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

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sal! – Hello!

sal suba! – Good morning!

sal dia! – Good day!

sal sham! – Good evening!

sal noche! – Good night!

sal yam! – Bon appetit!

sal kom! – Welcome!

sal go! – 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.

danke thanks

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danke! – Thanks!

meni danke! – Thanks a lot!

yes, danke. – Yes, thank you.

no, danke. – No, thank you.

danke tu. – Thank you.

mi danke tu. – I thank you.

mi danke tu helpe mi. – I thank you for helping me.

danke tu helpe mi. – Thanks for helping me.

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

es to be

The word es is used for stating something as a fact.

mi es Tomas. – I am Thomas.

tu es Sara. – You are Sarah.

aple es frute. – The apple is a fruit.

Etymology. es is from Spanish es, English is, German ist, French est.

mi I, me

mi es Sara. – I'm Sarah.

mi es 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 ye 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 es 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 love tu. – I love you.

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

da he, she or it

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da es man. – He is a man.

da es fem. – She is a woman.

da es 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 es Tomas? – Are you Thomas?

sual tu es dokter? – 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 es dokter (I ask, you are doctor?) by dropping out the first word.

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

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

ye yes

sual tu es Tomas? – Are you Thomas?

ye, mi es Tomas. – Yes, I am Thomas.

sual da es dokter? – Is he/she a doctor?

ye, da es dokter. – Yes, he is a doctor.

Etymology. ye is from German ja, English yeah, Malay ye, Korean 예 (ye).

no no, not

mi no es Sara. – I'm not Sarah.

mi no es dokter. – I'm not a doctor.

sual tu gud? – Are you well?
ye. mi gud. – Yes, I'm well.

sual tu es gud? – Are you well?
no, mi no es gud. – 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, Persian نه⁩ (na), Bengali না (na).

Plural personal pronouns

Singular	Plural
mi	vi
I, me	we
tu	yu
you	you all
da	di
he or she	they

vi sal yu. – We greet you all.

yu sal di. – You greet them.

di sal vi! – They greet us.

vi es fem. – We are women.

yu es man. – You are men.

di es aple. – They are apples.

hu? who?

hu? – What?

hu es tu? – Who are you?
mi es Tomas. – I'm Thomas.

hu es da? – Who is he/she?
da es Sara. – She is Sarah.

hu es yu? – Who are you people?

hu es di? – Who are they?

vat? what?

vat? – What?

vat es da? – What is that?

da es buk. – That is a book.

Etymology. vat is from English what, German was, and Dutch wat.

da hir this

vat es da hir? – What's this?

da hir es aple. – This is an apple.

da es rubi aple. – It is a red apple.

di sta vat? – Where are they?

di sta hir. – They are here.

da der that

vat es da der? – What is that?

da der es aple. – That is an apple.

da aple es rubi. – The apple is red.

da es rubi. – It is red.

di sta vat? – Where are they?

di sta der. – They are there.

se 's (possessive particle)

da es vat? – What's this?

da es mi se telefon. – It's my telephone.

da hir es hu se? – Whose is this?

da es mi se. – It's mine.

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

da es hu? – Who's he/she?

da es mi se frende. – He/she is my friend.

mi es Sara se frende. – I am Sarah's friend.

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

mau es mi se. The cat is mine.
mone es vi se. The money is our.
frende es sara se. The friend is Sara's.

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

nam name

tu se nam es vat? – What's your name?

mi se nam es Tomas. – My name is Thomas.

da se nam es vat? – What is his/her name?

da se nam es 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.

have have

mi have un gud haus. – I have a good house.

da no have mone. – He doesn't have money.

mi van have un nove telefon. – I want to have a new telephone.

sual tu have pikin? – Do you have children?
mi have du pikin. – I have two children.

sual have dokter? – Is there a doctor?
ye. da es dokter. – Yes. He or she is a doctor.

sual have vin? – Do you have wine?
ye. baki e rubi. – Yes, white and red.

nou know

mi nou da. – I know him/her/it.

sual tu nou da der jen? – Do you know that person?

mi no nou. – I don't know.

sual yu nou unotre? – Do you know each other?

vi nou unotre of long. – We know each other for a long time.

helpe help

mi yau helpe. – I need help.

sual tu kan helpe mi? – Can you help me?

sual mi kan helpe tu? – Can I help you?

mi van helpe tu. – I want to help you.

Part 2: Eating

yam consume, eat, drink

sual tu van yam som ting? – Would you like to eat something?

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

di 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?

ye. 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 e ban. – I'm having coffee and bread.

van want

sual tu van yam? – Would you like to eat?

tu van yam vat? – 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 vat.

mi van yam kafe. – I want to drink coffee.

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

tu van vat aple? – Which apple do you want?
da rubi. – This red one.

plis request, please

mi plis tu yam cha. – I ask you to drink tea.

mi plis tu kom haus. – I ask you to come home.

mi plis tu helpe mi. – I ask you to help me.

