Quick Stats
Marathi (मराठी) is one of the official languages of India, and the main language of the state of Maharashtra. Marathi is written in the Devanagari script, like Hindi and some other Indian languages. It is the 4th most widely-spoken language in India, after Hindi, Bengali and Telugu. Regional literature in Marathi dates back to around 1000 AD.
Marathi grammar is largely based on Sanskrit and Pali. Around 60% or more of the nouns in Marathi are derived directly from Sanskrit. Also, Marathi shares many words with Hindi. Unlike Hindi but like Sanskrit, Marathi has not 2 but 3 genders: masculine, feminine and neutral. Figuring out the gender of a word can sometimes be difficult, especially for English speakers.
Goa was a Portuguese colony from the 16th to the 20th century, as a result of which Marathi has had influence from the Portuguese language. बटाटा (ba-tA-tA, potato) is a common example used in everyday speech.
See Learning Devanagari for detailed information on the subject. Marathi is nearly 100% phonetic, so pronunciation is not as much of a problem as it may seem at first glance. Anglophones tend to pronounce आ as in c__a__t or b__a__t. This sound is non-existent in Marathi, and you will not be easily understood if you pronounce it this way. Vowels are added to consonants, similar to other Devanagari languages, but picking up the Devanagari script is not that essential. You will manage fine with the romanization used in this phrasebook.
In Marathi, vowels are added to consonants. Most of them are easy to pronounce, ऋ and ॠ are slightly challenging. Marathi vowels retain much of their original Sanskrit pronunciation making some of them different from their Hindi counterparts. A notable example is औ (au), pronounced as __o__wl in Marathi but as __O__xford in Hindi. ऑ (Ao) is a special vowel used for loan English words, and is pronounced as in d__o__ctor.
| Devanagari | Tranileration used here | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| अ | a | as in __a__llow |
| आ | A | as in h__a__rd |
| इ | i | as in h__i__t |
| ई | I | as in m__ea__n |
| उ | u | as in p__u__t |
| ऊ | U | as in h__oo__t |
| ऋ | tR | as in B__rr__! It's cold + a small u sound |
| ॠ | TR | similar to ऋ, slightly longer |
| लृ | ltR | as in __l__ife + ऋ |
| ए | e | as in m__ai__n |
| ऐ | ai | as in f__i__ght |
| ओ | o | as in __O__h my God |
| औ | au | as in __o__wl |
| अः | aH | as in h__uh__? |
Many Marathi consonants come in three different forms: aspirated, unaspirated and retroflex.
Aspiration means with a puff of air, and is the difference between the sound of the letter p in English __p__in (aspirated) and s__p__it (unaspirated). Retroflex consonants, on the other hand, are not really found in English. They should be pronounced with the tongue tip curled back. Practice with a native speaker, or just pronounce as usual — you'll usually still get the message across.
