Essential Burmese Phrases

Sometimes you don't have time to learn long lists of words and phrases.
All you want to know are the bare essentials for communicating to get
what you need, or where you need to go.

Here are the bare minimum of Burmese words and phrases you need
to know to survive.

Learn the Top 10 Phrases if you only have time for the barest minimum.
If you need or want more, then take a look at the Top 20 Phrases,
Top 30 Phrases and the Extra Phrases.

Here are ten easy phrases to get you started ... The Top 10 ... ə is pronounced weakly (e as in brother) eh is pronounced as ɛ (e as in pet) aw is pronounced as ɔ (o as in pot) ai is ai as in aisle au is ow as in now c is pronounced as ch (without a puff of air) ' adds a puff of air after the consonant h before a consonant makes it voiceless and breathy th is pronounced as þ as in thorn dh is pronounced as ð as in that - (macron) over the vowel indicates a breathy relaxed high pitch ~ (tilde) over the vowel indicates a creaky tense high pitch q indicates a glottal stop (ʔ) n at the end of a word indicates a uvular nasal ending (ɴ) Please note: Men use cənaw for I or me, and k'əmyā for you. Women use cəmã for I or me, and shin for you.
	min-gə-la-ba. Hello. twẽ-meh, naw? nauq-twẽ-dhē-da-bãw. Goodbye. k'əmyā/shin īn-gəleiq-zəgā pyāw-daq-thəlā? Do you speak English? nā-məleh-ba-bū. I don't understand. nēh-nēh. A little. houq-kẽh. məhouq-p'ū. Yes. No. beh-lauq-lēh? How much is it? zē theiq cī-deh. kāun-ba-bi. Too expensive. OK. cē-zū pyũ-bī. Please. cē-zū-naw. (ə-myā-jī) cē-zū tin-ba-deh. Thank you (very much).
Here are ten more phrases that will help you make new friends and ask for directions. The Top 20 ...
	k'əmyā/shin na-meh beh-lo k'aw-dhəlēh? What is your name? cənaw/cəmã ... lõ k'aw-ba-deh. My name is ... k'əmyā/shin ne-kāun-yẽh-lā? How are you? ne-kāun-ba-deh. Fine. ... beh-hma-lēh? Where is ...? ein-dha beh-hma-lēh? Where is the toilet? tāun-ban-ba-deh. gədãw-ba-deh. Sorry. Excuse me. keiq-sã məshĩ-ba-bū. pyaq-dhəna məshĩ-ba-bū. No problem. ... lo-jin-ba-deh. I want ... ... məlo-jin-ba-bū. I don't want ...
Here are another ten phrases to help you make a little more conversation and to get around. The Top 30 ...
	k'əmyā/shin lu-myō-ba? Where are you from? cənaw/cəmã ... lu-myō-ba. I am from ... ngwe-dāun-hlwa pē-ba. The bill, please. lān pyauq-thwā-bi. I'm lost. yaq-pa! sãun-ne-ba! Stop! Wait! di-hma, ho-hma. Here, there. teq-si. ho-teh. le-zeiq. bu-de-youn. Taxi. Hotel. Airport. Station. ... caiq-teh. I like ... ... məcaiq-p'ū. I don't like ... tiq (tə), hniq (hnə), thōun, lē, ngā. one, two , three, four, five. c'auq, k'un-hniq (k'un-hnə), shiq, kō, (tə)s'eh. six, seven, eight, nine, ten.
Here are some extra words and phrases you might find useful, especially if you have dietary needs or allergies. Useful extras ...
	c'ī-yā! Cheers! kāun-deh / s'ō-deh good / bad cī-deh / thē-deh big / small nī-deh / wē-deh near / far po-nēh-deh / po-myā-deh less / more ek aur / lauq-teh another one / enough cənaw/cəmã theq-thaq-luq-bēh sā-deh. I am vegetarian. əthā məsā-bū. I don't eat meat. ceq-thā ... ... chicken. ngā ... ... fish. cənaw/cəmã mye-bēh-nẽh mətẽh-bū. I am allergic to peanuts. ... ngā ... ... fish. ... pin-leh-hīn ... ... seafood. ... ceq-ū ... ... eggs.