Contacts & SNS

1. ཁྱོད་ཀྱི་ཁ་པར་གྲངས་གང་རེད།

   Khyod kyi kha par drang gang red?

   What is your phone number?

   Usage

   Exchanging phone numbers

   Grammar Note

   "Kha par" (phone) is a native compound word for the telephone (its etymology is debated). Tibetan often creates native compound words for modern objects

2. ངའི་ཁ་པར་གྲངས་ནི་…

   Ngai kha par drang ni…

   My phone number is…

   Usage

   Sharing your own phone number

   Grammar Note

   "Nga" (I) + genitive "'i" = "ngai" (my). Tibetan genitive particles vary by preceding phonology: "gi/kyi/'i/yi/gi" — a form of phonological assimilation

3. WeChat བེད་སྤྱོད་བྱེད་ཀྱི་ཡོད་དམ།

   WeChat bé-chö jé-kyi yö dam?

   Do you use WeChat?

   Usage

   Asking about WeChat — widely used among Tibetans via mainland China infrastructure

   Grammar Note

   WeChat is the primary communication tool in Tibet. Without a Tibetan script form, it is borrowed as-is. "Bé-chö jé" (use) is the general verb for "make use of", and "kyi yö dam" asks "are you doing it?"

4. ཁྱོད་ཀྱི་གནས་ཡུལ་གང་དུ་ཡོད།

   Khyod kyi ne yul gang du yod?

   Where is your address?

   Usage

   Asking for someone's address or where they live

   Grammar Note

   "Ne" (dwell/stay) + "yul" (place/region) = "ne yul" (dwelling place/address). "Gang du" (where) is the Tibetan locative question word

5. ཁྱོད་ཀྱི་ཀུན་མིང་གང་རེད།

   Khyod kyi kun ming gang red?

   What is your name?

   Usage

   Asking for someone's name when meeting for the first time

   Grammar Note

   "Kun ming" is ordinary register for "name." Honorific: "tshan druk" (your honorable name). "Red" is the evidential copula used for facts about others

6. ངའི་མིང་ལ་… ཟེར།

   Ngai ming la… zer

   My name is called…

   Usage

   Introducing yourself by name

   Grammar Note

   "Zer" (say/is called) functions like English "called." Tibetan uses the construction "to my name __ is said" when introducing yourself

7. ལམ་སྟོན་གནང་།

   Lam tön nang

   Please give me directions

   Usage

   Asking for directions when lost

   Grammar Note

   "Nang" (please) is the honorific imperative of "nang" (do/give in honorific register). Polite requests use "nang." For casual: "nang rok" (please help)

8. ཡར་ཕེབས་ནས་འཚམས་པར་ཞུ།

   Yar phep ne tsam par zhu

   Please come visit again

   Usage

   Politely inviting someone to visit again when parting

   Grammar Note

   "Phep" (come, honorific) replaces ordinary "yong." "Zhu" is a humble request auxiliary. In Tibetan honorifics, verb stems change entirely based on social register

9. ང་ཚོར་གསལ་བཤད་གནང་།

   Nga tsor sel shed nang

   Please explain / give us your information

   Usage

   Requesting detailed information or explanation

   Grammar Note

   "Sel" (clear) + "shed" (say) = "sel shed" (explanation). Tibetan compounds combine elements for meaning. "Nga tso" (we/us) is the inclusive first person plural

10. གལ་ཆེན་གནད་དོན་གཅིག་དྲིབ་འདོད་ཡོད།

    Gal chen ne dön chik drib dö yod

    I would like to ask about something important

    Usage

    As a polite preamble before asking an important question

    Grammar Note

    "Gal chen" = "gal" (weight/importance) + "chen" (great). "Dö yod" (want to) expresses present desire. Tibetan polite questions often use lengthy preambles

11. ཡིག་འཕྲིན་འབྲི་ཆོག་གམ།

    Yik trin dri chok gam?

    May I write you an email / letter?

    Usage

    Asking permission to stay in touch by letter or email

    Grammar Note

    "Yig" (letter/writing) + "trin" (message) = "yig trin" (letter/email). Tibetan frequently coins new words by combining traditional vocabulary for modern concepts

12. བཀྲ་ཤིས་བདེ་ལེགས།

    Tashi delek

    Auspiciousness and well-being (farewell blessing)

    Usage

    Universal farewell blessing expressing wishes for good fortune and health

    Grammar Note

    "Tashi Delek" is the most important Tibetan phrase. It is a pure noun phrase (no verb) — just a blessing. Works universally for greeting, farewell, and celebration

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