Marathi (मराठी) is one of the official languages of India, the main language of the state of Maharashtra and a secondary language in Goa. Marathi is written in the Devanagari script, like Hindi and some other Indian languages. It is the 4th most widely-spoken language in India, after Hindi, Bengali and Telugu. Regional literature in Marathi dates back to around 1000 AD.

Marathi grammar is largely based on Sanskrit and Pali. Around 60% or more of the nouns in Marathi are derived directly from Sanskrit. Also, Marathi shares many words with Hindi. Unlike Hindi but like Sanskrit, Marathi has not 2 but 3 genders: masculine, feminine and neutral. Figuring out the gender of a word can sometimes be difficult, especially for English speakers.

Goa was a Portuguese colony from the 16th to the 20th century, as a result of which Marathi has had influence from the Portuguese language. बटाटा (ba-tA-tA, potato) is a common example used in everyday speech.

Pronunciation guide

A historical Marathi letter

See Learning Devanagari for detailed information on the subject. Marathi is nearly 100% phonetic, so pronunciation is not as much of a problem as it may seem at first glance. Anglophones tend to pronounce आ as in cat or bat. This sound is non-existent in Marathi, and you will not be easily understood if you pronounce it this way. Vowels are added to consonants, similar to other Devanagari languages, but picking up the Devanagari script is not that essential. You will manage fine with the romanization used in this phrasebook.

Vowels

In Marathi, vowels are added to consonants. Most of them are easy to pronounce, ऋ and ॠ are slightly challenging. Marathi vowels retain much of their original Sanskrit pronunciation making some of them different from their Hindi counterparts. A notable example is औ (au), pronounced as owl in Marathi but as Oxford in Hindi. ऑ (Ao) is a special vowel used for loan English words, and is pronounced as in doctor.

Devanagari	Tranileration used here	Examples
अ	a	as in allow
आ	A	as in hard
इ	i	as in hit
ई	I	as in mean
उ	u	as in put
ऊ	U	as in hoot
ऋ	tR	as in Brr! It's cold + a small u sound
ॠ	TR	similar to ऋ, slightly longer
लृ	ltR	as in life + ऋ
ए	e	as in main
ऐ	ai	as in fight
ओ	o	as in Oh my God
औ	au	as in owl
अः	aH	as in huh?

Consonants

Many Marathi consonants come in three different forms: aspirated, unaspirated and retroflex.

Aspiration means with a puff of air, and is the difference between the sound of the letter p in English pin (aspirated) and spit (unaspirated). Retroflex consonants, on the other hand, are not really found in English. They should be pronounced with the tongue tip curled back. Practice with a native speaker, or just pronounce as usual — you'll usually still get the message across.

Devanagari	Transliteration	Equivalent/Comments
क	k	as in skip.
ख	kh	as in sinkhole.
ग	g	as in go.
घ	gh	as in doghouse.
ङ	G	as in sing. Used only in Sanskrit loan words, does not occur independently.
च	ch	as in church.
छ	Ch	as in pinchhit.
ज	j	as in jump.
झ	jh	as in dodge her.
ञ	nY	as in canyon. Used only in Sanskrit loan words, does not occur independently.
ट	t	as in tick. Retroflex, but still a hard t sound similar to English.
ठ	T	as in lighthouse. Retroflex
ड	d	as in doom. Retroflex
ढ	D	as in mudhut. Retroflex
ण	N	retroflex n, as in grand.
त	th	does not exist in English. more dental t, with a bit of a th sound. Softer than an English t.
थ	Th	aspirated version of the previous letter, not as in thanks or the.
द	dh	dental d.
ध	Dh	aspirated version of the above.
न	n	dental n.
प	p	as in spin.
फ	ph	as in uphill.
ब	b	as in be.
भ	bh	as in abhor.
म	m	as in mere.
य	y	as in yet.
र	r	as in Spanish pero, a tongue trip. Don't roll as in Spanish rr, German or Scottish English.
ऱ	R	as in ready. slightly different from the above.
ल	l	as in lean.
ळ	L	as in Norwegian farlig. Retroflex lateral approximent
व	v	as in Spanish vaca, between English v and w, but without the lip rounding of an English w.
श	sh	as in shoot.
ष	Sh	almost indistinguishable retroflex of the above. slightly more aspirated.
स	s	as in see.
ह	h	as in him.

Basics

I: Mi

You: Tu

We: Aamhi

He: To

She: Tee

It: Te

This: Ha, Hee, He

That: To, Tee, Te

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Details: Mahiti

Amount: Rakkam

Bill : bil

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Rate: Kimmat

Quantity: Nag

Why: Ka

How: Kasa, Kashee, kiti

Where: Kuthe

Who: Kon

Conversation

i love you ( maza tujhya-var prem ahe)

May i have your attention please

( "Krupaya-laksha-dya)

Hello.

नमस्कार ( na-ma-skA-r )

How are you? (to a male)

तू कसा आहेस? ( thU ka-sA A-he-s )

How are you? (to a female)

तू कशी आहेस? ( thU ka-shI A-he-s )

How are you? (formal)

आपण कसे आहात? ( A-pa-N ka-she A-hA-th )

I am fine.

मी ठीक आहे ( mI TI-k A-he )

What is your name?

तुझं नाव काय आहे? ( thu-jha nA-v kA-y A-he )

What is your name? (formal)

आपले नाव काय आहे? ( A-pa-le nA-v kA-y A-he )

My name is XYZ.

