Learn Bengali

Bengali (বাংলা) is spoken by more than 230 million people across Bangladesh and eastern India. Here are the words you will hear first — with how to say them.

Greetings and courtesy

Useful questions

Numbers 1–10

Words you will use daily

A few tips for beginners

Bengali has no grammatical gender, which makes sentences simpler than in many neighbouring languages. The usual word order is subject–object–verb, so “I eat rice” comes out as আমি ভাত খাই (ami bhat khai). Verbs also change with how polite you are being, so তুমি (tumi) suits friends while আপনি (apni) is the respectful form for elders and strangers.

Practise by writing these phrases yourself on the Bengali typing page, then check meanings with the Bengali to English translator.