Unit 4 — Grammar Focus

Respectful endings in polite requests

In Nepali, polite requests are commonly formed using the respectful imperative ending –नुहोस् (–nuhos). This suffix marks the verb as honorific (High register) and is used in interactions with strangers, elders, teachers, and in public contexts.

Common examples:

आउनुहोस् (āunuhos) — please come

बस्नुहोस् (basnuhos) — please sit

बोल्नुहोस् (bolnuhos) — please speak

भन्नुहोस् (bhannuhos) — please say

गर्नुहोस् (garnuhos) — please do

In everyday spoken Nepali, shortened forms are also very common:

आउनुस् (āunus)

बस्नुस् (basnus)

भन्नुस् (bhannus)

Both full and shortened forms are widely used. In this book, the full form –नुहोस् (–nuhos) is introduced first for clarity and consistency.

Politeness in Nepali is primarily expressed through verb morphology. For this reason, the word कृपया (kṛpayā, “please”) is optional. Forms such as बस्नुहोस् (basnuhos) are fully natural on their own, while कृपया बस्नुहोस् is more formal and less common in everyday speech.

Common phrase endings: छ / छैन

Many common expressions in Nepali end with छ (cha) or छैन (chaina). These forms express state, condition, or existence.

Examples:

स्वागत छ (swāgat cha) — welcome

ठीक छ (ṭhīk cha) — okay / all right

ठीक छैन (ṭhīk chaina) — not okay / not all right

मलाई थाहा छैन (malāī thāhā chaina) — I don’t know

At this stage, these expressions should be learned as complete units. The grammatical structure of छ / छैन will be introduced in later sections.