Basic words and phrases

Introduction

Pandunia is a constructed language that is designed to be relatively easy for everyone. You can learn it fast with this practical course.

English speakers will find it easy to make basic sentences in Pandunia as the word order is generally the same as in English, there are no definite or indefinite articles, and no complicated rules about changing the form of words to express singular and plural or the tense of verbs.

The course consists of short lessons. Each lesson introduces one new word, which is used in several different phrases in the lesson. This is to teach you how the word works as part of sentences. Possibly you will encounter also other new words in the same lesson but don't worry about them! You don't have to learn all of them at once. Just memorize the phrases that are useful for you! Maybe the rest will go to your memory subconciously.

You can study this course together with one or several friends. Read the phrases together and try to make small conversations. You can also study alone. Even then it's useful to read out loud and create conversations. Repeat the same phrases several times today, tomorrow, the day after tomorrow and so on. As they say, repetition is the mother of learning.

Note! Many lessons include also tips and notes like this. They are there to clarify grammatical details for those who are interested. You can skip over them if they are not helpful. You don't have to know the theory of the language. You can just speak Pandunia!

Part 1: Greeting and basics

sal greet, greeting

🙋‍

sal! Hello!

sal suba! Good morning!

sal dia! Good day!

sal sham! Good evening!

sal noche! Good night!

sal yam! Bon appetit!

sal lai! Welcome!

sal ga! Goodbye!

sal safar! Have a safe journey!

sal sona! Sleep well!

As you can see from the range of expressions, sal is a general word for well-wishing. Use it any time! You can also say halo 'hello, hi' or salam 'greetings' when you greet someone.

Etymology. sal is from French salut, Arabic سَلَام‏ (salām), Hebrew שָׁלוֹם‏ (šalom), Turkish selam, Hindi सलाम (salām), Swahili salaam, Indonesian selamat.

shukre thanks

🙏

shukre! Thanks!

poli shukre! Thanks a lot!

ya, shukre. Yes, thank you.

no, shukre. No, thank you.

shukre tu. Thank you.

mi shukre tu. I thank you.

mi shukre tu mede mi. I thank you for helping me.

shukre tu mede mi. Thanks for helping me.

no yau shukre. You're welcome. (Literally: No need to thank.)

e to be

The word e can be used also for stating something as a fact.

mi e Tomas. I am Thomas.

tu e Sara. You are Sarah.

aple e frute. The apple is a fruit.

Etymology. e is from Portuguese é, Italian è, French est /ɛ/, Ukrainian є /ye/, Hindi है /ɦɛ/.

mi I, me

mi e Sara. I'm Sarah.

mi e Tomas. I'm Thomas.

mi sal mama. I greet mother.

mi sal papa. I greet father.

The word sal is both a noun and a verb. The basic word order in Pandunia is subject–verb–object.

Sara ya sal Tomas. Sarah greets Thomas.

sal mama! Greetings, mother!

sal papa! Greetings, father!

Etymology. mi is from English me, Hindi: मैं (meṇ), Spanish me, French me, Fulfulde mi, Swahili mimi.

tu you

tu e Tomas. You are Thomas.

mi sal tu. I greet you.

tu sal mi. You greet me.

Pronouns don't ever change their form in Pandunia. That's why mi is the same in subject and object positions while English has two different forms, 'I' and 'me'.

mi ai tu. I love you.

Etymology. tu is from Spanish tu, Russian ты (ty), Italian tu, French tu, Hindi तू (tū), Persian تو‏‎ (to), Tajik ту (tu).

da he, she or it

👥🗣️👉👤

da e man. He is a man.

da e fem. She is a woman.

da e aple. It is an apple.

da is the general third person pronoun. It is used for people (irrespective of gender) as well as for things.

mi sal da. I greet him/her.

Etymology. da is from Mandarin 他/她 (tā), Malay dia.

sual to ask a question

sual tu e Tomas? Are you Thomas?

sual tu e davar? Are you a doctor?

Tip: Yes/no questions frequently begin with sual. It is just a regular verb, not a special question tag. In fact, the previous question is simply abbreviated from mi sual tu e davar (I ask, you are doctor?) by dropping out the first word.

sual tu hau? How are you? (Literally: Are you good?)
mi hau. I'm good.
tu ne? And you?
mi no hau. I'm not good.

Etymology. sual is from Arabic سؤال (su'āl), Hindi सवाल (savāl), Malay soal, Swahili swali.

ya yes

sual tu e Tomas? Are you Thomas.

ya, mi e Tomas. Yes, I am Thomas.

sual da e davar? Is he/she a doctor?

ya, da e davar. Yes, he is a doctor.

no no, not

mi no e Sara. I'm not Sarah.

mi no e davar. I'm not a doctor.

sual tu hau? Are you well?
ya. mi hau. Yes, I'm well.

sual tu hau? Are you well?
no, mi no hau. No, I'm not well.

You can use no to deny anything. It is placed before the word that is denied.

da no sal mi. He/she doesn't greet me.

Etymology. no is from Spanish no, English no, French non.

