Basic words and phrases

Introduction

Panlingue 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 Panlingue 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 Panlingue!

Part 1: Greeting and basics

sal 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 vena! – Welcome!

sal chuta! – 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.

Similar words to sal in other languages:

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

shukre thanks

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shukre! – Thanks!

multi shukre! – Thanks a lot!

ya, shukre. – Yes, thank you.

no, shukre. – No, thank you.

shukra tu. – Thank you.

me shukra tu. – I thank you.

me shukra tu helpa me. – I thank you for helping me.

shukra tu helpa me. – Thanks for helping me.

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

sa to be

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

me sa Tomas. – I am Thomas.

tu sa Sara. – You are Sarah.

aple sa frute. – The apple is a fruit.

me I, me

me sa Sara. – I'm Sarah.

me sa Tomas. – I'm Thomas.

me sala mama. – I greet mother.

me sala papa. – I greet father.

The verb form of sal is sala. The basic word order in Panlingue is subject–verb–object.

Sara sala Tomas. – Sarah greets Thomas.

sal mama! – Greetings, mother!

sal papa! – Greetings, father!

Similar words to me in other languages: English me, Hindi: मैं (meṇ), Spanish me, French me, Fulfulde mi, Swahili mimi.

tu you

tu sa Tomas. – You are Thomas.

me sala tu. – I greet you.

tu sala me. – You greet me.

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

me ama tu. – I love you.

Similar words to tu in other languages: Spanish tu, Italian tu, French tu, Russian ты (ty), Hindi तू (tū), Persian تو‏‎ (to), Tajik ту (tu).

ho he, she or it

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ho sa man. – He is a man.

ho sa fem. – She is a woman.

ho sa aple. – It is an apple.

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

me sala ho. – I greet him/her.

Similar words to ho in other languages: Hebrew הוּא /hu/, Arabic هو /howa/, Turkish o, Fulani o, Yoruba ó, Persian او /u/, Hindi वह /voh/.

qua to ask a question

qua tu sa Tomas? – Are you Thomas?

qua tu sa dokter? – Are you a doctor?

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

qua tu boni? – How are you? (Literally: Are you good?)
me boni. – I'm good.
tu ne? – And you?
me no boni. – I'm not good.

ya yes

qua tu sa Tomas? – Are you Thomas?

ya, me sa Tomas. – Yes, I am Thomas.

qua ho sa dokter? – Is he/she a doctor?

ya, ho sa dokter. – Yes, he is a doctor.

Similar words to ya in other languages: German ja, English yeah, Malay ya, Korean 예 (ya).

no no, not

me no sa Sara. – I'm not Sarah.

me no sa dokter. – I'm not a doctor.

qua tu boni? – Are you well?
ya. me boni. – Yes, I'm well.

qua tu sa boni? – Are you well?
no, me no sa boni. – No, I'm not well.

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

ho no sala me. – He/she doesn't greet me.

Similar words to no in other languages: Spanish no, English no, French non, Persian نه⁩ (na), Bengali না (na).

Plural personal pronouns

Singular	Plural
me	memen
I, me	we
tu	tumen
you	you all
ho	homen
he or she	they

memen sala tumen. – We greet you all.

tumen sala homen. – You greet them.

homen sala memen. – They greet us.

memen sa fem. – We are women.

tumen sa man. – You are men.

homen sa aple. – They are apples.

que? what?

que? – What?

que sa ho? – What is it?

ho sa buk. – It is a book.

Similar words to que in other languages: Spanish qué, Portuguese que, Italian che, Bengali কী (ke).

qui jan? who?

qui jan? – Who? ~ Which person?

tu sa qui jan? – Who are you?
me sa Tomas. – I'm Thomas.

ho sa qui jan? – Who is he/she?
ho sa Sara. – She is Sarah.

tumen sa qui jan? – Who are you people?

homen sa qui jan? – Who are they?

yi this

yi sa que? – What's this?

yi sa aple. – This is an apple.

ho sa rubi aple. – It is a red apple.

homen sta que? – Where are they?

homen sta hir. – They are here.

vi that

que sa vi? – What is that?

vi sa aple. – That is an apple.

yi aple sa rubi. – This apple is red.

ho sa rubi. – It is red.

homen sta que? – Where are they?

homen sta der. – They are there.

di 's (possessive particle)

yi sa que? – What's this?

ho sa me di telefon. – It's my telephone.

yi sa que di? – Whose is this?

ho sa me di. – It's mine.

