Question Words

1. ဢီႈသင်?

   i3-sang1?

   What?

   Usage

   Asks "what is it?".

   Grammar Note

   The question word stays in place.

2. တီႈလႂ်?

   ti3-laue1?

   Where?

   Usage

   Asks about a place.

   Grammar Note

   တီႈ "place" + လႂ် "which". Composed from dictionary-verified words.

3. မိူဝ်ႈလႂ်?

   moe3-laue1?

   When?

   Usage

   Asks about time; the dictionary glosses it "when, which time".

   Grammar Note

   A question adverb made of မိူဝ်ႈ "time" + လႂ် "which"; listed in the dictionary.

4. ၽႂ်?

   phaue1?

   Who?

   Usage

   Asks about a person.

   Grammar Note

   ၽႂ် is the pronoun "who".

5. ပဵၼ်သင်လႄႈ?

   pen1-sang1-lae3?

   Why?

   Usage

   Asks for a reason.

   Grammar Note

   Listed in the dictionary as the adverb "why?".

6. ၼင်ႇႁိုဝ်?

   nang2-hue1?

   How?

   Usage

   Asks about manner or method.

   Grammar Note

   Listed in the dictionary as the adverb "how?".

7. လၢႆဢၼ်?

   laai1-an1?

   How many?

   Usage

   Asks the number of things.

   Grammar Note

   Listed as "how many?"; ဢၼ် is the classifier for things.

8. ၵႃႈႁိုဝ်?

   kaa3-hue1?

   How much is it?

   Usage

   Asks a price; say it while pointing at the item.

   Grammar Note

   ၵႃႈ "price" + ႁိုဝ် (interrogative element).

9. ဢၼ်လႂ်?

   an1-laue1?

   Which one?

   Usage

   Asks which one among several.

   Grammar Note

   Listed in the dictionary as "which one?".

10. ဢၼ်ၼႆႉ ဢီႈသင်?

    an1-nai5 i3-sang1?

    What is this?

    Usage

    Asks what something in front of you is.

    Grammar Note

    Noun + question word; no copula is used. Composed from dictionary-verified words.

11. ယၢမ်းလႂ်?

    yaam4-laue1?

    What time is it?

    Usage

    Asks the time; the dictionary glosses it "what time? when?".

    Grammar Note

    ယၢမ်း "time" + လႂ် "which".

12. မီး ႁႃႉ?

    mi4 haa5?

    Do you have it?

    Usage

    Asks "do you have it?"; add the item name or point to it.

    Grammar Note

    Verb မီး + question particle ႁႃႉ. Composed from dictionary-verified words.

13. ႁဵတ်းလႆႈ ႁႃႉ?

    het4-lai3 haa5?

    Can you do it?

    Usage

    Asks whether something can be done.

    Grammar Note

    လႆႈ after a verb expresses "can". Composed from dictionary-verified words.

14. ဢမ်ႇလႆႈပၼ်ငိုၼ်း ႁႃႉ?

    am2-lai3-pan1-nguen4 haa5?

    Is it free?

    Usage

    Asks whether it costs nothing.

    Grammar Note

    The dictionary term for "free of charge" plus ႁႃႉ. Composed from dictionary-verified words.

15. လႆႈ ႁႃႉ?

    lai3 haa5?

    Is this OK?

    Usage

    Asks for permission.

    Grammar Note

    လႆႈ "can, get to" + ႁႃႉ. Composed from dictionary-verified words.

16. ဢမ်ႇလႆႈ ႁႃႉ?

    am2-lai3 haa5?

    Is it not allowed?

    Usage

    Checks whether something is forbidden.

    Grammar Note

    ဢမ်ႇလႆႈ is listed as "cannot, may not". Composed from dictionary-verified words.

17. ၸဝ်ႈ ယူႇလီ ႁႃႉ?

    tsao3 yu2-li1 haa5?

    Are you OK?

    Usage

    Asks after someone’s well-being.

    Grammar Note

    ယူႇလီ means "be well, healthy". Composed from dictionary-verified words.

18. တႄႉ ႁႃႉ?

    tae5 haa5?

    Really?

    Usage

    Used to double-check something surprising.

    Grammar Note

    တႄႉ means "be real, true". Composed from dictionary-verified words.

19. ၸဝ်ႈ မႃးတီႈလႂ်?

    tsao3 maa4-ti3-laue1?

    Where are you from?

    Usage

    Asks where someone comes from.

    Grammar Note

    The question word comes last. Composed from dictionary-verified words.

20. ၸဝ်ႈ ဢႃႇယူႉ လၢႆပီ?

    tsao3 aa2-yu5 laai1-pi1?

    How old are you?

    Usage

    Asks someone’s age.

    Grammar Note

    Order: age + how many + years; a native check is advisable. Composed from dictionary-verified words.

21. ထႆႇႁၢင်ႈ ၸွမ်းၵၼ် လႆႈ ႁႃႉ?

    thai2-haang3 tsawm4-kan1 lai3 haa5?

    Can we take a photo together?

    Usage

    A polite way to ask for a photo.

    Grammar Note

    Permission question: verb + လႆႈ + ႁႃႉ. Composed from dictionary-verified words.

22. ႁွင်ႈၼမ်ႉ ယူႇတီႈလႂ်?

    hawng3-nam5 yu2-ti3-laue1?

    Where is the toilet?

    Usage

    Asks where the toilet is. ႁွင်ႈၼမ်ႉ is literally "water room" (bathroom, toilet).

    Grammar Note

    The question word stays last. A different word is used, not the excrement word that looks similar. Composed from dictionary-verified words.

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