Air-conditioner is not working!
Can you guess what "bedroom" is called in Burmese? The Burmese word for bedroom doesn't contain the word "bed" at all. In direct translation, it is called "sleep room".
ate khan3
means bedroom, where ate means "to sleep", and khan3 refers to a room.
But, don't worry. I can guarantee you, all hotels, and even low budget "guest houses" in Myanmar will have a bed for you to sleep on. Below is the photo of one quite decent hotel room in Myanmar and some new vocabulary.
I want a room with bathroom attached
Here's another good news. Most decent hotels in Myanmar will have someone who knows some English, so they should be able to understand what a bedroom with bathroom attached means. But, if you want to show off your Burmese speaking skills, I can help you a bit on that area.
yay2-cho3 gun3 — bathroom
pa2 — come with
deare1 — the one which is
a-khan3 — a room
lo2 chin2 deare2
I want ( need + want + affirmation)
yay2-cho3 gun3 pa2 deare1 a-khan3 lo2 chin2 deare2
I want a room with bathroom attached.
Alternatively, you can also say,
yay2-cho3 gun3 — bathroom
neare1 — with
a-khan3 — a room
lo2 chin2 deare2
I want (need + want + affirmation)
yay2-cho3 gun3 neare1 a-khan3 lo2 chin2 deare2
I want a room with bathroom attached.
Of course, you can always substitute bathroom with some other nouns such as
eare3 koon2 — air-conditioner
mini-bar, IDD phone, Internet connection, and so on.
How many?
Back in lesson 19, we have learned to say, "how many children do you have?" In Burmese phrases, "how many" is always accompanied by "measure words". The sentence will have the format:
beare2 hna1-xxxx yyyy, where
xxxx is the measure word and
yyyy is needed to complete the sentence. Measure word xxxx examples are shown below without yyyy. Those are not complete sentences yet.
beare2 hna1-lone3 — "how many" for items with round shapes such as fruits and light bulbs.
beare2 hna1-ga2-lun2 — how many gallons of gasoline
beare2 hna1-kjut — how much "kyat" (Burmese currency)
beare2 hna1-koun2 — "how many" for number of animals
beare2 hna1-bu3 — how many bottles and tin cans
beare2 hna1-pa1-lin3 — how many glass bottle with necks such as wine bottles
beare2 hna1-yout — "how many" for number of persons
beare2 hna1-khu1 — "how many" for general small items that can be counted
beare2 hna1-khan3 — how many rooms
Extensive list of "measure words" are given in the table at lesson 12.
Example:
lu2 beare2 hna1-yout la2 leare3 — How many people came?
Now, you need yyyy ending part to complete the sentence. There can be several variations, but I will give two common usages.
lo2 chin2 leare3 — used in "how many do you want?"
leare3 — just a question mark in "how many xxxx" sentence.
Examples on full sentences with the format: "How many xxxx yyyy?
beare2 hna1-khan3 lo2 chin2 leare3
How many rooms do you want?
beare2 hna1-yout leare3
How many persons?
beare2 hna1-lone3 lo2 chin2 leare3
How many (fruits, light bulbs, etc.) do you want?
Counter question to "How many do you want" question
So, when the front desk asks you,
beare2 hna1-khan3 lo2 chin2 leare3
— How many rooms do you want?, you can counter question as follow:
thone3 khan3 ya1 ma1-la3
Three rooms available? (3 + rooms + roughly "available?")
That phrase sounds more natural than
thone3 khan3 lo2 chin2 deare2
(We) want three rooms. (3 + rooms + want + need + affirmation)
Air conditioner doesn't work!
If something is not in the working condition and needs fixing, you can use the words
pyet nay2 deare2.
For example, you can say...
eare3-koon2 pyet nay2 deare2
Air-conditioner is not working. (air conditioner + "not in working condition")
ka3 pyet nay2 deare2
Car broke down. (car + "not in working condition")
set pyet nay2 deare2
Machine is not working. (machine + "not in working condition")
If something doesn't work that has to do with water or electricity, Burmese people will say,
ma1-la2 bu3,
which in direct translation means, "doesn't come".
mi3 ma1-la2 bu3
There's no electricity!
a-khan3 hteare3 mi3 ma1-la2 bu3
There's no electricity in the room. (room + inside + electricity + "doesn't come")
yay2 ma1-la2 bu3
There's no water (from the tap.)
eare3-koon2 ma1-la2 bu3
Air conditioner doesn't work!
Murphy's Law
Murphy's Law says: if something can go wrong, it will go wrong. I hope that if you plan on visiting Myanmar, Murphy's Law doesn't apply. In any case, sleep well and have no fear! Knowing some of those Burmese words to express yourself will "work" wonders. May you not encounter Murphy's Law today!