Describing yourself in Burmese

When I was around ten or eleven under the Burmese education system, I learned to write my first essay in English about me. I still remember the title: "Myself". Let me think of such a simple approach and words to help you to learn Burmese. After all, you must learn to crawl first before you learn to walk.

My name is xxxx

kja1-nau1 — my (male term)

nun2-meare2 — name

xxxx — (your name)

ba2 — soft polite tone

kja1-nau1 nun2-meare2 xxxx ba2 — My name is xxxx.

The female term for "my" is kja1-ma1, so you just substitute it in place of kja1-nau1 if you are a lady.

But, nowadays, the use of the male term kja1-nau2 meaning "I", and kja1-nau1 meaning "my" by female speakers become more and more common and acceptable, so I will just use the male term kja1-nau2 for the rest of the phrases.

I am xxxx years old.

kja1-nau2 — I

a-thet — age

thone3-zeare1 tit — 31

hnit — year

shi1— to exist; to be

byi2 — has reached certain stage or condition.

kja1-nau2 a-thet thone3-zeare1 ta1-hnit shi1 byi2 — I am 31 years old.

If your age is in multiple of 10 starting from 20, you need to drop hnit (year) from the sentence. If your age is exactly 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, or 80, use the following format.

kja1-nau2 a-thet xxxx shi1 byi2 — I am xxxx years old.

Please refer to lesson 12 for numbers.

I am a xxxx.

kja1-nau2 — I (male term)

xxxx — nationality, religion, occupation, or groups that you belong to

ba2 — soft polite tone

kja1-nau2 xxxx ba2 — I am a xxxx.

This is a general phrase that can be used to describe your nationality, religion, occupation, or other social and political groups that you belong to. Examples are given below.

kja1-nau2 ja2-mun2 ba2 — I am a German. (I + German + soften tone)

kja1-nau2 ja2-mun2 lu2-myo3 ba2 — I am a German. (I + German + ethnic background + soften tone)

kja1-nau2 kha1-rit-yan2 ba2— I am a Christian. (I + Christian + soften tone)

kja1-nau2 hsa1-ya2-woon2 ba2 — I am a doctor. (I + doctor + soften tone)

Longer sentences

So far so good, but it's too easy. Can we learn to say a little longer sentence? Can we combine "I am a German" and "I am a doctor" into one sentence? How would you say, "I am a German doctor.."?

kja1-nau2 ja2-mun2 hsa1-ya2-woon2 ba2 — I am a German doctor. (I + German + doctor + soften tone)

Hmmm, it is grammatically correct. Normally, you can combine sentences like this, but it sounds a bit confusing this time. Are you a doctor who specialize in illness caused by some kind of "germs"? Let me give you an example to show what I mean.

kja1-nau2 thwa3 hsa1-ya2-woon2 ba2

I am a dentist. (I + teeth + doctor + soften tone)

Here's an another alternative.

kja1-nau2 — I

ja2-ma1-ni2 — Germany

ga1 — from

hsa1-ya2-woon2 — doctor

ba2 — soft polite tone.

kja1-nau2 ja2-ma1-ni2 ga1 hsa1-ya2-woon2 ba2 — I am a doctor from Germany.

Let me sidetrack a little and explain more about the word "from". ga1 is a postpositional marker in Myanmar grammar meaning "from". For example,

da2 — this

ta1-yoat pyi2 — China

ga1 — from

la2 — come

da2 — "in reference to this object"

da2 ta1-yoat pyi2 ga1 la2 da2 — This comes from China. This is made in China.

The question to this phrase could be

da2 ta1-yoat-pyi2 ga1 la2 da2 la3

Does this come from China? (or)

da2 ta1-yoat loat la3

Is this china made?

The word loat can have some other meanings, but in general, there are either tangible or intangible goods and services as an end result of loat. In different contexts, it can mean, to work, to do, and to make.

I work in xxxx.

