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Chapter 6 – Talking about Location

Overview

In this chapter, you will learn how to describe where someone or something is in Nepali using the locative–existential pattern with छ / छन् (cha / chan) together with the postposition –मा (-mā) meaning “in/on/at.”

You will practise asking and answering location questions using कहाँ (kahā̃) “where,” and you will learn to choose छ (cha) for singular or uncountable nouns and छन् (chan) for plural nouns.

You will also build longer, natural sentences by combining location words (e.g., कक्षा (kakṣā) “classroom,” टेबल (ṭebal) “table”) with possessives such as मेरो (mero) “my.”

By the end of this chapter, you will be able to describe the location of everyday objects and people in real-life contexts such as classrooms, homes, and offices—for example:

  • कलम टेबलमा छ। (kalam ṭebalmā cha.) — The pen is on the table.

  • मेरो झोला कक्षामा छ। (mero jholā kakṣāmā cha.) — My bag is in the classroom.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this chapter, you will be able to:

  • ask and answer “where” questions using कहाँ (kahā̃)
  • use –मा (–) to express location (“in/on/at”)
  • produce location sentences using छ / छन् / छैन / छैनन् cha/chan/chaina/chainan
  • ask and answer where a respectful person is using कहाँ हुनुहुन्छ? kahā̃ hunuhuncha?

License

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Introduction to the Nepali Language Copyright © 2026 by Binod Shrestha; Salina Dolmo Lama; Mark Turin is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.