Note: The possessive particle di is joined to the owner. So me di means 'my', tu di means 'your' and so on.

ho sa que? – Who's he/she?

ho sa me di doste. – He/she is my friend.

me sa Sara di doste. – I am Sarah's friend.

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

mau sa me di. The cat is mine.
mone sa memen di. The money is our.
doste sa Sara di. The friend is Sara's.

Similar words to di in other languages: Mandarin 的 (de, di).

nim name

tu di nim sa que? – What's your name?

me di nim sa Tomas. – My name is Thomas.

ho di nim sa que? – What is his/her name?

ho di nim sa Sara. – Her name is Sarah.

Similar words to nim in other languages: Hindi नाम (nām), Farsi نام‏‎ (nām), Thai นาม (naam), Malay nama, Japanese 名前 (namae), German Name, English name.

hava have

me hava boni haus. – I have a good house.

ho no hava mone. – He doesn't have money.

me vola hava novi telefon. – I want to have a new telephone.

qua tu hava pikin? – Do you have children?
me hava du pikin. – I have two children.

qua hava dokter? – Is there a doctor?
ya. ho sa dokter. – Yes. He or she is a doctor.

qua hava vin? – Do you have wine?
ya. baki e rubi. – Yes, white and red.

nou know

me nou ho. – I know him/her/it.

qua tu nou vi jen? – Do you know that person?

me no nou. – I don't know.

qua tumen nou alale? – Do you know each other?

memen nou alala ja long. – We know each other for a long time.

helpe help

me yau helpa. – I need help.

qua tu pota helpa me? – Can you help me?

qua me pota helpa tu? – Can I help you?

me vola helpa tu. – I want to help you.

Part 2: Eating

yama consume, eat, drink

qua tu vola yama som ting? – Would you like to eat something?

ho yama un aple. – He/she eats an apple.

homen yama aple. – They eat apples.

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

qua tu yama kafe? – Do you drink coffee?

ya. me yama kafe. – Yes, I drink coffee.

Tip: Meaning of yama 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.

me yama kafe e ban. – I'm having coffee and bread.

vola want

qua tu vola yama? – Would you like to eat?

tu vola yama que? – What would you like to eat?

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

me vola yama kafe. – I want to drink coffee.

qua tu vola yama cha? – Would you like to drink tea?
no. me no vola cha. me vola kafe. – No, I don't want tea. I want coffee.

tu vola qui aple? – Which apple do you want?
li rubi. – This red one.

pleza ask, beg; please

me pleza tu yama cha. – I beg you to drink tea.

me pleza tu vena haus. – I beg you to come home.

me pleza tu helpa me. – I beg you to help me.

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

pleza yama cha. – Please, have some tea!

pleza yama kafe. – Please, have some coffee!

pleza vena haus. – Please, come home!

pleza helpa me. – Please, help me.

shal let's, shall

memen shal yama! – Let's eat!

tumen shal yama! – You all shall eat!

tu shal yama! – You shall eat!

yama! – Eat!

memen shal go yama! – Let's go eat!

memen shal go haus. – Let's go home.

yau need

me yau helpa. – I need help.

me yau yama. – I'm hungry.

qua tu yau yama? – Are you hungry?

qua tu yau sui? – Are you thirsty?

Part 3. Communication

perdon sorry, pardon

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

perdon! yi sa que? – Excuse me, what's this?

perdon. tu di nim sa que? – Excuse me, what's your name?

aha understand

qua tu aha me? – Do you understand me?

me aha. – I understand.

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

me no baso aha tu. – I didn't quite understand you.

