Chapter 15 – Food, Taste, and Preferences
Overview
Chapter 15 develops practical Nepali for everyday food and drink conversations, with a strong focus on expressing likes and dislikes clearly and politely. You will learn high-frequency food and beverage vocabulary and use it to talk about what you like मन पर्छ (man parcha) and what you do not like मन पर्दैन (man pardaīna), and to ask and answer preference questions in natural interaction. As you build fluency, you will also use simple taste words—such as sweet, spicy, mild, hot, cold, and delicious—to give brief reasons for your choices and to respond appropriately in real situations.
Alongside preferences, the chapter introduces a second key meaning used in cafés and restaurants: what you want or need right now (चाहिन्छ cāhincha / चाहिँदैन cāhindaīna), helping you choose the correct structure depending on whether you are describing general likes or making an immediate request. You will practise making simple choices using कि ki (“tea or coffee?”) and using short, polite phrases to order in common café and restaurant contexts. By the end of the chapter, you should be able to participate in a respectful, realistic food-ordering exchange—asking what is available, stating your preferences, making a choice, and placing a simple order with confidence.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this chapter, you will be able to:
- use common food and drink vocabulary in simple, everyday sentences
- describe basic taste preferences using high-frequency words (sweet, spicy, mild, hot, cold, delicious)
- ask and answer polite preference questions about food and drinks
- express likes and dislikes clearly using मन पर्छ / मन पर्दैन with common foods and drinks
- give short, simple reasons for your preferences using taste words (e.g., “because it’s spicy/sweet”)
- choose the correct structure for meaning by distinguishing “like” vs “want/need now” (मन पर्छ vs चाहिन्छ; and their negative forms)
- make simple either–or choices using कि (“tea or coffee?”, “momo or dālbhāt?”)
- participate in a short café/restaurant interaction: ask what is available, state preferences, make a choice, and order politely using short, natural phrases