| Devanagari | Transliteration | Equivalent/Comments |
|---|---|---|
| क | k | as in s__k__ip. |
| ख | kh | as in sin__kh__ole. |
| ग | g | as in __g__o. |
| घ | gh | as in do__gh__ouse. |
| ङ | G | as in si__ng__. Used only in Sanskrit loan words, does not occur independently. |
| च | ch | as in ch__ur__ch. |
| छ | Ch | as in pin__chh__it. |
| ज | j | as in __j__ump. |
| झ | jh | as in do__dge h__er. |
| ञ | nY | as in ca__ny__on. Used only in Sanskrit loan words, does not occur independently. |
| ट | t | as in __t__ick. Retroflex, but still a hard t sound similar to English. |
| ठ | T | as in ligh__th__ouse. Retroflex |
| ड | d | as in __d__oom. Retroflex |
| ढ | D | as in mu__dh__ut. Retroflex |
| ण | N | retroflex n, as in gra__n__d. |
| त | th | does not exist in English. more dental t, with a bit of a th sound. Softer than an English t. |
| थ | Th | aspirated version of the previous letter, not as in __th__anks or __th__e. |
| द | dh | dental d. |
| ध | Dh | aspirated version of the above. |
| न | n | dental n. |
| प | p | as in s__p__in. |
| फ | ph | as in u__ph__ill. |
| ब | b | as in __b__e. |
| भ | bh | as in a__bh__or. |
| म | m | as in __m__ere. |
| य | y | as in __y__et. |
| र | r | as in Spanish pe__r__o, a tongue trip. Don't roll as in Spanish rr, German or Scottish English. |
| ऱ | R | as in __r__eady. slightly different from the above. |
| ल | l | as in __l__ean. |
| ळ | L | as in Norwegian far__l__ig. Retroflex lateral approximent |
| व | v | as in Spanish __v__aca, between English v and w, but without the lip rounding of an English w. |
| श | sh | as in __sh__oot. |
| ष | Sh | almost indistinguishable retroflex of the above. slightly more aspirated. |
| स | s | as in __s__ee. |
| ह | h | as in __h__im. |
I: Mi
You: Tu
We: Aamhi
He: To
She: Tee
It: Te
This: Ha, Hee, He
That: To, Tee, Te
Details: Mahiti
Amount: Rakkam
Bill : bil
Rate: Kimmat
Quantity: Nag
Why: Ka
How: Kasa, Kashee, kiti
Where: Kuthe
Who: Kon
; i love you ( maza tujhya-var prem ahe)
; May i have your attention please : ( "Krupaya-laksha-dya)
; Hello. : नमस्कार ( na-ma-skA-r )
; How are you? (to a male) : तू कसा आहेस? ( thU ka-sA A-he-s )
; How are you? (to a female) : तू कशी आहेस? ( thU ka-shI A-he-s )
; How are you? (formal) : आपण कसे आहात? ( A-pa-N ka-she A-hA-th )
; I am fine. : मी ठीक आहे ( mI TI-k A-he )
; What is your name? : तुझं नाव काय आहे? ( thu-jha nA-v kA-y A-he )
; What is your name? (formal) : आपले नाव काय आहे? ( A-pa-le nA-v kA-y A-he )
; My name is XYZ. : माझं नाव XYZ आहे ( mA-zha nA-v XYZ A-he ) (!uses "z" in transliteration, but it is undefined!)
; Nice to meet you. : तुम्हाला भेटून आनंद झाला ( thu-mhA-lA bhe-tU-n A-na-ndha jhA-lA )
; Please. : कृपया ( ktR-pa-yA )
; Thank you. : धन्यवाद ( Dha-nya-vA-dh )
; You're welcome. : आपले स्वागत आहे ( A-pa-le svA-ga-tha A-he )--it is a literal welcome and not something you would say in response to "thank you"
; Yes. : हो ( ho )
; No. : नाही ( nA-hI )
; Excuse me. : Excuse me/'Ek minute' (one minute)/कृपया (please)
; Excuse me. (begging pardon) : . (__)
; Please forgive me. : मला माफ करा ( ma-lA mA-f ka-rA )
; Goodbye :(Accha/Tata) ("we'll meet again") पुन्हा भेटू ( pU-nhA bhe-tU )
; I can't speak Marathi : मला मराठी बोलता येत नाही ( ma-lA ma-rA-TI bo-la-thA ye-th nA-hI )
; Do you know English? : तुम्हाला इंग्रजी येते का? ( thu-mhA-lA I-ngra-jI ye-the kA? )
; Is there someone here who speaks English? : इथे कुणाला इंग्रजी येते का? ( i-The ku-NA-lA I-ngra-jI ye-the kA )
; Help : मदत ( ma-dha-th ), 'Vaachvaa' ('Save me')
; Look out! : ("careful!, steady!") ! (sA-va-kA-sh)
; Good night. : शुभ रात्री ( shu-bha rA-thrI )
; I don't understand. : मला समजत नाही ( ma-lA sa-ma-ja-tha nA-hI )
; Say it again. : पुन्हा सांगा! (pu-nhA sA-nGA)
; What should I do? : Mee kaay karu shakto?