माझं नाव XYZ आहे ( mA-zha nA-v XYZ A-he ) (!uses "z" in transliteration, but it is undefined!)

Nice to meet you.

तुम्हाला भेटून आनंद झाला ( thu-mhA-lA bhe-tU-n A-na-ndha jhA-lA )

Please.

कृपया ( ktR-pa-yA )

Thank you.

धन्यवाद ( Dha-nya-vA-dh )

You're welcome.

आपले स्वागत आहे ( A-pa-le svA-ga-tha A-he )--it is a literal welcome and not something you would say in response to "thank you"

Yes.

हो ( ho )

No.

नाही ( nA-hI )

Excuse me.

Excuse me/'Ek minute' (one minute)/कृपया (please)

Excuse me. (begging pardon)

. ( )

Please forgive me.

मला माफ करा ( ma-lA mA-f ka-rA )

Goodbye

(Accha/Tata) ("we'll meet again") पुन्हा भेटू ( pU-nhA bhe-tU )

I can't speak Marathi

मला मराठी बोलता येत नाही ( ma-lA ma-rA-TI bo-la-thA ye-th nA-hI )

Do you know English?

तुम्हाला इंग्रजी येते का? ( thu-mhA-lA I-ngra-jI ye-the kA? )

Is there someone here who speaks English?

इथे कुणाला इंग्रजी येते का? ( i-The ku-NA-lA I-ngra-jI ye-the kA )

Help

मदत ( ma-dha-th ), 'Vaachvaa' ('Save me')

Look out!

("careful!, steady!") ! (sA-va-kA-sh)

Good night.

शुभ रात्री ( shu-bha rA-thrI )

I don't understand.

मला समजत नाही ( ma-lA sa-ma-ja-tha nA-hI )

Say it again.

पुन्हा सांगा! (pu-nhA sA-nGA)

What should I do?

Mee kaay karu shakto?

Where should I go?

Mee kuthe gele paahije?

How many did you take?

Tu kiti ghetle?

How did you come?

Tu kasa aala?

Numbers

1 Ek एक

2 don दोन

3 tIn तीन

4 ch-ar चार

5 pa-ch पाच

6 sa-ha सहा

7 saa-th सात

8 aa-th आठ

9 nau नऊ

10 da-ha दहा

11 aka-raa 12 baa-raa 13 te-raa 14 chav-daa 15 pan-dha-raa 16 so-laa 17 sa-ta-raa 18 atha-raa 19 ako-nis 20 vees 21 ek-vees 22 ba-vees 23 tee-vees 24 cho-vees 25 panch-vees 26 sav-vees 27 sata-vees 28 aatha-vees 29 akonn-tees 30 tees

Time

Duration

Details

किती वेळ? ( ki-thI ve-La )

What time is it?

किती वाजले? ( ki-thI wA-jle )

Hour

तास ( thA-sa )

Half an hour

अर्धा तास ( A-DhA thA-sa )

15 minutes

पाव तास ( pA-va thA-sa )

45 minutes

पाउण तास ( pA-u-Na thA-sa )

Days

Monday

सोमवार ( so-mavA-ra )

Tuesday

मंगळवार ( ma-Gga-La-vA-ra )

Wednesday

बुधवार ( bu-Dha-vA-ra )

Thursday

गुरुवार ( gu-ru-vA-ra )

Friday

शुक्रवार ( shu-kra-vA-ra )

Saturday

शनिवार ( sha-ni-vA-ra )

Sunday

रविवार ( ra-vi-vA-ra )

Months

Months for Marathi calendar are different to the English calendar. They are: Chaitra,Vaishak,Jeshtha,Ashad,Shravan,Bhadrapad,Ashwin,Kartik,Margashish,Paush,Magh,Falgun.

However, The Julian calendar is used in Maharashtra as well as the rest of India for everyday purposes, and therefore the English names for months are understood by native Marathi speakers.

Writing time and date

Date

तारीख ( tA-rI-kha )

Time

वेळ ( ve-la )

Colors

Red

लाल ( lA-la )

Green

हिरवा ( hi-ra-vA )

Blue

निळा ( ni-LA )

Black

काळा ( kA-LA )

White

पांढरा ( pAn-Dha-rA )

Yellow

पिवळा ( pi-va-LA )

Orange

नारंगी ( nA-ra-GgI )

Transportation

Car

गाडी ( gA-di )

Bus and train

Bus

बस ("ba-sa") or गाडी ( gA-di ) (Same as car)

Directions

Left: डावा; Dawa

Right: उजवा; Ujwa

Up: वर; var

Down: खाली Khali

Left side: डावी कडे Dawikade

Right side: उजवी कडे Ujwikade

Upside: वरती Varti

Downside: खालती Khalti

Taxi

I have to go to - la jaayche aahe

Show me the tarrif card, please- Rate card daakhva bara

(In case the taxi driver attempts to overcharge) We had agreed for xx fare, I'll give you just that- xx rupaye Tharle hotey, titkech deiin

If you don't agree, let's check with a cop- Manzoor nahi? Police kaay te Tharavteel

Money

paise

Eating

Breakfast

नाश्ता ( nA-shthA )

Food

जेवण ( je-va-Na )

Water

पाणी ( pA-NI )

Ice

बर्फ ( ba-rphA )

Tea

चहा ( cha-hA )

Sugar

साखर ( sA-kha-ra )

Milk

दूध ( dhU-Dha )

Fruit

फळ ( pha-La )

Vegetable

भाजी ( bhA-jI )

Rice

भात ( bhA-ta )

Bars

Details

Quantity

Amount