Travel and Tourist Transactions

Counting and paying

A tourist transaction is mostly arithmetic and politeness: how many, how much, and where. This module gives you the words for all three. Every item is shown three ways: the Gujarati script, a transliteration in brackets to help you say it, and the English meaning. Two of the words below are borrowed from English and you will recognise them instantly. Spend your effort on the others.

Travel words in Gujarati

The first two are borrowed and free. The rest are the ones worth learning properly:

Match each word to its meaning

One to five

You cannot buy anything without these, and they are the same whatever you are counting:

Count them out

Put the Gujarati numbers into order, from one to five.

• એક (ek)
• બે (be)
• ત્રણ (tran)
• ચાર (char)
• પાંચ (panch)

At the window

You need two tickets. Which is right?

• બે ટિકિટ (be tikit)
• એક ટિકિટ (ek tikit)
• ત્રણ ટિકિટ (tran tikit)
• પાંચ ટિકિટ (panch tikit)

The little word comes after

English puts the small word in front of the noun: in the house, on the table. Gujarati puts it after the noun instead, joined to the end. So ઘર (ghar) is house, and ઘરમાં (gharma) is IN the house. The word માં (ma) does the same job as the English word in, but it comes second. That single habit explains a lot of what looks strange when you first read Gujarati: the words are often in a different order from the English, not missing.

Which order?

In Gujarati, where does a small word like the one meaning "in" go?

• After the noun, joined to the end of it
• Before the noun, as in English
• At the start of the whole sentence
• Either side; it does not matter

Which are true?

Select the TWO true statements about the Gujarati in this module.

• A number goes in front of the thing being counted, as in બે ટિકિટ
• A small word meaning in or on comes after the noun, not before it
• ટિકિટ and સ્ટેશન are difficult words with no English connection
• Gujarati uses English number words when buying things

Asking for what you need

Three expressions turn the words above into a transaction:

Gujarati puts is at the end

The travel words become sentences once you add છે (chhe - is) at the end, where English would not put it: - ટિકિટની કિંમત પાંચ છે = "the price of the ticket is five". The -ની on ટિકિટની does the work of "of", and it joins onto the end of ટિકિટ. છે closes the sentence. - સ્ટેશન ક્યાં છે = "where is the station". A question keeps the same shape: the thing, then ક્યાં (kya - where), then છે at the end. Gujarati does not move the verb to the front the way English does.

Gujarati keeps "is" at the end, even in a question

Gujarati keeps "is" at the end, even in a question. Which of these asks "where is the station"?

• સ્ટેશન ક્યાં છે (steshan kya chhe)
• છે સ્ટેશન ક્યાં (chhe steshan kya)
• સ્ટેશન ક્યાં (steshan kya)
• ટિકિટની કિંમત પાંચ છે (tikitni kimat panch chhe)

સ્ટેશન પર

You are at the station and you need to get to your hotel. Work through the transaction.

• You want two tickets. What do you say?
• You want to know what they cost. Which word do you need?
• You reach the hotel and need to get into your room. What do you ask for?

Money and numbers in Gujarati

The Gujarati for money is _____ and for a price is _____. The number two is _____, and it goes in front of the thing you are counting. A small word meaning "in" goes _____ the noun, so house plus that word gives _____.

Arriving somewhere new

Write in English about arriving somewhere new and needing to buy a ticket. Say what you needed, what you had to ask, and what you noticed about how Gujarati puts its words together.

• Say where you were going and what you needed to buy
• Give the two questions you had to ask, and say which Gujarati words you would use
• Explain where a small word like "in" goes in Gujarati, and how that differs from English
• Say which two words in this module you did not have to learn, and why