Markets & Souvenirs

1. Ng tela a cheral tia el klalo?

   How much does this cost?

   Usage

   Used to ask the price of an item at a market or shop

   Grammar Note

   The set frame for asking a price is "Ng tela a cheral?" — "How much does it cost?" (cf. Ng tela a cheral a kelek? = "What is the cost of our food?"). What is being priced follows cheral. klalo is n. "thing; product; something" and appears in the example Ng mlo er a stoa el mo omechar a klalo. = "He went to the store to buy something." Note: ngarang is a variant of ngera "what" and never means "how much" (Ke mo omechar a ngarang? = "What are you going to buy?"; Ng ngarang oubail a Mary? = "What is Mary wearing?"), and ungil el chad is "a good person".

2. Ng sebechem el mekbetengii a cheral?

   Can I get a discount?

   Usage

   Used when bargaining for a lower price

   Grammar Note

   A request uses "Ng sebechem el + verb?" (Ng sebechem el ngosukak? = "Can you help me?"; Ng sebechem el meskak a oluches? = "Can you give me a pencil?"). mekbetengii is the third-person-singular perfective (v.pf.3s) of omekbeot, v.t. "make easy or cheap" — the form used when the verb takes a specific object such as the price. For the imperfective wording see Ng sebechem el omekbeot a cheral?. Note: as Ng diak. Ng di ungil a cheral ("No, the price is reasonable") shows, ungil a cheral means the price is already fair — it cannot ask for a discount.

3. Ng meringel a cheral tiang.

   This is too expensive.

   Usage

   Used to express that the price is too high

   Grammar Note

   "Expensive" is the set phrase meringel a cheral ("meringel a cheral — expensive"; examples Ng meringel a cheral a ngikel. = "Fish is expensive."; Ng meringel a cheral a kall er a Denny's? = "Is the food expensive at Denny's?"). What is expensive follows cheral, so "this" is simply tiang. Note: Ng diak el ungil a cheral. says "the price is not good", not "too expensive"; as Ng diak. Ng di ungil a cheral ("No, the price is reasonable") shows, ungil a cheral means the price is fair, so negating it only reaches "the price is unfair".

4. Tia el klalo ng rruul er a rechad?

   Is this handmade?

   Usage

   Used to ask if a product is handmade

   Grammar Note

   The frame is A blim ng rruul er a ngarang? ("What's your house made out of?"). rruul is the resultative (v.r.s.) of meruul, v.t. "make; do; prepare" — "made; done" — and the maker or material is introduced by er a (a blai el rruul er a rechad, "houses built by human hands"). re- is the human plural prefix, so rechad is "people". Note: merael is v.t. "go; walk; travel" and never "make", and dirk is "still".

5. Ngar er ker a uchul tia el klalo?

   Where is this made / from?

   Usage

   Used to ask where a product comes from

   Grammar Note

   The same frame as "Ngar er ker a uchul a eolt?" (from which direction is the wind coming?). "Ker" is the interrogative for "where"; "techa" means "who" and cannot be used for places

6. A lsekum ak omechar a betok, e ng sebechem el omekbeot a cheral?

   Is there a discount for buying in bulk?

   Usage

   Used to ask about bulk purchase discounts

   Grammar Note

   A conditional is "A lsekum + condition, e + result" (A lsekum ng ungil a chei, e te mo er a chei. = "If the tide is good, they'll go fishing."). lsekum is mod. "if [with neutral implications]". betok is v.s. "many; numerous; plenty", omechar is v.t. "buy", and omekbeot is v.t. "make easy or cheap".

7. Ng sebechem el meskak a receipt?

   Can I have a receipt?

   Usage

   Used to request a receipt after a purchase

   Grammar Note

   "Please give me X" follows Ng sebechem el meskak a oluches? ("Can you give me a pencil?") and Ng sebechem el meskak a sesei er a ralm? ("Can you give me some water?"). meskak is the first-person-object form of "give", i.e. "give me". Note: there is no word for "receipt" at all, so the English word is left as is, English being an official language of Palau.

8. Ng ngar er ker a makit er a kesus?

   Where is the night market?

