Useful Tibetan Phrases

Useful Tibetan Phrases

Learning some basic Tibetan phrases can make your trip much easier and more enjoyable. While many travelers use guides, drivers, or hotel staff who speak some English or Chinese, local people often speak only Tibetan. Even a few simple words can help you communicate better and show respect for Tibetan culture.

Tibetans are friendly and welcoming. When visitors try to speak their language, locals usually smile and respond kindly. You don’t need perfect pronunciation—just try your best and speak slowly.

Below is a list of useful Tibetan phrases grouped by daily use, greetings, transport, food, shopping, health, and emergencies.

Essential Everyday Useful Tibetan Phrases

These are the most common phrases you will hear and use every day.

Useful Tibetan Phrases for Greetings and Basic Politeness

Hello / Best wishes:
Tashi Delek (བཀྲ་ཤིས་བདེ་ལེགས།)
This is the most important Tibetan greeting. It is used for hello, good wishes, and congratulations.

Thank you:
Thuk-je-che (ཐུགས་རྗེ་ཆེ།)

You’re welcome / No problem:
Ga-nang-gi ma-re (གནང་གི་མ་རེད།)

Please:
Nang (ནང་།)

Sorry / Excuse me:
Gong-dag (དགོང་དག)

Yes and No

Yes:
La (ལགས།) – polite yes
Yo-re (ཡོད་རེད།) – yes / it exists

No:
Ma-re (མ་རེད།)

Useful Tibetan Phrases for Understanding and Speaking

I don’t understand:
Ha-ko-ma-song (ཧ་གོ་མ་སོང་།)

I understand:
Ha-ko-song (ཧ་གོ་སོང་།)

Please speak slowly:
Ka-che ga-le shog (སྐད་ཆ་ག་ལེ་ཤོད།)

Can you help me?:
Rok-pa nang-ge?

Useful Tibetan Phrases for Greetings and Small Talk

Polite conversation is important in Tibetan culture, especially when meeting elders or monks.

How are you?:
Khyed-rang ku-su de-po yin-pe?
(ཁྱེད་རང་སྐུ་གསུགས་བདེ་པོ་ཡིན་པས།)

I am fine:
Nga de-po yin (ང་བདེ་པོ་ཡིན།)

Nice to meet you:
Jal-wa ga-po yong

What is your name?:
Khyed-rang ming-la ka-re yin?

My name is…:
Nga ming … yin

Saying Goodbye in Tibetan

Tibetans use different words depending on who is leaving.

Goodbye (you are leaving):
Kale-shoo (ག་ལེ་ཤུག།)

Goodbye (the other person is leaving):
Kale-phe (ག་ལེ་ཕེབས།)

Good night:
Sim-ja nang-go (གཟིམ་ཆས་ནང་གོ)

See you again:
Yang jal-yong (ཡང་མཇལ་ཡོང་།)

Transportation and Travel Words

These phrases are helpful when moving around towns, cities, and rural areas.

Car: Mo-tha / Mota (མོ་ཊ།)
Taxi: Tek-si (ཊེག་སི།)
Bus: Lam-kor (ལམ་འཁོར།)
Bus stop: Lam-kor bab-suk (ལམ་འཁོར་བབས་ཚུགས།)
Train: Ri-li (རི་ལི།)
Plane: Nam-dru (གནམ་གྲུ།)
Airport: Nam-thang (གནམ་ཐང་།)

Where is this place?:
Di ga-par yo-re?

How far is it?:
Ring-po yin-pe?

Left: Yon
Right: Ya
Straight: Tang-po

Food and Restaurant Phrases

Very useful in local restaurants and teahouses.

Food: Za-cha (ཟ་ཆ།)
Water: Chu (ཆུ།)
Tea: Ja (ཇ།)

I am hungry:
Nga to-pa dug

I am thirsty:
Nga kha-skam dug

Delicious:
Yak-po sha-dro dug

No meat:
Sha ma-go

No spicy:
Tsa-ma ma-go

Please give me tea:
Ja nang

Bill, please:
Rek-pa nang

Shopping and Money Phrases

Helpful when buying souvenirs or daily items.

How much is this?:
Di ka-tso ray?

Too expensive:
Gong-chen-po dug

Cheap:
Gong-nyung dug

Please reduce the price:
Gong chung chung nang

I want this:
Di nyo-gi yin

I’m just looking:
Lta-tsam yin

Numbers in Tibetan

Knowing numbers helps with prices and distances.

1 – Chik
2 – Nyi
3 – Sum
4 – Zhi
5 – Nga
6 – Druk
7 – Dun
8 – Gye
9 – Gu
10 – Chu
20 – Nyi-shu
50 – Nga-shu
100 – Gya

Health and Emergency Phrases

Very important, especially in high-altitude areas.

Help!:
Rok-pa je!

I am sick:
Nga na-gi dug

I feel dizzy:
Nga go-khor dug

I have headache:
Nga go-na dug

I need a doctor:
Men-pa dgos

I need medicine:
Men dgos

Please help me:
Rok-pa nang

Useful Tibetan Phrases for Monasteries and Culture

Tibet has many monasteries and sacred places.

Temple / Monastery:
Gompa

May I enter?:
Nang-du phe-go yin-pe?

Thank you, lama:
Thuk-je-che lama-la

Very beautiful:
Shin-tu tse-po dug

Useful Tibetan Phrases, Tips When Speaking Tibetan

Always greet with Tashi Delek

Speak softly and respectfully

Smile when speaking

Use open hands instead of pointing fingers

Avoid loud voices in religious places

You don’t need to memorize everything in this guide. Even learning a few useful Tibetan phrases, such as Tashi Delek, Thuk-je-che, and Di ka-tso ray, can make a significant difference. can make a big difference. These small efforts help you connect with local people, travel more confidently, and better understand Tibetan culture.

With these phrases, your journey will feel friendlier, smoother, and more memorable.