Chapter 16 – Shopping
Unit 4 — Grammar Focus
Shopping Language: Prices, Quantity, and Polite Requests
Asking the price
In Nepali, two common structures are used to ask the price of an item:
यस्को कति हो?
(yasko kati ho?)
“How much is this?”
यस्को कति पर्छ?
(yasko kati parcha?)
“How much does this cost?”
The form हो (ho) expresses identification (“is”), while पर्छ (parcha) expresses cost (“costs”) and is especially frequent in transactional contexts.
When referring to a specific item (e.g., car, phone, shirt), Nepali marks possession using –को (–ko), framing the question as “the price of X.”
Core structures:
X-को कति हो?
X-को कति पर्छ?
(X-ko kati ho? / X-ko kati parcha?)
An explicit lexical form with मूल्य (mūlya, “price/value”) is also possible:
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? |
Saying the price (with यसको / त्यसको)
To express price in Nepali, short sentences are commonly formed using रुपैयाँ (rupaiyā̃, “rupees”). The possessive forms यसको (yasko, “of this”) and त्यसको (tyasko, “of that”) are used to link the item to its price.
Two verb forms are commonly used:
-
हो (ho) → expresses identification or equivalence (“is”)
-
पर्छ (parcha) → expresses cost (“costs”), and is more frequent in transactional contexts
Both forms are grammatically correct. However, पर्छ (parcha) is especially common in responses to कति पर्छ? (kati parcha?).
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. |
Asking for quantity: kilo / वटा
The most common question patterns are:
तपाईंलाई कति चाहिन्छ?
(tapāī̃lāī kati chāhincha?)
“How much do you want?”
कति किलो चाहिन्छ?
(kati kilo chāhincha?)
“How many kilos do you want?”
कति वटा चाहिन्छ?
(kati waṭā chāhincha?)
“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. |
Polite shop requests
In everyday Nepali, –न (na) is a common softener used to make requests more natural and polite, especially with verb forms such as दिनुस् (dinus, “please give”) and देखाइदिनुस् (dekhāidinus, “please show”).
Instead of using open substitution patterns (e.g., मलाई ___ दिनुस् न), learners benefit from memorizing complete request sentences and adapting 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? |
