Bengali Language

বাংলা ভাষা
Baang•laa Bhaa•shaa

Subject classification: this is a language-learning resource.

Type classification: this is a lesson resource.

Completion status: Deliberately incomplete for educational purposes.

This course is intended to teach the Bengali language. The Bengali taught here is (unless mentioned otherwise) the standard colloquial version of the Bengali language that is widely used in the media both in the country of Bangladesh and in the Indian state of West Bengal.

Who is this course for?

This is a comprehensive course for people who want to develop linguistic (lexical, grammatical and phonetic) and communication skills in the Bengali language. It assumes familiarity with the Bengali alphabet and its intricacies.

First contact

Let's dive straight into some simple Bengali sentences to give you a first impression of how Bengali is structured.

Sentence 1: I speak Bengali.

Bengali script	আমি	বাংলা	বলি
Transliteration	aa•mi	baang•laa	bo•li
Word-by-word translation	I	Bengali (Language)	speak.
Grammatical function	Subject	Direct object	Verb
Transliteration breakdown	aa = আ m = ম mi = মি aami = আমি	b = ব baa = বা baang = বাং l = ল laa = লা baanglaa = বাংলা	b = ব bo = ব l = ল li = লি boli = বলি

Note:

The simple affirmative present tense Bengali sentence follows the Subject-Object-Verb (SOV) word order. To learn more about this, see Bengali Word Order.
The inherent vowel অ is pronounced as "o" in বলি, rather than "ô", since the next syllable has an ই sound. In practice, the difference may not be easily discernible.

Sentence 2: I do not speak Bengali.

আমি aa•mi	বাংলা baang•laa	বলি bo•li	না naa.
I	Bengali (Language)	speak	not.
Subject	Direct object	Verb	Negative marker for present indicative
aa = আ m = ম mi = মি aami = আমি	b = ব baa = বা baang = বাং l = ল laa = লা baanglaa = বাংলা	b = ব bo = ব l = ল li = লি boli = বলি	n = ন naa = না

Note: The simple negative present tense in Bengali simply adds the negative marker না ("naa") after a verb to make it negative.

Sentence 3: (Informal you) Do you speak Bengali ?

তুমি tu•mi	কি ki	বাংলা baang•laa	বল? baw•lo?
You (informal)	[no meaning]	Bengali (Language)	speak?
Subject	Yes-No question marker without a direct translation	Direct object	Verb
t = ত tu = তু m = ম mi = মি tumi = তুমি	k = ক ki = কি	b = ব baa = বা baang = বাং l = ল laa = লা baanglaa = বাংলা	b = ব baw = ব l = ল lo = ল bawlo = বল

Note:

The dummy yes/no question marker কি ("ki") is placed right after the subject pronoun.
As the subject changes from আমি (I) to তুমি (You), observe that the present tense verb ending changes. This is further explored in a later chapter (see Verbs).
The ব in বল is pronounced as "baw" instead of "bo", since the next syllable doesn't contain an ই or উ sound.

List of Grammar Lessons (not in order)

Lesson x. Nouns
Lesson x. Pronouns
Lesson x. Adjectives
Lesson x. Verbs
Lesson x. Adverbs
Lesson x. Degree Modifiers for adjectives, adverbs and verbs
Lesson x. Comparison with nouns, adjectives, adverbs and verbs
Lesson x. Word Order
Lesson x. Post-positions
Lesson x. Expressing temporal information (When or how often something happens)
Lesson x. Expressing locative information (Where something happens)
Lesson x. Expressing Obligation with Verb (modal auxiliary "uchit")
Lesson x. Expressing Possibility with Verb (modal auxiliary "paaraa")
Lesson x. Expressing Ability or Knowhow with Verb (modal auxiliary "jaanaa" or "paaraa")
Lesson x. Expressing Want with Verb (modal auxiliary "chaaoaa")
Lesson x. Expressing Need with Verb (modal auxiliary "dawrkaar" or "laagaa")
Lesson x. Expressing Cause (Why something happens)
Lesson x. Expressing Consequence
Lesson x. Expressing Goal (For what something happens)
Lesson x. Expressing Opposition (how to say but, on the contrary, however, etc.)
Lesson x. Expressing Addition of Ideas (how to say and, moreover, etc)
Lesson x. Expressing Conditions (how to say if, unless, depends etc)
Lesson x. Expressing Anteriority, Posteriority and Simultaneity (how to say before, after, during etc)
Lesson x. Characterizing using relative clauses (how to add information using who, which, where, whose, that etc)
Lesson x. Asking Questions

List of Vocabulary Lessons (not in order)

Lesson x. Greetings and basic polite expressions
Lesson x. Numbers
Lesson x. Measurements and Quantities
Lesson x. Characteristics of Objects: Size, Shape, Material, Texture, Color
Lesson x. Geography and nationalities
Lesson x. Languages
Lesson x. Human Body
Lesson x. Movements, Gestures and Postures
Lesson x. Cycle of Life
Lesson x. Family and Relationships
Lesson x. Personal Information
Lesson x. Daily activities
Lesson x. Housing
Lesson x. Appearance and Clothing
Lesson x. Places in the city
Lesson x. Directions
Lesson x. Traveling, roads and transport
Lesson x. Personal Objects
Lesson x. Education
Lesson x. Work and Workplaces
Lesson x. Shops and shopping
Lesson x. Vacation
Lesson x. Leisure activities
Lesson x. Animals
Lesson x. Plants and Trees
Lesson x. Food
Lesson x. Eating out
Lesson x. Cooking, Recipes and Gastronomy
Lesson x. Shops and shopping
Lesson x. Graphic Arts
Lesson x. Theater
Lesson x. Cinema
Lesson x. Music
Lesson x. Architecture
Lesson x. Photography
Lesson x. Sports and games
Lesson x. Post office and other services
Lesson x. Media
Lesson x. Computers and Internet
Lesson x. Books and literature
Lesson x. Intellectual life
Lesson x. Communication
Lesson x. Feelings and Emotions
Lesson x. Health and Medicine
Lesson x. Fashion
Lesson x. Money and Banking
Lesson x. Character and Personality
Lesson x. Science and Research
Lesson x. Crime, Law and Justice
Lesson x. Environment
Lesson x. Weather and Climate
Lesson x. Economy and Finances
Lesson x. Politics
Lesson x. Social Issues
Lesson x. Morality
Lesson x. Mind and psychology
Lesson x. Time
Lesson x. The Past
Lesson x. The Future
Lesson x. Belief and religion

Appendices

Appendix x. Foreign words