Plural pronouns

Add men to singular pronouns to make the plural.

mi (I) → mimen (we)
tu (you) → tumen (you all)
da (he, she, it) → damen (they)

mimen sal tumen. We greet you all.

tumen sal damen. You greet them.

damen sal mimen! They greet us.

mimen e fem. We are women.

tumen e man. You are men.

damen e aple. They are apples.

ke? what? who?

ke? What?

tu e ke? Who are you?
mi e Tomas. I'm Thomas.

da e ke? Who is he/she?
da e Sara. She is Sarah.

tumen e ke? Who are you people?

damen e ke? Who are they?

Etymology. ke is from French que Spanish qué, Portuguese que, Italian che, Bengali কী /ke/.

ye i vo this and that

ye e ke? What's this?

ye e aple. This is an apple.

vo e ke? What is that?

vo e aranja. That is an orange.

ye e rubi aple. This is a red apple.

ye aple e rubi. This apple is red.

ye e rubi. This is red.

damen a ke? Where are they?

damen a ye. They are here.

damen a vo. They are there.

su 's (possessive particle)

ye e ke? What's this?

da e mi su telefon. It's my telephone.

ye e ke su? Whose is this?

da e mi su. It's mine.

Note: Possessive particle su is put between the owner and the owned thing. So mi su means "my", tu su means "your" and so on.

da e ke? Who's he/she?

da e mi su dosti. He/she is my friend.

mi e Sara su dosti. I am Sarah's friend.

It's also possible to end a sentence with su.

mau e mi su. The cat is mine.
pesa e damen su. The money is theirs.
dosti e sara su. The friend is Sara's.

Etymology. su is from English 's, Afrikaans se, French son ~ sa, Spanish su.

nam name

tu su nam e ke? What's your name?

mi su nam e Tomas. My name is Thomas.

da su nam e ke? What is his/her name?

da su nam e Sara. Her name is Sarah.

Etymology. nam is from Hindi नाम (nām), Farsi نام‏‎ (nām), Thai นาม (naam), Malay nama, Japanese 名前 (namae), German Name, English name.

ha have

mi ha un hau dom. I have a good house.

da no ha pesa. He doesn't have money.

mi vol ha un neu telefon. I want to have a new telephone.

sual tu ha ben? Do you have children?
mi ha du ben. I have two children.

sual ha davar? Is there a doctor?
ya. da e davar. Yes. He or she is a doctor.

sual ha vin? Do you have wine?
ya. baki i rubi. Yes, white and red.

ken connaître

mi ken da. I know him/her/it.

sual tu ken vo jen? Do you know that person?

sual tumen ken semen? Do you know each other?

mimen ken semen de long. We know each other for a long time.

mede help

mi yau yo mede. I need help.

sual tu bil mede mi? Can you help me?

sual mi bil mede tu? Can I help you?

mi vol mede tu. I want to help you.

Part 2: Eating

yam consume, eat, drink

sual tu vol yam yo? Would you like to eat something?

da yam un aple. He/she eats an apple.

damen yam aple. They eat apples.

Note: Unlike English, Pandunia doesn't have separate singular and plural forms. Therefore a word like aple can refer to one or more apples.

sual tu yam kafe? Do you drink coffee?

ya. mi yam kafe. Yes, I drink coffee.

Tip: Meaning of yam covers both eating and drinking. It can feel odd at first but soon you will see that it is quite handy! Usually the object of the verb tells is it about eating, drinking or both.

mi yam kafe i ban. I'm having coffee and bread.

vol want

sual tu vol yam? Would you like to eat?

tu vol yam ke? What would you like to eat?

Tip: While English puts the "what" at the beginning of a question, in Pandunia the word order is not affected by the ke.

mi vol yam kafe. I want to drink coffee.

sual tu vol yam cha? Would you like to drink tea?
no. mi no vol cha. mi vol kafe. No, I don't want tea. I want coffee.

tu vol ke aple? Which apple do you want?
ye rubi. This red one.

ching request, please

mi ching tu yam cha. I ask you to drink tea.

mi ching tu lai dom. I ask you to come home.

mi ching tu mede mi. I ask you to help me.

Tip: To make direct requests, drop all the pronouns.

ching yam cha. Please, have some tea!

ching yam kafe. Please, have some coffee!

ching lai dom. Please, come home!

ching mede mi. Please, help me.

haida let's

haida yam! Let's eat!

haida ga yam! Let's go eat!

haida ga dom. Let's go home.

yau need

mi yau yo mede. I need help.

mi yau yam. I'm hungry.

sual tu yau yam? Are you hungry?

sual tu yau sui? Are you thirsty?