Myanmar is still a developing country, and there are no Burmese equivalent words for many occupational titles that you have in the developed world. I don't have Burmese words for titles such as website developer at this moment. So, the best I can come up with is the list of occupations that have Burmese words plus the names of businesses, shops, industries, institutions, and work places that are common in Myanmar. The lists are in two table on the left side of this page. That way, you can at least say things like "I work in the hospital" without mentioning some fancy "technologist" job title.

kja1-nau2 — I (pronoun)

hsay3-yone2 — hospital (noun)

hma2 — at (postpositional marker)

a-loat — work; job (noun)

loat — to work; to make; to do (verb)

deare2 — affirmation. (postpositional marker)

kja1-nau2 hsay3 yone2 hma2 a-loat loat deare2

I work in the hospital.

kja1-nau2 — I


kone2-pa1-ni2 — company
ta1-khu1 — one; an item

hma2 — at

a-loat— work; job

loat — to work

deare2 — affirmation.

kja1-nau2 kone2-pa1-ni2 ta1-khu1 hma2 a-loat loat deare2 — I work in a company.

Are you the boss running your own business? Then, you can say...

kja1-nau2 — I

si3-bwa3-yay3 — market economy

loat-ngan3 — business

ta1-khu1 — one; an item

pine2 — to own

deare2 — affirmation.

kja1-nau2 si3-bwa3-yay3 loat-ngan3 ta1-khu1 pine2 deare2

I own a business.

The word si3-bwa3-yay3 means supply and demand of the economy. The root word si3-bwa3 means to grow (verb) and it can also mean benefits, money and properties (noun).

Loat-ngan3 refers to business or industry.

si3-bwa3-yay3 loat-ngan3 is a long word for business, which includes all aspects of the word si3-bwa3-yay3 mentioned above.

You can add the type of business to the word loat-ngan3. For example,

hsout-loat-yay3

is the word that has something to do with building and construction.

hsout-loat-yay3 loat-ngan3 refers to construction business or industry.

So, you can say....

kja1-nau2 — I

hsout-loat-yay3 — construction

loat-ngan3 — business; industry

hma2 — at, in

a-loat — work, job

loat — to work

deare2 — polite ending word

kja1-nau2 hsout-loat-yay3 loat-ngan3 hma2 a-loat loat deare2

I work in construction industry.

Or, simply say I do building and construction like this...

kja1-nau2 — I

hsout-loat-yay3 — construction

loat-ngan3 — business; industry

loat — to work

deare2 — polite ending word

kja1-nau2 hsout-loat-yay3 loat-ngan3 loat deare2 — I do construction.

I am interested in xxxx.

There can be slight variations to the phrases depending on whether you are talking about your hobby that involves some kind of activity, or if the interest is about an intellectual subject such as history of something.

kja1-nau2 — I

dut-pone2 yite — taking photography (photograph + to strike)

da2 — that; that which is

wa2-dtha1-na2 pa2 — have interest (interest as in hobby + to accompany)

deare2— affirmation.

kja1-nau2 dut-pone2 yite da2 wa2-dtha1-na2 pa2 deare2

My hobby is photography. I love photography.

kja1-nau2 — I

ba1-gun2 — Bagan

a-kjoun3 — subject; about something

sate-win2-za3 — have interest

deare2 — affirmation.

kja1-nau2 ba1-gun2 a-kjoun3 sate-win2-za3 deare2 — I find Bagan interesting; I am interested in (anything about) Bagan.

Hey, what was that? That was a commercial break... sort of :-)

OK, here's something for guys out there learning Burmese just because they are interested in a Burmese girl. Here's how to say, "I am interested in you."

kja1-nau2 — I

xxxx — name of the person

go2 — to whom

sate-win2-za3 — have interest

deare2 — affirmation.

kja1-nau2 xxxx go2 sate-win2-za3 deare2 — I am interested in you, xxxx !

I would recommend that you practice the phrase several times first (by saying out loud) with the name of the girl in place of xxxx. Practice makes perfect!

Oh yes, there is one small detail. If the name of the girl ends in 2nd tone, you must change it to the 1st tone. For example, if the name of the girl is Sun2-da2, say like this...

kja1-nau2 sun2-da1 go2 sate-win2-za3 deare2

I am interested in you, Sundar!

It's just like the tone change from "he" (thu2) to "his" (thu1), and "him" (thu1 go2) that I have explained in lesson 4.

I have xxxx

kja1-nau2 — I

kha1-lay3 — baby, child

hnit — two

yout — measure word for persons

shi1 — to exist; to be

deare2 — affirmation.

kja1-nau2 kha1-lay3 hna1-yout shi1 deare2

I have 2 children.

Hey, wait a minute... Didn't I say back in lesson 12 that "1" is pronounced "tit" and "2" is "hnit" ? How come "2" is "hna1" now? Well, just like in "10" and "20", the pronunciation of "1" and "2" are changed a bit when followed by some other words such as a measure word "yout" above.

