I live in a house.
Reveal the answer, reading and word meanings
म घरमा बस्छु।
ma gharmā baschu
| Word or form | Reading | Meaning in this sentence |
|---|---|---|
| म | ma | I |
| घरमा | gharmā | at home |
| बस्छु | baschu | sit; live |
GRAMMAR / 05
Postpositions: place, participants and relationships
म घरमा बस्छु।
ma gharmā baschu
I live in a house.
Pattern and choice
देखि/बाट = from
Their starting-point uses overlap.
Use बाट for transport.
On this page
- ② Nepali grammar rules
- 1. देखि and बाट: shared source meanings
- 2. Choose by time or means
- 3. मा versus लाई: location or participant
- 4. सँग versus को in possession
- 5. ले versus बाट: instrument and transport
- 6. सम्म, तिर and attachment order
- देखि/बाट: choose by construction
- Core forms
- Company and possession
- Direction and position
- Extent
- Further relationships
② Nepali grammar rules
1. देखि and बाट: shared source meanings
देखि (dekhi) marks a starting point in time or space. बाट (bāṭa) marks departure/source and can mark route or transport. घरदेखि विद्यालयसम्म (from home to school) frames a range from home to school; घरबाट आएँ (I came from home) names where the speaker came from.
Spatial starting points allow overlap: देखि is not exclusively temporal.
2. Choose by time or means
बिहानदेखि काम गर्दै छु (I have been working since morning) describes working since morning. भोलिदेखि starts tomorrow, so देखि need not mean continuation up to now. बाट also occurs with temporal starts; learn देखि as the basic starting-point pattern. बसबाट जान्छु (I go by bus) means go by bus.
Replacing बाट with देखि does not preserve the transport meaning.
3. मा versus लाई: location or participant
विद्यालयमा marks a location; शिक्षकलाई marks a recipient or object. लाई can mark a specific personal object, but is not obligatory on every object: basic किताब पढ्छु (I read a book) has none.
In मलाई जाडो लाग्छ (I feel cold), लाई marks the experiencer.
4. सँग versus को in possession
मसँग किताब छ (I have a book) asserts possession/availability; यो मेरो किताब हो (this is my book) identifies ownership. सँग also marks company in साथीसँग जान्छु (I go with a friend).
Select को/की/का by the following noun/construction, not the owner's gender: compare मेरो छोरा (my son) / मेरी छोरी (my daughter) / मेरा साथीहरू (my friends).
5. ले versus बाट: instrument and transport
कलमले लेख्छु (I write with a pen) marks a writing instrument; बसबाट जान्छु (I go by bus) marks transport; बसमा छु (I am on the bus) gives location inside a bus. ले also marks an agent in मैले पढेँ (I read/studied, past).
The instrument कलमले is not the writer.
6. सम्म, तिर and attachment order
पाँच बजेसम्म (until/by five o'clock, depending on the verb) means until five; पाँच बजेतिर (around five o'clock) around five. घरमा locates at home; घरतिर points towards home.
Plural precedes the marker: साथी + हरू + सँग.
Learn pronoun combinations मलाई, मैले, मसँग, मेरो, rather than mechanically stacking markers.
देखि/बाट: choose by construction
| Context and form | Meaning and choice |
|---|---|
| Temporal start बिहानदेखि / bihāndekhi | Since morning. बाट also occurs temporally; learn देखि as the basic start marker. |
| Coming from a place घरबाट आएँ / gharbāṭa āẽ | Came from home. देखि also marks spatial starting points; there is overlap. |
| Start-to-end range घरदेखि विद्यालयसम्म / ghardekhi vidyālayasamma | From home to school. बाट…सम्म is also possible, not categorically wrong. |
| Transport बसबाट / basbāṭa | By bus. बसदेखि treats the bus as a starting point, not transport. |
Core forms
| Form and reading | Meaning and use | Short construction |
|---|---|---|
| मा mā | in, at, on (place/time) | घरमा / gharmā |
| लाई lāī | recipient, marked object, experiencer | रामलाई / rāmlāī |
| को・का・की ko / kā / kī | of; form agrees with the following noun | रामको किताब / rāmko kitāb |
| बाट bāṭa | from; by a means of transport | बसबाट / basbāṭa |