Part 3. Communication

maf sorry, pardon

maf! mi no aha. Sorry, I don't understand.

maf! ye e ke? Excuse me, what's this?

maf. tu su nam e ke? Excuse me, what's your name?

aha understand

sual tu aha mi? Do you understand me?

mi aha. I understand.

maf. mi no aha tu. Sorry. I don't understand you.

mi no bas aha tu. I didn't quite understand you.

mi aha no she. I don't understand at all.

bil can

mi bil shofe karo. I can drive a car.

da no bil shofe karo. He/she doesn't know how to drive a car.

sual tu bil shuli da? Do you know how to fix it?

sual tu bil pandunia? Can you speak Pandunia?

mi bil pandunia. I can speak Pandunia.

mi bil kam pandunia. I can speak a little Pandunia.

mi no bil english. I can't speak English.

maf. mi no bil tu su basha. Sorry, I can't speak your language.

loga to say, speak, talk

tu loga ke? What did you say?

mi loga to tu. I talk to you.

mimen loga to semen. We talk to each other.

men loga "cat" a ke mode a pandunia? How do you say "cat" in Pandunia?

"cat" e ke a pandunia? What is "cat" in Pandunia?

mau loga "miau". Cat says "meow".

audi to listen, hear

audi mi! Listen to me!

mi no bil audi tu. I can't hear you.

ching loga mas bala. Please speak louder.

mi audi muzika. I listen to music.

tu audi ke yang di muzika? What kind of music do you listen to?

visi to see

suka visi tu. Pleased to see you!

to rivisi! See you again!

visi tu a posden! See you tomorrow!

mi visi da a preden. I saw him/her yesterday.

sema to mean

ye lexi ya sema ke? What does this word mean?

"mau" ya sema ke? What does "mau" mean?

da sema un yang de hevan. It means a kind of animal.

mi no aha da sema ke. I don't understand what it means.

kitabi write

ching kitabi tu su adres. Please, write your address.

ching kitabi da a ye. Please, write it here!

basha speak a language, communicate

sual tumen basha pandunia. Do you speak Pandunia?

mimen basha pandunia. We speak Pandunia.

sual tu bil basha english? Can you speak English?

franse, espanya, portugal, rus French, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian

putong han, nipon, malayu Chinese, Japanese, Malay

arabi, turki, parsi, urdu, hindi Arabic, Turkish, Farsi, Urdu, Hindi

suahili, hausa, yoruba, amara Swahili, Hausa, Yoruba, Amharic

Part 4. Going around

ga to go

tu ga ke? Where are you going?

mi ga dom. I'm going home.

mi mus ga ke? Where should I go?

mi mus ga to ke jen? To whom should I go?

haida ga! Let's go!

haida ga a fute Let's go by foot!

lai to come

ching lai! Come here!

tu lai de ke? Where do you come from?

mi lai de Dubai. I come from Dubai.

mi lai dom a pos den. I will come home tomorrow.

safar to travel

sual tu safar a tren? Do you travel by train?

mimen safar de London to Paris. We travel from London to Paris.

safar e dai long. The voyage is very long.

a in, on, at

hotel a ke? Where is the hotel?

hotel a vo dau. The hotel is on that road.

tu a ke? Where are you?

mi a dom. I'm at home.

da a ke? Where is he/she?

da side a kamar. He/she sits in the room.

Tip! You can use a as a preposition or alone as the verb.

mi kar a... I work at ...

dom to live, reside

tu dom ke? Where do you live?

mi dom Singapur. I live in Singapore.

sual tu dom ye hotel? Do you live in this hotel?

dele to wait

ching dele! Please wait!

dele mi! Wait for me!

damen dele mimen. They wait for us.

mi dele tu a hotel. I wait for you in the hotel.

Part 5. Time expressions

zai currently

mi zai sal tu su dosti.
I am greeting your friend.

la man ya zai visi un filme.
The man is watching a film.

da zai e shefe.
He/she is currently the chief.

da zai a dom.
He/she is currently at home.

pas in the past

mi pas sal tu su dosti.
I greeted your friend.

la man ya pas visi un filme.
The man watched a film.

da pas e shefe.
He/she was the chief.

da pas a dom.
He/she was at home.

le already, completed

mi le sal tu su dosti.
I have greeted your friend.

la man le visi un filme.
The man has watched a film.

da le e shefe.
He/she has been the chief.

da le a la dom.
He/she has been at home.

sha in the future

mi sha sal tu su dosti.
I will greet your friend.

la man sha visi la filme.
The man will watch the film.

da sha e shefe.
He/she will be the chief.

da sha a dom.
He/she will be at home.

Part 6. Doing business

don give

ching don yo pesa. Please give some money.

ching don da to mi. Please give it to me.

mi don ye to tu. I give this to you.

mi don buku to damen. I give a book to them.

da no vol don da to mi. He/she doesn't want to give it to me.

sepe take, get

mi sepe un kafe. I will take a coffee.

ching sepe un kafe to mi. Please take one coffee for me.

tu pas sepe pesa de mi. You already got money from me before.

mi sepe un bir. I will take a beer.

kira rent, lease, hire

kira e 500 dolar a mes.
The rent is 500 dollars in a month.

da no bil pei la kira.
He/she can't pay the rent.

mi vol sepe un karo a kira.
I want to take a car for rent.

mi vol kira sepe un karo. I want to rent a car.

da kira don la kamar to safartor. He/she rents rooms to travelers.