Burmese Grammar

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Burmese Grammar

Welcome to the 8th lesson about Burmese grammar. We will first learn about prepositions, negation, questions, adverbs, and pronouns including: personal, object and possessive pronouns.

We will start with prepositions. In general, they are used to link words to other words. For example: I speak Burmese and English the preposition is [and] because it connects both words Burmese and English. The following is a list of the most used prepositions in Burmese.

Prepositions	Burmese
and	hne
above	a paw
under	aut
before	ma tai me
after	pyi naut
in front of	a shei hmar
behind	a naut hmar
far from	hma way thaw
near	ni thaw
in	a the hmar
inside	a twin
outside	a pyin
with	hnint a tu
without	ma par be
about	laut/ a kyaung
between	kyar
but	thoh thaw le
for	a twet
from	hma
to	thoh

Preposition Grammar Rules

The following examples use prepositions in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence.

Prepositions + Rules	Burmese
I eat without a knife [preposition + noun]	kyun note kha yin ma par be sar ba de
she lives near the church [verb + preposition]	thu ma bayar shit khoh kyaung nar hmar ne ba de
he is taller than her [adjective + preposition]	thu ka thu ma htet a yat shay ba thie
he came with his small dog [preposition + pronoun]	thu ka thu ye khwe lay ne a tu la thie
can you come with me? [preposition + pronoun]	thin kyun note ne a tu lar naing ba tha lar

Negation in Burmese

Now let's learn how to make a negative sentence (negation). For example: Saying no, I can't, I don't ... The following examples use negation in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence.

Negation + Rules	Burmese
I understand you [affirmative form]	thin ko kyun note nar le ba de
I don't understand you [negation + verb]	thin ko kyun note nar ma le bu
this is not the correct word [negation + adjective]	d har ka sagar lone a hman ma hoat bu
don't leave me [imperative negation]	kyun note ko chan ma htar khe ba ne
no problem [negation + noun]	pyat tha nar ma hoat ba bu

Negative Sentences	Burmese
I don't speak French [negation + present tense]	kyun note pyin thit sagar ma pyaw tat bu
she didn't visit Germany [negation + past tense]	thu ma germany ko ma le pat bu ba
he cannot see us [negative modal verb]	thu kyun note doh ko ma myin naing bu
can't she play chess? [interrogative negation]	thu ma sit tu yin ma kasar bu lar
we will not come late [negation + future tense]	kyun note doh naut ma kya aung lar ba me

Questions in Burmese

Now let's learn how to ask questions (interrogative). Such as: what, why, can you ...? Here are some common examples:

English	Burmese
how?	be lo le
what?	bar le
who?	be thu le
why?	bar kyaunt le
where?	be hmar le

More of the interrogative form, now in a sentence:

Questions + Rules	Burmese
where do you live? [interrogative + verb]	thin be hmar ne ba tha le
does she speak Chinese? [interrogative verb]	thu ma ta yoak sagar pyaw tha lar
how much is this? [interrogative preposition]	d har ka be laut le
can I help you? [interrogative modal verb]	kyun note thin ko ku nyi naing ba tha lar
what is your name? [interrogative preposition]	thin nan me be lo khaw ba tha le

Adverbs in Burmese

It's time to learn the adverbs in Burmese. But what is an adverb? In general, adverbs modify verbs and adjectives. For example: You speak fast. The adverb is [fast] because it describes the verb and answers the question how do you speak?. Here is a list of the most common ones:

Adverbs	Burmese
now	a khu
yesterday	ma nei ka
today	d nei
tonight	d nei nya
tomorrow	ma nat pan
soon	ma kyar me
quickly	a myan
slowly	hnay hnay
together	a tu tu
very	a yan
almost	nee ba
always	a mye dan
usually	a khar dine a myarr arr phyint
sometimes	ta khar ta yan
rarely	shar shar ba ba
never	be daw hma

The following examples use the adverbs in different ways and places to demonstrate how it behaves in a sentence.

