100 Essential Bengali Words

These are 100 essential Bengali words, curated for learners: the pronouns, verbs, and everyday nouns that unlock simple sentences. Core-first learning works: a small set of essential words does most of the work in daily speech, so mastering this list with spaced repetition gives you the fastest possible start.

#	Word	Pronunciation	English meaning
1	আমি	AH-mee	I
2	তুমি	TOO-mee	you
3	সে	sheh	he
4	আমরা	AHM-rah	we
5	তারা	TAH-rah	they
6	এই	ey	this
7	সেই	shey	that
8	কী	kee	what
9	কে	keh	who
10	না	nah	no
11	এবং	eh-BONG	and
12	বা	bah	or
13	কিন্তু	KIN-too	but
14	মধ্যে	MOHD-dheh	in
15	সঙ্গে	SHONG-geh	with
16	এক	ek	one
17	দুই	dooy	two
18	বড়	BAW-roh	big
19	ছোট	CHHOH-toh	small
20	ভালো	BHAH-loh	good
21	নতুন	NOH-toon	new
22	মানুষ	MAH-noosh	person
23	পানি	PAH-nee	water
24	দিন	din	day
25	বছর	BAW-chhor	year
26	সময়	SHOH-moy	time
27	বাড়ি	BAH-ree	house
28	কাজ	kahj	work
29	জীবন	JEE-bon	life
30	কথা	KAW-thah	word
31	হওয়া	HOH-ah	be
32	থাকা	THAH-kah	stay
33	করা	KAW-rah	do
34	বলা	BAW-lah	say
35	জানা	JAH-nah	know
36	দেখা	DEH-khah	see
37	যাওয়া	JAH-oh-ah	go
38	আসা	AH-shah	come
39	দেওয়া	DEH-oh-ah	give
40	নেওয়া	NEH-oh-ah	take
41	চাওয়া	CHAH-oh-ah	want
42	খাওয়া	KHAH-oh-ah	eat
43	এখন	EH-khon	now
44	এখানে	eh-KHAH-neh	here
45	সেখানে	sheh-KHAH-neh	there
46	কোথায়	KOH-thahy	where
47	কেন	KEH-noh	why
48	সব	shawb	all
49	অনেক	aw-NEK	many
50	আজ	ahj	today
51	লম্বা	LAWM-bah	long (great length)
52	বানানো	bah-NAH-noh	to make, create
53	জিনিস	JEE-nish	thing, object
54	শোনা	SHOH-nah	to hear, listen
55	বাচ্চা	BAHCH-chah	child
56	তিন	teen	the number 3
57	নাম	nahm	name
58	তাকানো	tah-KAH-noh	to look (direct the gaze)
59	আরও	AH-roh	more, a greater amount
60	রাত	raht	night
61	পারা	PAH-rah	can, be able to
62	হাঁটা	HAHN-tah	to walk
63	দৌড়ানো	dow-RAH-noh	to run
64	পড়া	PAW-rah	to read
65	আমার	AH-mahr	my (possessive of I)
66	শব্দ	SHAWB-doh	sound, noise
67	হ্যাঁ	hyahn	yes
68	সবচেয়ে	shawb-CHEH-yeh	most, the greatest amount
69	সংখ্যা	SHONG-khah	number (numeric quantity)
70	কখন	KAW-khon	when (question word)
71	উপরে	OO-poh-reh	over, above
72	বোঝা	BOH-jhah	to understand
73	খাবার	KHAH-bahr	food
74	চেয়ে	CHEH-yeh	than (comparison)
75	ডাকা	DAH-kah	to call (summon; name)
76	প্রথম	PROH-thom	first (ordinal 1st)
77	লোক	lohk	people, persons
78	হয়তো	HOY-toh	perhaps, maybe
79	নিচে	NEE-cheh	down, below
80	পাশ	pahsh	side (left-right side)
81	ঘুমানো	ghoo-MAH-noh	to sleep
82	আবার	AH-bahr	again
83	খোঁজা	KHOHN-jah	to search for, look for
84	কোনো	KOH-noh	any (no matter which)
85	পুরনো	POO-roh-noh	old (of things)
86	টাকা	TAH-kah	money
87	অংশ	AWNG-shoh	part, portion
88	কেনা	KEH-nah	to buy
89	পাওয়া	PAH-oh-ah	to get, obtain
90	জায়গা	JAHY-gah	place, location
91	মা	mah	mother
92	বাঁচা	BAHN-chah	to live, be alive
93	কত	KAW-toh	how much, how many
94	পরে	POH-reh	after, later
95	ফিরে	PHEE-reh	back, to a previous place
96	কম	kawm	few, less (small amount)
97	শুধু	SHOO-dhoo	only, no more than
98	গোল	gohl	round, circular
99	পুরুষ	POO-roosh	man, adult male
100	মাস	mahsh	month

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Curated for learners: Bengali has no reliable public frequency corpus, so this list is ordered by usefulness, not by measured frequency. Pronunciation is a respelling guide, not phonetic notation.

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Frequently asked questions about Bengali words

How many Bengali words do you need for a basic conversation?

Across languages, a small core of words does most of the work in everyday speech: the first few hundred words carry the bulk of simple conversation. You can manage basic exchanges with a few hundred words; this list is the foundation to build on.

What is the fastest way to memorize these 100 words?

Spaced repetition: review each word just before you would forget it, at growing intervals. It moves vocabulary into long-term memory far faster than rereading a list. Turn the 100 words into flashcards and review a small batch daily; the whole list fits into two to three weeks.

Are 100 words enough to speak Bengali?

No. One hundred words let you recognize the skeleton of most sentences, but not hold a real conversation. They are the right starting point: after this list, keep growing your core vocabulary and start speaking practice early, even with simple phrases.

Where does this Bengali word list come from?

It is curated for learners rather than corpus-ranked: Bengali has no reliable public frequency corpus, so we selected the words that unlock everyday sentences and ordered them by usefulness. These are essential words, not a measured frequency ranking.