Please also review lesson 12 for similar pronunciation changes in numbers like 100, 1000, 200, 2000.

kja1-nau1 — My

ain2 — house

hma2 — at

khway3 — dog

tit — one

goun2 — measure word for animals

shi1 — to exist; to be

deare2 — affirmation.

kja1-nau1 ain2 hma2 khway3 da1-goun2 shi1 deare2

I have a dog at home.

Also learn some basic sentence conjunctions

Let's learn something more challenging by adding the conjunction "also" to mean "I have a child as well as a dog at home."

kja1-nau1 — my

ain2 — house

hma2 — at

kha1-lay3 — child

leare3 — also

shi1 — to exist; to be

deare2 — affirmation.

khway3 — dog

leare3 — also

shi1 — to exist; to be

deare2 — affirmation.

kja1-nau1 ain2 hma2 kha1-lay3 leare3 shi1 deare2...

khway3 leare3 shi1 deare2

I have a child as well as a dog at home.

Here's something very similar, but this time say, "I have both a dog and a child at home." What's the difference? Let me scratch my head and think. I think the word "both" meets the requirements, whereas "not only ... but also" is having something extra to brag about. As far as I am concerned, they are the same that you can use interchangeably.

kja1-nau1 — my

ain2 — house

hma2 — at

kha1-lay3 — child

gau3 — both; also

khway3 — dog

gau3 — both; also

shi1 — to exist; to be

deare2 — affirmation.

kja1-nau1 ain2 hma2 kha1-lay3 gau3 khway3 gau3 shi1 deare2

I have both a child and a dog at home.

Learn more about the word gau3

OK, now we will learn to say, " I live in Germany with a wife and a child.I also have a dog."

kja1-nau2 — I

ja2-ma1-ni2 — Germany

hma2 — at, in

main3-ma1 — wife; woman

neare1 — and

kha1-lay3 — child

neare1 — and

nay2 — to live

deare2 — affirmation.

khway3 — dog

leare3 — also

shi1 — to exist; to be

deare2 — affirmation.

kja1-nau2 ja2-ma1-ni2 hma2 main3-ma1 neare1 kha1-lay3 neare1 nay2 deare2...

khway3 leare3 shi1 deare2

I live in Germany with a wife and a child.

I also have a dog.

kha1-lay3 — child

ga1 — is

chout — six

hnit — year

shi1 — to exist; to be

byi2 — has reached certain stage or condition.

kha1-lay3 ga1 chout hnit shi1 byi2

The child is 6 years old.

khway3 — dog

ga1 dau1 — as for

thone3 — three

hnit — year

beare3 — only

shi1— to exist; to be

thay3 — still; yet to be

deare2 — affirmative.

khway3 ga1 dau1 thone3 hnit beare3 shi1 thay3 deare2

As for the dog, it's only 3 years old.

Everything is OK. We are comfortable.

For the last part of describing yourself, we will learn to say that everything is going well. There is one common Burmese phrase in the form of a question that you should know.

a-hsin2-pyay2 yeare1 la3

Is everything going well? Are you comfortable? How was it? How did it go?

a-hsin2-pyay2 means everything is smooth-sailing without having problems.

If you recall back in lesson 2, "yeare1" is the tone of concern and "la3" is a question mark.

a-hsin2 ma1-pyay2 bu3

I had a bad day. Things are not working out for me.

hote-keare1, a-hsin2-pyay2 ba2 deare2

Yes, I am comfortable. Everything went well.

kja1-nau2 doh1 — We

ja2-ma1-ni2 — Germany

hma2 — at; in

a-kone2-lone3 — everything

a-hsin2-pyay2 — comfortable; going well

ja1 — plural word to refer to more than one person

ba2 deare2 — polite affirmation.

kja1-nau2 doh1 ja2-ma1-ni2 hma2 a-kone2-lone3 a-hsin2-pyay2 ja1 ba2 deare2

Life is comfortable for all of us in Germany.

So, how about you? Is everything going well in your life? Life is a mystery to me. Are there divine supernatural powers influencing our fates? Is it by chance alone that you are where you are now? Or, is it due to reasons and causes beyond our understanding? Random chances vs. consequences of past karma. Interesting! Whatever it is at work, I hope your story is a good one, and I hope that after reading this page, you will be able to describe a thing or two about yourself in Burmese.