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

plis yam cha. – Please, have some tea!

plis yam kafe. – Please, have some coffee!

plis kom haus. – Please, come home!

plis helpe mi. – Please, help me.

shal let's, shall

vi shal yam! – Let's eat!

yu shal yam! – You all shall eat!

tu shal yam! – You shall eat!

yam! – Eat!

vi shal go yam! – Let's go eat!

vi shal go haus. – Let's go home.

yau need

mi yau helpe. – 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

perdon sorry, pardon

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

perdon! da es vat? – Excuse me, what's this?

perdon. tu se nam es vat? – Excuse me, what's your name?

aha understand

sual tu aha mi? – Do you understand me?

mi aha. – I understand.

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

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

mi aha no ting. – I don't understand at all.

kan can

mi kan shofe karo. – I can drive a car.

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

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

sual tu kan pandunia? – Can you speak Pandunia?

mi kan pandunia. – I can speak Pandunia.

mi kan kam pandunia. – I can speak a little Pandunia.

mi no kan english. – I can't speak English.

perdon. mi no kan tu se bashe. – Sorry, I can't speak your language.

loga to say, speak, talk

tu loga vat? – What did you say?

mi loga to tu. – I talk to you.

vi loga to unotre. – We talk to each other.

von loga cat a vat mode a pandunia? – How do you say "cat" in Pandunia?

cat es vat a pandunia? – What is "cat" in Pandunia?

mau loga "miau". – Cat says "meow".

audi to listen, hear

audi mi! – Listen to me!

mi no kan audi tu. – I can't hear you.

plis loga mor bala. – Please speak louder.

mi audi muzike. – I listen to music.

tu audi vat tip se muzike? – What kind of music do you listen to?

vize to see

suka vize tu. – Pleased to see you!

to rivize! – See you again!

vize tu a posden! – See you tomorrow!

mi vize da a preden. – I saw him/her yesterday.

seme to mean

da hir lexe ye seme vat? – What does this word mean?

"mau" ye seme vat? – What does "mau" mean?

da seme un tipe of hevan. – It means a kind of animal.

mi no aha da seme vat. – I don't understand what it means.

kitab write

plis kitab tu se adres. – Please, write your address.

plis kitab da a hir. – Please, write it here!

bashe speak a language, communicate

sual yu bashe pandunia. – Do you speak Pandunia?

vi bashe pandunia. – We speak Pandunia.

sual tu kan bashe english? – Can you speak English?

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

putong han, nipon, malayu – Chinese, Japanese, Malay

arabe, turke, parse, urdu, hindi – Arabic, Turkish, Farsi, Urdu, Hindi

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

Part 4. Going around

go to go

go der! – Go there!

tu go vat plas? – Where are you going?

mi go haus. – I'm going home.

mi mus go vat plas? – Where should I go?

mi mus go to vat jen? – To whom should I go?

vi shal go! – Let's go!

vi shal go a fut – Let's go by foot!

kom to come

kom hir! – Come here!

plis kom! – Please come!

tu kom of vat plas? – Where do you come from?

mi kom of Dubai. – I come from Dubai.

mi kom haus a pos den. – I will come home tomorrow.

safar to travel

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

vi safar of London to Paris. – We travel from London to Paris.

safar es muche long. – The voyage is very long.

a in, on, at

hotel a vat plas? – Where is the hotel?

hotel a da der dau. – The hotel is on that road.

tu a vat plas? – Where are you?

mi a haus. – I'm at home.

da a vat plas? – 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 verke a... – I work at ...

loju to live, reside

tu loju vat plas? – Where do you live?

mi loju Singapur. – I live in Singapore.

sual tu loju da hir hotel? – Do you live in this hotel?

dele to wait

plis dele! – Please wait!

dele mi! – Wait for me!

di dele vi. – They wait for us.

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

Part 5. Time expressions

bi currently

mi bi sal tu se frende. – I am greeting your friend.

da man bi vize un filme. – The man is watching a film.

da bi es shefe. – He or she is being the chief.

da bi es a haus. – He or she is currently at home.

haf already, completed

mi haf sal tu se frende. – I have greeted your friend.

da man haf vize da filme. – The man has watched the film.

da haf es shefe. – He has been the chief.

da haf es a haus. – He has been at home.

did in the past

mi did sal tu se frende. – I greeted your friend.

man did vize un filme. – The man watched a film.

da did es shefe. – He/she was the chief.

da did es a haus. – He/she was at home.

vil in the future

mi vil sal tu se frende. – I will greet your friend.

da man vil vize da filme. – The man will watch the film.

da vil es shefe. – He/she will be the chief.

da vil es a haus. – He/she will be at home.

Part 6. Doing business

don give

plis don mone. – Please give some money.

plis don da to mi. – Please give it to me.

mi don da hir to tu. – I give this to you.

mi don buk to di. – I give a book to them.

da no van 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.

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

tu did sepe mone of mi. – You already got money from me before.

mi sepe un bir. – I will take a beer.

kira rent, lease, hire

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

da no kan pei da kira. – He/she can't pay the rent.

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

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

da don kira kamar to safarer. – He/she rents rooms to travelers.