Greetings

1. བཀྲ་ཤིས་བདེ་ལེགས།

   Tashi delek

   Tashi Delek (auspiciousness and well-being / hello / blessings)

   Usage

   The most iconic Tibetan greeting, meaning "may there be auspiciousness and well-being." Usable at any time and for any occasion.

   Grammar Note

   Tibetan has three honorific levels (ordinary, respectful, highly respectful). This phrase works across all levels, making it ideal for travelers.

2. ཁྱེད་རང་བདེ་པོ་ཡིན་ནམ།

   Khe-rang de-po yin-nam?

   Are you well?

   Usage

   Polite inquiry about well-being. "Khe-rang" is the respectful second-person pronoun.

   Grammar Note

   Tibetan follows SOV word order. "Yin" is the copula "to be," and "nam" marks a question. "Khe-rang" is polite; "khyod" is ordinary register.

3. ང་བདེ་པོ་ཡིན།

   Nga de-po yin

   I am well.

   Usage

   Standard reply to "are you well?"

   Grammar Note

   "Nga" is the ordinary first-person pronoun. The copula "yin" is used for first-person statements; "red" for third-person or objective facts. This distinction is a key grammar point.

4. ཐུགས་རྗེ་ཆེ།

   Tuk je che

   Thank you (formal/honorific)

   Usage

   The most common expression of thanks. Especially used toward monks and elders. Always use this form in temples.

   Grammar Note

   "Tuk" is the honorific word for "heart/mind." Literally "your great heart." Ordinary thanks: "ka-drin che." The honorific system is closely tied to Buddhist concepts of reverence.

5. གོང་མ་ཟུར་ཞུ།

   Gong-ma zur-zhu

   Excuse me / Pardon

   Usage

   Polite expression used when getting someone's attention or excusing oneself.

   Grammar Note

   "Zhu" is a humble/deferential verb meaning "to humbly request." Tibetan verbs have three registers: ordinary, honorific, and humble (deferential), used depending on social context.

6. ང་གི་མིང་… ཞེས་བགྱི།

   Nga-gi ming … zhe-gyi

   My name is ...

   Usage

   Self-introduction template. Fill "…" with your name.

   Grammar Note

   The genitive particle "gi" changes form based on the preceding syllable. "Zhe-gyi" is a humble form for "is called," appropriate when politely introducing yourself.

7. ཁྱེད་རང་གི་མིང་ཅི་རེད།

   Khe-rang-gi ming chi-re?

   What is your name?

   Usage

   Polite way to ask someone's name when meeting for the first time.

   Grammar Note

   "Red" is the evidential/factual copula for third-person or objective facts; "yin" is used for first-person. Distinguishing them is fundamental Tibetan grammar.

8. ཁྱེད་རང་གང་ནས་ཡིན་ནམ།

   Khe-rang gang-ne yin-nam?

   Where are you from?

   Usage

   Polite way to ask where someone is from.

   Grammar Note

   The ablative particle "ne" means "from." Tibetan question words stay in their natural syntactic position; the question is marked at the end. A classic SOV feature.

9. གཞི་ནས་ཕེབས་པར་དགའ་བཞེས།

   Zhi-ne pheb-par ga-she

   Welcome

   Usage

   Formal welcoming phrase used for guests and visitors, commonly heard in guesthouses and monasteries.

   Grammar Note

   "Pheb" is the honorific form of "to come" (ordinary: "yong"). Tibetan honorific verbs are entirely different words from their ordinary counterparts, each requiring separate memorization.

10. ཀ་ལེ་ཕེབས།

    Ka-le pheb

    Go safely / Take care (said to someone leaving)

    Usage

    Said by the person who stays to the person who is leaving.

    Grammar Note

    The paired expression "ka-le shug" (stay comfortably) is said by the departing person to the one staying. These two phrases form a classic Tibetan farewell pair.

11. བོད་སྐད་ཤེས་ཀྱི་མི་འདུག

    Bod-ke she-kyi mi-dug

    I don't understand Tibetan

    Usage

    Used when you cannot understand. Often followed by asking if the other person knows Chinese.

    Grammar Note

    "Dug" is the experiential copula in Tibetan, indicating something the speaker directly perceives. "Mi" is the negation prefix. Different copulas for different evidential contexts are a key Tibetan feature.

12. ང་རྒྱ་གར་ནས་ཡིན།

    Nga Gya-gar-ne yin

    I am from India. (example sentence)

    Usage

    Template for stating where you are from. Swap the country name. Japan = "Nyi-hong" (ཉི་ཧོང).

    Grammar Note

    Country names in Tibetan are often unique. China = "Gya-nag," USA = "A-me-ri-ka," Japan = "Nyi-hong." SOV structure: "I + from [place] + am."

13. སྐུ་གཟིམས་བདེ་ལེགས།

    Ku-zim de-lek

    Good night

    Usage

    Honorific phrase said before going to bed, e.g. at a guesthouse. Shares the "...de-lek" blessing pattern with "Tashi Delek."

14. ཀ་ལེ་བཞུགས།

    Ka-le shuk

    I'll be going now (said to those staying)

    Usage

    Said by the person leaving to those who remain; literally "stay comfortably." Pairs with "ka-le pheb" (go safely) as the authentic Tibetan farewell exchange, rather than a literal calque of the Japanese phrase

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