Nature & Outdoors

1. གངས་རི་དེའི་མིང་ཅི་ཞེས་བྱ།

   Gang-ri de-i ming chi-zhey-ja

   What is the name of that snow mountain?

   Usage

   Used to ask about mountain names while viewing the Himalayas. Can be used pointing to Everest (Chomolungma)

   Grammar Note

   "Zhey-ja" is the passive form "is called." Standard naming question. "Gang" means snow/white in Tibetan

2. ཆུ་མིག་ག་པར་ཡོད།

   Chu-mig ga-par yö

   Where is a spring (water source)?

   Usage

   Used while trekking to find clean water sources. Many natural springs exist in Tibet's mountains

   Grammar Note

   "Chu-mig" literally means "eye of water" — a spring. "Mig" (eye) is used metaphorically for a source

3. འདིར་སེམས་ཅན་ག་རེ་འདུག

   Dir sem-chen ga-re dug

   What kind of animals are here?

   Usage

   Used to ask about wildlife in Tibetan nature reserves or highland areas

   Grammar Note

   "Sem-chen" is Buddhist for "sentient being," used for animals. "Dug" is the direct perception existential verb

4. ཆུ་ཀླུང་འདི་ལ་མིང་གང་ཡིན།

   Chu-lung di la ming gang yin

   What is the name of this river?

   Usage

   Used to ask about river names. Tibet is the source of many great rivers like the Yarlung Tsangpo

   Grammar Note

   "Gang yin" asks "what is/what is it." "Chu-lung" literally means "flow of water" — river

5. མཚོ་འདི་ལ་ལྟ་ཆོག་གམ།

   Tso di la ta-chog gam

   Can we visit this lake?

   Usage

   Used to check if visiting a sacred Tibetan lake is permitted. Lake Namtso and Manasarovar are famous examples

   Grammar Note

   "Ta" means "to look/observe." Many Tibetan lakes are considered sacred and may have access restrictions

6. ཤིང་ལྗོན་འདིའི་མིང་ཅི་ཞེས་བྱ།

   Shing-jön di-i ming chi-zhey-ja

   What is the name of this plant?

   Usage

   Used when learning about Tibetan highland plants. Tibet is rich in Himalayan medicinal herbs

   Grammar Note

   "Shing-jön" means "tree's green" referring to plants generally. The naming question "chi-zhey-ja" is very versatile

7. གངས་ལ་འགྲོ་ཆོག་གམ།

   Gang la dro-chog gam

   Can we walk through the snow?

   Usage

   Used to check the safety of walking through snow-covered terrain in winter or at high altitude

   Grammar Note

   "Dro" means "to go/proceed on foot," here "to pass through the snow." "Chog-gam" forms the permission/ability question

8. ཆར་པ་འབབ་ཀྱི་རེད་དམ།

   Char-pa bab-kyi-re-dam

   Will it rain?

   Usage

   Used to check weather forecasts. Tibet's weather changes rapidly, making advance confirmation important

   Grammar Note

   "Bab" is the verb "to fall" used for rain and snow. "Kyi-re" is a predictive modal auxiliary for future events, and "dam" makes it a question. Tibetan auxiliary verbs change based on information source

9. འདིར་གཡག་མང་པོ་འདུག

   Di-r yag mang-po dug

   There are many yaks here

   Usage

   Used when spotting yaks, Tibet's iconic animal. Useful during tourism or trekking

   Grammar Note

   "Dug" is the direct perception evidential verb meaning "is (visible right now)." Yaks are central to Tibetan culture and economy

10. གཟི་བརྗིད་ལྡན་པའི་ལྟ་ར་གཅིག་ཡོད་དམ།

    Zi-ji den-pai ta-ra chig yö-dam

    Is there a viewpoint with a magnificent view?

    Usage

    Used to find a viewpoint. Tibet's mountains offer some of the world's most spectacular scenery

    Grammar Note

    "Zi-ji den-pa" means "possessing splendor" — a compound adjective for magnificence. "Yö-dam" forms the existential question

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