Greetings

1. ཀུཟུ་ཟང་པོ་ལགས།

   Ku-zu-zang-po-la

   Hello / How do you do

   Usage

   The most common Dzongkha greeting, appropriate for all occasions. Locals greatly appreciate tourists using this phrase

   Grammar Note

   Dzongkha belongs to the Tibeto-Burman branch of Sino-Tibetan. SOV word order with developed honorific system. "La" (ལགས།) is a sentence-final honorific particle

2. ཀདྲིན་ཆེ་ལགས།

   Ka-drin-che-la

   Thank you

   Usage

   The standard expression of gratitude in Bhutan, widely used in all tourist contexts

   Grammar Note

   Literally means "great kindness." In Dzongkha, adjectives tend to follow the noun

3. གནས་སྟངས་ག་དེ་སྨོ།

   Nay-tang ga-de-mo

   How are you?

   Usage

   Used when greeting someone you know. Often follows the initial greeting

   Grammar Note

   Questions are formed by adding interrogative particles like "smo" at the end. Dzongkha shares script with Tibetan but differs in vocabulary and pronunciation

4. ལེགས་ཤོམ་ཡོདཔ།

   Leg-shom yoe-pa

   I am fine

   Usage

   Standard response to "How are you?" A good conversation starter with Bhutanese people

   Grammar Note

   The existential verb "yoepa" changes meaning depending on context. Declarative sentences typically end with falling intonation

5. བཀྲ་ཤིས་བདེ་ལེགས།

   Tashi Delek

   Tashi Delek (may all be auspicious and well)

   Usage

   A widely used auspicious greeting across Bhutan and Tibetan culture. Suitable for celebrations, meetings, and farewells

   Grammar Note

   "Tashi Delek" is the most used greeting in Bhutan and Tibetan culture, wishing auspiciousness and wellbeing

6. ཞུས་འདེགས་གནང་།

   Zhuey-deg nang

   Please sit / Welcome

   Usage

   A welcoming expression when inviting guests. Commonly heard when invited into a Bhutanese home or guesthouse

   Grammar Note

   "Nang" is the honorific imperative meaning "please do." This phrase symbolizes Bhutanese hospitality culture

7. ཁྱེད་རང་གི་མིང་ག་ཅི་ལགས།

   Khe-rang gi ming ga-chi-la

   What is your name?

   Usage

   Basic phrase for meeting Bhutanese people. Uses the respectful "Khe-rang" for "you"

   Grammar Note

   Dzongkha has multiple second-person pronouns: "Khe-rang" (respectful) and "Khyoe" (informal)

8. ངེའི་མིང་[མིང]་ཟེར།

   Ngay ming [name] zer

   My name is [name]

   Usage

   Used when introducing yourself. Replace [name] with your own name

   Grammar Note

   "Zer" is the verb "to say/call." This structure is like saying "I am called [name]" in English

9. ཇི་སྐད་ཟེར་ཞུ།

   Ji-ke zer-zhu

   Goodbye

   Usage

   Formal farewell. The more colloquial "Log yong" (come again) is also used

   Grammar Note

   Dzongkha has a three-tier honorific system: ordinary, honorific (elevating the listener), and humble (lowering the speaker)

10. ཤུལ་ལས་མཇལ་འཕྲད་འོང་།

    Shul-le jal-trad-ong

    See you again

    Usage

    Used when parting from someone you know. Bhutanese people value relationships highly, so farewells are also respectful

    Grammar Note

    Dzongkha verbs change form depending on the subject's person and honorific level. "Jal" is the honorific form of "meet"

11. གཤགས་ལེགས་ཤོམ།

    Gaay legshom

    Good night

    Usage

    Used before sleeping or as an evening farewell

    Grammar Note

    "Legshom" means "in good condition." Evening greetings are used frequently in daily Dzongkha conversation

12. གནས་སྟངས་ག་ལེགས།

    Nay-tang ga-ley

    How are you? (casual)

    Usage

    A casual greeting for friends and close acquaintances. Less formal than the standard Dzongkha greeting

    Grammar Note

    In casual speech, question forms are shortened. "Ga-ley" is a reduced form of the fuller question particle

13. ཀདྲིན་ཆེ་ལགས། ཤུལ་ལས་མཇལ་འཕྲད་འོང་།

    Kadrin-che-la, shul-le jal-trad-ong

    Thanks, see you

    Usage

    A casual way to say goodbye

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