   Usage

   Used to ask for directions to the night market

   Grammar Note

   "Makit" (from English) is the word for a market; "sers" means garden or fence, not market. "Techa" means "who" and cannot ask a location — the correct frame is "Ng ngar er ker a X?"

9. Tela el klok e a makit a omuchel?

   What are the market opening hours?

   Usage

   Used to ask when the market opens

   Grammar Note

   tela el klok is "what time" (Ng tela el klok? = "What time is it?"), and omuchel is v.i. "start; begin" (A cheldecheduch a mo omuchel er a euid el klok. = "The meeting will begin at seven o'clock."). Closing time uses merek.

10. Ak di omesoes.

    I'm just looking, thank you.

    Usage

    Used when browsing without intent to buy

    Grammar Note

    di is mod. "only; just; any", placed after the subject marker for "just / only". omesoes is the reduplicated form (v.redup.) of omes, v.t. "see; look at; watch" — glossed "keep looking at or visiting", which is exactly browsing a stall. For the plain "I'm just looking" see Ak di omes. Note: leko is the conjunction a leko "intended to; apparently" (example: Ak mo tames el leko ra party. = "I'll try to come to the party."). It carries no "look" sense.

11. Ke melai a credit card er tiang?

    Do you accept card payment?

    Usage

    Used to ask if card payment is accepted

    Grammar Note

    melai is v.t. "bring; take; get; receive; obtain". ke is the second-person-singular subject marker, so this asks "do you accept ...?". Note: kard is not a Palauan word. Credit card is left in English.

12. Tela el klok e a makit a merek?

    What time does the market close?

    Usage

    Used to ask about closing time of the market

    Grammar Note

    This is the opening-hours example Tela el klok e a makit a omuchel? ("What time does the market open?") with omuchel replaced by merek. merek is v.t. "end; finish" and pairs with a clock time in Ke mo merek el oureror er tela el klok? ("What time are you getting off work?"). Note: sers is n. "garden; farm; fence", not "market" (that is makit); ureor is n. "work; job; task", not "business hours"; and tela is "how many".

13. Ak mo omechar tia el omiange.

    I'm buying this as a souvenir.

    Usage

    Used when buying something as a gift or souvenir

    Grammar Note

    omechar is v.t. "buy" (examples: Ak mo omechar a bilek. = "I'm going to buy clothes."; Ke mo omechar a ngarang? = "What are you going to buy?"). omiange is a loan from Japanese omiyage, meaning "gift; souvenir". Note: beab means "rodent; rat; mouse" (blil a beab, "jail", is literally "the rat's house"), and melai means take/receive/obtain, never "buy".

14. Ng ngara a kot el mekereker el kall?

    What is the freshest item?

    Usage

    Used to ask about the freshest produce at a market

    Grammar Note

    "What is ...?" is Ng ngara a ...? (Ng ngara a kot el soam el suobel? = "What's your favorite subject?"). The superlative is kot el in front, exactly as in that example and in A Droteo a kot el bekerurt. ("Droteo runs the fastest."). mekereker is v.s. "(fish, meat, vegetables, leaves) fresh" — the word for produce freshness. kall is n.a.s. "food". Note: tela is "how many / how much", not "what", and ungil is "good", not "fresh".

15. Ng sebechem el oldurokl er tiang el mo er a ikrel a beluu?

    Can this be shipped internationally?

    Usage

    Used to ask about international shipping

    Grammar Note

    oldurokl is v.caus. "send (things or persons)" (e.g. ... el melai e oldurokl a beroel tekoi, "receiving and transmitting"). ikrel is n.poss.3s "the outside of"; it is used in ikrel a blai ("outside the house") and el mo er a ikrel ("in the direction beyond the reef"). beluu is n. "country; village; place", so ikrel a beluu is "outside the country".

16. Tia el klalo ng rruul er a ngarang?

    What material is this made of?

    Usage

    Used to ask about the material or fabric of an item

    Grammar Note

    Asking what something is made of uses the frame A blim ng rruul er a ngarang? ("What's your house made out of?"). rruul is the resultative (v.r.s.) of meruul, v.t. "make; do; prepare", and the material is introduced by er a. ngarang is a variant of ngera "what" (Ke mo omechar a ngarang? = "What are you going to buy?"). Note: tela is "how many".

Browse all TravelPhrases languages