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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.

In the Bedroom

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.

Myanmar Grammar Notes: Question word beare2 hna1 is a pronoun if there is no mention of the noun. If it has a noun in front, it will be adjective.

Example:

lu2 beare2 hna1-yout la2 leare3How 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 leare3How 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!

Color Codes: nouns, pronouns, verbs, adverbs, adjectives, conjunctions, particles, postpositional markers, interjections.

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Standard Bathroom Amenities in Burmese

bathroom