ད་ལྟོ་ཆུ་ཚོད་ག་དེམ་ཅིག།
Da-ta chu-tsod ga-dem-chig
What time is it now?
Usage
The most basic time inquiry. Essential for managing travel schedules and meeting times
Grammar Note
"Chu-tsod" comes from "water measurement" — a traditional timekeeping concept. "Ga-dem-chig" asks for degree/amount, so "chu-tsod ga-dem-chig" means "what time"
ཐིམ་ཕུ་ལུ་འགྱོ་མི་བཱསི་ཆུ་ཚོད་ག་དེམ་ཅིག་ལུ་འགྱོ་ག།
Thim-pu lu gyo-mi bay-si chu-tsod ga-dem-chig lu gyo-ga
What time does the bus to Thimphu depart?
Usage
Used to check bus departure times. Bus schedules in Bhutan can change
Grammar Note
"Chu-tsod ga-dem-chig lu" asks "at what time." "Gyo" is the verb for going or leaving
སང་ཉིན་ཕྱི་དྲོ་ཆུ་ཚོད་བཞི་ལུ་མཇལ་ཐུབ།
Sang-nyin chi-dro chu-tsod zhi lu jal-thub
I can meet tomorrow at 4 PM
Usage
Used to propose a meeting time. Helpful when arranging meetings with guides or locals
Grammar Note
"Chi-dro" means afternoon/PM. Time is expressed as "chu-tsod" + numeral (bzhi = 4). "Thub" marks ability
ཞོགས་པར་ལྷོད་ཐུབ།
Zhog-par lho thub
I can arrive in the morning
Usage
Used to communicate arrival time. Travel in Bhutan involves mountain roads with variable journey times
Grammar Note
"Zhog-par" means "morning". "Lho" is "to arrive" and "Thub" is a modal for ability
ད་རེས་ཀྱི་ལས་རིམ་ག་ཅི་ཡིན།
Da-re kyi le-rim ga-chi yin
What is today's schedule?
Usage
Used to check the day's itinerary with a guide or tour leader. Common for tour participants
Grammar Note
"Le-rim" is a compound meaning "order of work" — used for schedule. "Ga-chi yin" asks about content
ལས་ཀ་གཅིག་ལུ་ཆུ་ཚོད་ག་ཚམ་དགོ།
Le-ka chig lu chu-tsoe ga-tsham go
How many hours does that task take?
Usage
Used to confirm the duration of a tour or activity. Helpful for planning itineraries
Grammar Note
"Go" expresses necessity/requirement. "Chu-tsod ga-tsham" asks about the number of hours needed
ཚེས་གྲངས་ག་ཅི་ཡིན།
Tse-drang ga-chi yin
What is today's date?
Usage
Basic phrase to check the date. Bhutan uses both the Tibetan lunar calendar and the Gregorian calendar
Grammar Note
"Tse-drang" is a compound meaning "count of days." Bhutanese festivals follow the Tibetan lunar calendar
མི་ཚུ་ག་དུས་སུ་འཛོམས་ག།
Mi-tsu ga-du-su dzom-ga
When does everyone gather?
Usage
Used to confirm the meeting time for a tour group or group travel
Grammar Note
"Ga-du-su" is the temporal interrogative "when." The postposition "su" specifies a point in time
ཟླ་བ་གཅིག་ནང་ལ་ཐོབ་ཐུབ།
Da-wa chig nang-la tob-thub
I can arrive within one month
Usage
Used to describe mid-to-long-term travel plans. Bhutanese visas are generally valid for 30 days
Grammar Note
"Nang-la" is a postposition meaning "within / inside." Commonly used for expressing deadlines
སྔ་དྲོ་ཆུ་ཚོད་གཅིག་ལུ་ཐོན་དགོ།
Nga-dro chu-tsoe chig-lu ton-go
We must depart at 1 AM
Usage
Used to communicate early morning departure times. Relevant for dawn treks like the Tiger's Nest hike
Grammar Note
"Go" marks obligation/necessity. "Nga-dro" means "early morning time" — before dawn
More Dzongkha phrases
- Basic Words
- Basic Nouns
- Basic Verbs
- Adjectives
- Question Words
- Greetings
- Food & Drinks
- Transportation
- Shopping
- Numbers
- Hotel
- Emergency
- Sightseeing
- Flirting
- Nightlife
- Massage & Spa
- Compliments
- Contacts & SNS
- Beach & Activities
- Places & Areas
- Useful Phrases
- Airport & Customs
- Weather & Climate
- Pharmacy & Health
- Directions
- Money & Exchange
- Health & Hospital
- Internet & WiFi
- Nature & Outdoors
- Religion & Temples
- Café & Drinks
- Culture & Etiquette
- Traveling with Kids
- Sports & Activities
- Public Transport
- Accommodation
- Banking & ATM
- Visa & Immigration
- Business & Work
- School & Education
- Cooking & Markets
- Music & Entertainment
- Art & Museums
- Festivals & Events
- Photography
- Laundry
- Post Office
- Language Learning
- Dating & Romance
- Dating Apps
- Volunteering
- Accessibility
- Sustainability & Eco
- Fruits
- Colors
- Dietary & Allergies
- Markets & Souvenirs
- Wine & Spirits
- Car Rental & Driving
- Time & Dates
- Hiking & Trekking
- Diving & Water Sports
- Skiing & Winter Sports
- Hot Springs & Baths
- Yoga & Wellness
- Casino & Gambling
- Beauty & Grooming
- Remote Work
- Fashion & Clothing
- Convenience Store
- Martial Arts
- Signs
- Body Parts
- Animals
- Vehicles
- Electronics
- Feelings
- Slang
- Local Dishes
- Local Drinks
- Indulgences