What to Say in Bengali When Asking for Directions
To ask for directions in Bengali, use a direct location question for a station or hotel, or choose the longer station question beginning with “Excuse me” when approaching someone. For route information, use the short commands for going straight or turning, and the sequence that combines both actions.
Start with these expressions
| English | Transliteration | Native script |
|---|---|---|
| Excuse me, where is the station? | maaf korben, steshon kothay? | মাফ করবেন, স্টেশন কোথায়? |
| Where is the station? | steshon kothay | স্টেশন কোথায় |
| Where is the hotel? | hotel kothay | হোটেল কোথায় |
| Go straight, then go right. | soja jan, tarpor dane jan | সোজা যান, তারপর ডানে যান। |
| Go straight | soja jan | সোজা যান |
| Turn right | dane ghurun | ডানে ঘুরুন |
| Turn left | bame ghurun | বামে ঘুরুন |
| Stop here | ekhane thamun | এখানে থামুন |
Separate the place question from the route instruction
First decide whether you are asking for a destination or describing what to do next. The direct station question asks only where the station is. The longer version adds the polite attention-getter “Excuse me” before asking the same location question, making it the more useful choice when you need to approach a passer-by. You can use the same location-question pattern for the hotel shown here.
The route expressions do a different job. One tells someone to continue straight; others tell them to turn right or left. The two-step route combines actions in order: go straight first, then go right. Do not treat the destination word alone as a complete direction. The dictionary evidence records the station meaning as “a station” [1] and the straight term as meaning “straight ahead” or “continuously onward” [2]. Those entries support the key vocabulary, while the complete sentence meanings come from the provided phrase forms.
[1] Source: dsal.uchicago.edu.
[2] Source: dsal.uchicago.edu.
Try it
You are explaining a route to a visitor: continue straight, then turn right. Which line should you use?
Choose your answer before reading on.
Check your answer:
Use expression 4 in the table above.
This fits because it gives two actions in the required order: continuing straight comes first, followed by going right. The shorter direction lines describe only one action, so they do not express the whole route.
Practise one location question and the two-step route together. Say the question first, pause, then give the route without changing the order of the turns.
Practise speaking with Bhol. Learn words and sentences written in English letters.