| देखि dekhi | from, since | बिहानदेखि / bihāndekhi |
| सम्म samma | up to, until | पाँच बजेसम्म / pā̃c bajesamma |
| देखि…सम्म dekhi…samma | from…to | सोमबारदेखि शुक्रबारसम्म / sombārdekhi śukrabārsamma |
| ले le | with a tool; see 11 for agent marking | कलमले / kalamle |
Company and possession
| Form and reading | Meaning and use | Short construction |
|---|---|---|
| सँग・सित sãga / sita | with, in company with | साथीसँग / sāthīsãga |
| को साथ ko sāth | with; construction differs from attached सँग | साथीको साथ / sāthīko sāth |
| 人＋सँग＋物＋छ person + sãga + thing + cha | possession: the thing, not the possessor, controls छ | मसँग कलम छ / masãga kalam cha |
Direction and position
| Form and reading | Meaning and use | Short construction |
|---|---|---|
| तिर・तर्फ・पट्टि tira / tarpha / paṭṭi | towards, to the side; तिर also about a time | बजारतिर / bajārtira |
| माथि māthi | above, on top; also above by itself | टेबलमाथि / ṭebalmāthi |
| तल・मुनि tala / muni | below, under; distinguish standalone direction | टेबलमुनि / ṭebalmuni |
| भित्र・बाहिर bhitra / bāhira | inside, outside | झोलाभित्र / jholābhitra |
| अगाडि・पछाडि agāḍi / pachāḍi | in front of, behind | घरको अगाडि / gharko agāḍi |
| सामु・सामुन्ने sāmu / sāmunne | in front of, before someone | मेरो सामु / mero sāmu |
| नजिक・निर・छेउ・छेउमा najik / nira / cheu / cheumā | near, beside | घरको नजिक / gharko najik |
| बीच・बीचमा・बिच・बिचमा bīc / bīcmā / bic / bicmā | between, in the middle; spelling variants | दुई घरको बीचमा / duī gharko bīcmā |
| वरिपरि varipari | around | घरको वरिपरि / gharko varipari |
| पारि・वारि pāri / vāri | on the far side, on this side | खोलापारि / kholāpāri |
| टाढा ṭāḍhā | far; a reference point can use बाट | घरबाट टाढा / gharbāṭa ṭāḍhā |
Extent
| Form and reading | Meaning and use | Short construction |
|---|---|---|
| भर・भरि bhara / bhari | throughout a place or period | दिनभरि / dinbhari |
Further relationships
| Form and reading | Meaning and use | Short construction |
|---|---|---|
| को बारेमा・सम्बन्धमा・विषयमा ko bāremā / sambandhamā / viṣayamā | about, regarding | नेपालको बारेमा / nepālko bāremā |
| अनुसार anusār | according to | नियमअनुसार / niyamanusār |
| बमोजिम・मुताबिक・अनुरूप bamojim / mutābik / anurūp | in accordance with; further/formal reference | सम्झौताबमोजिम / samjhautābamojim |
| बिना・विना・बेगर binā / vinā / begar | without; variants and synonyms | चिनीबिना / cinībinā |
| बाहेक bāhek | except, apart from | आजबाहेक / ājabāhek |
| को सट्टा・को साटो ko saṭṭā / ko sāṭo | instead of | चियाको सट्टा / ciyāko saṭṭā |
| प्रति prati | towards in attitude or feeling | देशप्रति / deśprati |
| विरुद्ध・विपरीत viruddha / viparīt | against, contrary to; context determines use | नियमविरुद्ध / niyamviruddha |
| मार्फत mārphat | through, via; compare agent vs intermediary in 32 | साथीमार्फत / sāthīmārphat |
मसँग कलम (a pen with me, part of a possession pattern) छ literally places a pen with me and means I have a pen.
The possessor being I does not change छ to छु.
In साथीसँग जान्छु (I go with a friend), सँग instead marks company.
को/की/का agree with the following noun. मेरो, हाम्रो and तपाईंको mean my, our and your.
Pronouns can change before case markers: म→मलाई/मैले, उहाँ→उहाँलाई/उहाँले, उहाँहरू→उहाँहरूलाई/उहाँहरूले.
Distinguish म, मेरो, मलाई and मैले by their roles.
MAKE IT YOURS
Try it yourself first
I came from Nepal.
Reveal the answer, reading and word meanings
म नेपालबाट आएँ।
ma nepālbāṭa āẽ
| Word or form | Reading | Meaning in this sentence |
|---|---|---|
| म | ma | I |
| नेपालबाट | nepālbāṭa | from Nepal |
| आएँ | āẽ | came |
बाट = source or means
We go with our friends.
Reveal the answer, reading and word meanings
हामी साथीहरूसँग जान्छौं।
hāmī sāthīharūsãga jānchaũ
| Word or form | Reading | Meaning in this sentence |
|---|---|---|
| हामी | hāmī | we |
| साथीहरूसँग | sāthīharūsãga | with friends |
| जान्छौं | jānchaũ | go; goes |
सँग = company/participant or possession