Bengali Demonstratives in Transliteration: This, That, These and Those
For this Bengali set, use the short entries for the meanings “this,” “that,” “these,” and “those.” Choose a longer entry when you need a whole question, statement, confirmation, or direction, such as identifying a book, asking what something is, or directing attention to pens. This guide stays within these forms.
Start with these expressions
| English | Transliteration | Native script |
|---|---|---|
| This | eta | এটা |
| That | ota | ওটা |
| These | egulo | এগুলো |
| Those | ogulo | ওগুলো |
| What is this | eta ki | এটা কী |
| This is a book | eta boi | এটা বই |
| Yes, that is a book | hyan ota boi | হ্যাঁ ওটা বই |
| Look, these are pens | dekho egulo kolom | দেখো এগুলো কলম |
Separate the pointing word from the whole expression
The most useful distinction here is between a short vocabulary item and a complete expression. If you only need to point to one thing or several things, choose the entry whose English gloss is “this,” “that,” “these,” or “those.” Do not expect that short item alone to ask a question or identify an object.
Choose a longer entry when the situation requires more than pointing. The set includes a complete question asking what something is, a statement identifying something as a book, a confirmation about a book, and a direction to look at pens. This lets you match the entry to your communicative task rather than selecting by the demonstrative alone.
The dictionary records the relevant form for “this” as referring to a thing, creature, or person [1], and records the form for “that” with the meanings “that” and “it” [2]. It also records the question word meaning “what” [3]. These citations support those individual meanings; the longer statements and the plural entries should be treated as the learning phrases, not as evidence for a wider grammar rule.
[1] Source: dsal.uchicago.edu.
[2] Source: dsal.uchicago.edu.
[3] Source: dsal.uchicago.edu.
Try it
You are holding an unfamiliar object at home and want to ask, “What is this?” Which entry should you choose?
Choose your answer before reading on.
Check your answer:
Use expression 5 in the table above.
Choose the complete question entry because the situation requires both identification and a question, not only the short demonstrative meaning “this.” The question word meaning “what” is separately documented [3], while the demonstrative meaning “this” is documented [1].
Before speaking, decide whether you are pointing only or performing a full communicative task. Then choose the matching short entry or complete expression from the table.
Practise speaking with Bhol. Learn words and sentences written in English letters.