; Where should I go? : Mee kuthe gele paahije?
; How many did you take? : Tu kiti ghetle?
; How did you come? : Tu kasa aala?
1 Ek एक
2 don दोन
3 tIn तीन
4 ch-ar चार
5 pa-ch पाच
6 sa-ha सहा
7 saa-th सात
8 aa-th आठ
9 nau नऊ
10 da-ha दहा
11 aka-raa 12 baa-raa 13 te-raa 14 chav-daa 15 pan-dha-raa 16 so-laa 17 sa-ta-raa 18 atha-raa 19 ako-nis 20 vees 21 ek-vees 22 ba-vees 23 tee-vees 24 cho-vees 25 panch-vees 26 sav-vees 27 sata-vees 28 aatha-vees 29 akonn-tees 30 tees
; Details : किती वेळ? ( ki-thI ve-La )
; What time is it? : किती वाजले? ( ki-thI wA-jle )
; Hour : तास ( thA-sa )
; Half an hour : अर्धा तास ( A-DhA thA-sa )
; 15 minutes : पाव तास ( pA-va thA-sa )
; 45 minutes : पाउण तास ( pA-u-Na thA-sa )
;Monday : सोमवार ( so-mavA-ra )
;Tuesday : मंगळवार ( ma-Gga-La-vA-ra )
;Wednesday : बुधवार ( bu-Dha-vA-ra )
;Thursday : गुरुवार ( gu-ru-vA-ra )
;Friday : शुक्रवार ( shu-kra-vA-ra )
;Saturday : शनिवार ( sha-ni-vA-ra )
;Sunday : रविवार ( ra-vi-vA-ra )
Months for marathi calendar are different than English calendar. Chaitra,Vaishak,Jeshtha,Ashad,Shravan,Bhadrapad,Ashwin,Kartik,Margashish,Paush,Magh,Falgun.
However, The Julian calendar is used in Maharashtra as well as the rest of India for everyday purposes, and therefore the English names for months are understood by native Marathi speakers.
; Date : तारीख ( tA-rI-kha )
; Time: वेळ ( ve-la )
; Red : लाल ( lA-la ) ; Green : हिरवा ( hi-ra-vA ) ; Blue : निळा ( ni-LA ) ; Black : काळा ( kA-LA ) ; White : पांढरा ( pAn-Dha-rA ) ; Yellow : पिवळा ( pi-va-LA ) ; Orange : नारंगी ( nA-ra-GgI )
; Car : गाडी ( gA-di )
; Bus : बस ("ba-sa") or गाडी ( gA-di ) (Same as car)
Left: डावा ; Dawa
Right: उजवा; Ujwa
UP: वर; var
Down: खाली Khali
Left Side: डावी कडे Dawikade
Right side: उजवी कडे Ujwikade
upside: वरती Varti
downside: खालती Khalti
I have to go to <Destination>- <Destination> la jaayche aahe
Show me the tarrif card, please- Rate card daakhva bara
(In case the taxi driver attempts to overcharge) We had agreed for xx fare, I'll give you just that- xx rupaye Tharle hotey, titkech deiin
If you don't agree, let's check with a cop- Manzoor nahi? Police kaay te Tharavteel
paise
Breakfast
नाश्ता ( nA-shthA )
Food
जेवण ( je-va-Na )
Water
पाणी ( pA-NI )
Ice
बर्फ ( ba-rphA )
Tea
चहा ( cha-hA )
Sugar
साखर ( sA-kha-ra )
Milk
दूध ( dhU-Dha )
Fruit
फळ ( pha-La )
Vegetable
भाजी ( bhA-jI )
Rice
भात ( bhA-ta )
Bars
Details
Quantity
Amount