The Free Online Burmese Lessons

Learn Myanmar Language, History & Culture

Learn how to describe a person

Back in lesson 9, we have learned how to describe a person in terms of height, body type, skin color, attitude, and personalities. From lesson 10, we also know how to say color words in Burmese.

What's next? We will now learn to describe a person in terms of clothing items that he or she is wearing, and also learn more words on general descriptions of people such as "pretty lady", "old man", "small girl", and so on.

On top of that, we will learn to combine those words into a sentence about a person right in front of you.

Learn descriptions of people in Burmese

For fun as well as for exercise, I have written a Burmese Phrase Maker / Translator in PHP, so you can construct the combinations on your own, and see the output sentence.

Remember from the previous lesson which says, "the man who is wearing a white shirt"?

a-pfyu2 youn2 MP3 Audio File — white color (noun)

ain3-ji2 MP3 Audio File — shirt (noun)

woot MP3 Audio File — wear (verb)

hta3 deare1 MP3 Audio File — present participle [~ing] (particle)

lu2 MP3 Audio File — man (noun)

We will now add the physical description of that person.

a-pfyu2 youn2 — white (noun)

ain3-ji2 — shirt (noun)

woot — wear (verb)

hta3 deare1 — [~ing] (particle)

lu2 — man (noun)

wa1 — fat (adjective)

ji3 — "big" used as a suffix particle for emphasis

lu2 wa1 ji3 MP3 Audio File

means "big fat man" and it will be taken here as a noun "lu2-wa1 ji3" without breaking it.

"White" is an adjective to describe the shirt. E.g.,

pfyu2 dthau3 ain3-ji2 — shirt that is white.

a-pfyu2 youn2 ain3-ji2 woot hta3 deare1 lu2-wa1-ji3

the big fat man who is wearing a white shirt.

The important word you should remember in this lesson is the particle

hta3 deare1

equivalent to the English present participle [~ing], which converts the verb "wear" to "wearing" the item of clothing. In the literary form, the word is

hta3 dthau3 (or)

hta3 dthi1.

CULTURAL NOTE: Getting fat (opposite of skinny) is something one can be proud of. This means you are wealthy enough to eat what you want. Part of the greeting to a person that you have not seen for a long time may include

wa1 la2 deare2You have become fat,

which is a compliment. On the other hand, the opposite

pain2 thwa3 deare2You have become skinny

is a show of concern for someone's health.

The General Format



Here's a general formula that will work with other physical descriptions, persons and items of clothing. You just have to substitute the required Burmese words as needed.

xxxx youn2 + MP3 Audio File

clothing +

wear +

hta3 deare1 MP3 Audio File

ho2 + MP3 Audio File

person +

physical description of the person

ho2 (pronoun)

means "that" in English. You can substitute

xxxx youn2 (adjective)

with the list of colors provided in the previous lesson. Remember,

hta3 deare1 (particle)

is the present participle which adds [~ing] to the verb.

Here's a list of other words you can substitute in the above phrase:

clothing

shut ain3-ji2 MP3 Audio File — shirt

ain3-ji2 let-toh2 MP3 Audio File — short-sleeves shirt (shirt+ hand + short)

ain3-ji2 let-shay2 MP3 Audio File — long-sleeves shirt (shirt+ hand + long)

pa1-hso3 MP3 Audio File — men's sarong

hta1-main2 MP3 Audio File — women's sarong

tite-pone2 ain3-ji2 MP3 Audio File — Burmese-style jacket

ja2-kin2 MP3 Audio File — Western-style jacket

soot-kjeare2 MP3 Audio File — T-shirt

mo3-ga2 MP3 Audio File — rain coat

hti3 MP3 Audio File — umbrella

oat-htoat MP3 Audio File — hat

pfa1-nut MP3 Audio File — footwear, usually refers to slippers.

boun3-be2 MP3 Audio File — trousers, pants

jin3 boun3-be2 MP3 Audio File — a pair of jeans

boun3-be2 doh2 MP3 Audio File — shorts, Bermuda shorts

to wear

woot MP3 Audio File — wear all types of clothings

si3 MP3 Audio File — wear shoes, slippers, and all other footwear.

hsoun3 MP3 Audio File — wear hats and use umbrellas

Person

lu2 MP3 Audio File — man

main3-ma1 MP3 Audio File — woman

a-myo3-dtha1-mi3 MP3 Audio File — lady

poat-go2 MP3 Audio File — gentleman

a-pfo3 ji3 MP3 Audio File — old man

a-pfwa3 ji3 MP3 Audio File — old woman

kha1-lay3 MP3 Audio File — baby; child

kha1-lay3-ma1 lay3 MP3 Audio File — small girl

koun2-lay3 MP3 Audio File — boy

koun2-ma1 lay3 MP3 Audio File — girl

beare3 MP3 Audio File — dude, guy (slang)

a-chout MP3 Audio File — effeminate man, sissy, unmanly person

yout-kja1-sha2 MP3 Audio File — a girl or a woman who behaves like a man; a gay woman; dyke

koun2 MP3 Audio File — guy (street talk; impolite. "koun2" is also a measure word for animals.)

hsau2 MP3 Audio File — chick (slang)

Physical description of people (ending words)

wa1 wa1 ji3 MP3 Audio File — fat, plump, chubby

pain2-pain2-lay3 MP3 Audio File — thin, slim, skinny

lun2-ba3 ji3 MP3 Audio File — tall and big (male)

a-yut a-myin1-ji3 MP3 Audio File — tall (height + tall + to the high degree, level, or class)

pu1-pu1-lay3 MP3 Audio File — short, shorty

hla1-hla1 lay3 MP3 Audio File — pretty, beautiful (reference to a girl or a woman.)

chit sa1-ya2 lay3 MP3 Audio File — cute and lovely

yoat hso3-zo3 ji3 MP3 Audio File — ugly (can be used for both sexes.)

Example

pan3 youn2 — pink color

hti3 — umbrella

hsoun3 — wear hats and use umbrellas.

hta3 deare1 — present participle [~ing]

ho2 — that

beare3 — dude, guy (slang)

pain2-pain2 lay3 — thin, slim, skinny

pan3 youn2 hti3 hsoun3 hta3 deare1 ho2 beare3 pain2-pain2 lay3

That skinny dude with pink umbrella.

Burmese Phrase Maker / Translator

Please make sure that you get the matching items. For example, if you select "slippers/shoes" for clothing, you must select "footwear" from the pull down menu.




hta3 deare1 (xxxx ing)

ho2 (that)



And finally, if you would like to know who is that skinny dude with pink umbrella, just append beare2 dthu2 leare3 to the general formula.

pan3 youn2

hti3

hsoun3 hta3 deare1

ho2

beare3

pain2-pain2 lay3

beare2 dthu2 leare3

Who is that skinny dude with pink umbrella?

Answer: It's the bird! It's the fly! No, its' Super A-CHOUT JI3!!!

Color Codes: nouns, pronouns, verbs, adverbs, adjectives, conjunctions, particles, postpositional markers, interjections.

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