Adverbs + Rules	Burmese
do you understand me now? [pronoun + adverb]	thin a khu kyun note pyaw da nar le ba tha lar
I need help immediately [noun + adverb]	kyun note a khu chat chin a-ku-a-nyi lo ba de
she is very intelligent [adverb + adjective]	thu ma nyan a yan kaung de
I will always love you [verb + adverb]	thin ko kyun note a mye dan chit ne ba me
can we learn German together? [adverb in a question]	kyun note doh greman sagar a tu tu le lar naing ba tha le

Pronouns in Burmese

We're almost done! This time we will learn the pronouns in Burmese. In general, a pronoun can be used instead of a noun. For example instead of saying my teacher speaks 3 languages, you can use the pronoun he, and say he speaks 3 languages. Here is a list of the most common ones:

Personal Pronouns	Burmese
I	kyun note
you	thin
he	thu
she	thu ma
we	kyun note doh
they	thu doh

Object Pronouns	Burmese
me	kyun note ko
you	thin ko
him	thu ko
her	thu ma ko
us	kyun note doh ko
them	thu doh ko

Possessive Pronouns	Burmese
my	kyun note ei
your	thin ei
his	thu ei
her	thu ma ei
our	kyun note doh ei
their	thu doh ei

I think it's better to put the above example in a sentence to better assist you. The following examples use pronouns in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence. We will start with the personal pronouns.

Personal Pronouns	Burmese
I am your friend [1st pronoun + verb]	kyun note ka thin ei mate swe phyit ba de
you speak very fast [2nd pronoun + adverb]	thin sagar a yan myan myan pyaw de
he has three dogs [3rd pronoun + verb]	thu hmar khwe thone kaung shi de
she can speak German [3rd pronoun + verb]	thu ma german sagar pyaw de
we will not come late [1st plural pronoun]	kyun note doh naut ma kya aung la ba me
they bought milk and bread [3rd plural pronoun]	thu doh nwar noh hne paung mont we khe de

The object pronoun is used as a target by a verb, and usually come after that verb. For example: I gave him my book. The object pronoun here is him. Here are more examples:

Object Pronouns	Burmese
can you tell me your name? [1st object pronoun]	thin kyun note ko thin nan me pyaw naing ba tha lar
I will give you money [2nd object pronoun]	kyun note thin ko pait san pay ba me
she wrote him a letter [3rd object pronoun]	thu ma ka thu si ko sar ta saung yay khe de
they visited her yesterday [3rd object pronoun]	thu doh thu ma si ko ma nei ko thwar le khe de
can she help us? [1st pl. object pronoun]	thu ma kyun note doh ko ku nyi naing ba tha lar
he gave them food [3rd pl. object pronoun]	thu ka thu doh ko a sar pay khe de

Possessive Pronouns	Burmese
my name is Maya [1st possessive pronoun]	kyun ma ei nan me hmar maya phyit ba de
your brother lives here [2nd possessive pronoun]	thin a ko d hmar nay de
her mother cooks for us [3rd possessive pronoun]	thu ma ei a may ka kyun note doh ko chat kywe de
his hobby is reading books [3rd possessive pronoun]	thu war tha nar ka sar phat chin phyit de
our dream is to visit Paris [1st pl. possessive pronoun]	kyun note doh ei ain mat ka paris ko thwar le yan phyit de
their house is not far [3rd pl. possessive pronoun]	thu doh ei ain ka ma way ba

One more thing you need to know is the demonstrative pronouns. They're very easy to learn.

Demonstrative Pronouns	Burmese
this is my house	d har ka kyun note doh ei ain phyit de
that restaurant is far	hto sar thaut sai ka way de
these apples are delicious	d pan thee twe ka a ya thar shi de
those stars are shiny	hto kye twe ka taut pa de

I hope you learned a lot about the Burmese grammar in this lesson. If you have any question about this lesson please contact me here. The next lesson is below, have fun!

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