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

saba know how

me saba shofa gar. – I can drive a car.

ho no saba shofa gar. – He/she doesn't know how to drive a car.

qua tu saba shuli ho? – Do you know how to fix it?

qua tu saba pandunia? – Can you speak Panlingue?

me saba pandunia. – I can speak Panlingue.

me saba kam pandunia. – I can speak a little Panlingue.

me no saba engli. – I can't speak English.

perdon. me no saba tu di bash. – Sorry, I can't speak your language.

loga to say, speak, talk

tu loga que? – What did you say?

me loga pa tu. – I talk to you.

memen loga pa alale. – We talk to each other.

jan loga cat a qui mode a pandunia? – How do you say "cat" in Panlingue?

cat sa que a pandunia? – What is "cat" in Panlingue?

mau loga "miau". – Cat says "meow".

audi to listen, hear

audi me! – Listen to me!

me no pota audi tu. – I can't hear you.

pleza loga max bala. – Please speak louder.

me audi muzike. – I listen to music.

tu audi que tip di muzike? – What kind of music do you listen to?

viza to see

suku viza tu. – Pleased to see you!

to rivize! – See you again!

viza tu a posden! – See you tomorrow!

me viza ho a preden. – I saw him/her yesterday.

sema to mean

yi lexe sema que? – What does this word mean?

"mau" sema que? – What does "mau" mean?

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

me no aha ho sema que. – I don't understand what it means.

kitaba write

pleza kitaba tu di adres. – Please, write your address.

pleza kitaba ho a hir. – Please, write it here!

basha speak a language, communicate

qua tu basha pandunia. – Do you speak Panlingue?

memen basha pandunia. – We speak Panlingue.

qua tu saba 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

go to go

go der! – Go there!

tu go qui kan? – Where are you going?

me go haus. – I'm going home.

me debu go qui kan? – Where should I go?

me debu go pa qui jan? – To whom should I go?

memen shal go! – Let's go!

memen shal go a fut – Let's go by foot!

vena to come

vena hir! – Come here!

pleza vena! – Please come!

tu vena ja qui kan? – Where do you come from?

me vena ja Dubai. – I come from Dubai.

me vena haus a pos den. – I will come home tomorrow.

safara to travel

qua tu safara a tren? – Do you travel by train?

memen safara ja London pa Paris. – We travel from London to Paris.

safara sa multo longi. – The voyage is very long.

a in, on, at

hotel a qui kan? – Where is the hotel?

hotel a vi dao. – The hotel is on that road.

tu a qui kan? – Where are you?

me a haus. – I'm at home.

ho a qui kan? – Where is he/she?

ho sida a kamre. – He/she sits in the room.

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

me verka a... – I work at ...

loju to live, reside

tu loju a qui kan? – Where do you live in?

me loju Singapur. – I live in Singapore.

qua tu loju yi hotel? – Do you live in this hotel?

dela to wait

pleza dela! – Please wait!

dela me! – Wait for me!

homen dela memen. – They wait for us.

me dela tu a hotel. – I wait for you in the hotel.

Part 5. Time expressions

sta currently

me sta sala tu di doste. – I am greeting your friend.

man sta viza filme. – The man is watching a film.

ho sta sa shef. – He or she is being the chief.

ho sta sa a haus. – He or she is currently at home.

ha already, completed

me ha sala tu di doste. – I have greeted your friend.

ho man ha viza ho filme. – The man has watched the film.

ho ha sa shef. – He has been the chief.

ho ha sa a haus. – He has been at home.

pasa in the past

me pasa sala tu di doste. – I greeted your friend.

man pasa viza filme. – The man watched a film.

ho pasa sa shef. – He/she was the chief.

ho pasa sa a haus. – He/she was at home.

futa be going to, in the future

me futa sala tu di doste. – I will greet your friend.

man futa viza filme. – The man will watch the film.

ho futa sa shef. – He/she will be the chief.

ho futa sa a haus. – He/she will be at home.

Part 6. Doing business

dona give

pleza dona mone. – Please give some money.

pleza dona ho pa me. – Please give it to me.

me dona yi pa tu. – I give this to you.

me dona buk pa homen. – I give a book to them.

ho no vola dona ho pa me. – He/she doesn't want to give it to me.

cepa take, get

me cepa kafe. – I will take a coffee.

pleza cepa kafe pa me. – Please take one coffee for me.

tu pasa cepa mone of me. – You already got money from me before.

me cepa bir. – I will take a beer.

kire rent, lease, hire

kire sa 500 dolar a mes. – The rent is 500 dollars in a month.

ho no pota pei kire. – He/she can't pay the rent.

me vola cepa gar a kire. – I want to take a car for rent.

me vola cepa gar a kire. – I want to rent a car.

ho dona kamre a kire pa safarer. – He/she rents rooms to travelers.