c saya rupaiyā̃ parcha.
This costs five hundred rupees.
A: अलि सस्तो हुन्छ?
ali sasto huncha?
Can it be a little cheaper?
B: हुन्छ।
huncha.
Okay.
A: मलाई यो दिनुस् न।
malāī yo dinus na.
Please give me this.
Can You Do This Now?
At the end of this section, you should be able to:
- ask the price using कति हो? (kati ho?)
- ask the cost using कति पर्छ? (kati parcha?)
- understand price phrases with रुपैयाँ (rupaiyā̃)
- use यसको (yasko) and त्यसको (tyasko) when talking about prices
- ask for quantity using कति (kati)
- use किलो (kilo) for weight
- use वटा (waṭā) for general countable items
- make polite shop requests with दिनुस् न (dinus na)
- use देखाइदिनुस् न (dekhāidinus na) to ask someone to show an item
- use अलि कम गरिदिनुस् न (ali kam garidinus na) to politely ask for a lower price
