100 Essential Marathi Words

These are 100 essential Marathi 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	मी	mee	I
2	तू	too	you
3	तो	toh	he
4	ती	tee	she
5	आम्ही	AHM-hee	we
6	तुम्ही	TOOM-hee	you
7	हे	heh	this
8	ते	teh	that
9	काय	kahy	what
10	कोण	kohn	who
11	नाही	NAH-hee	no
12	आणि	AH-nee	and
13	किंवा	KIN-vah	or
14	पण	pahn	but
15	मध्ये	MAHD-hyeh	in
16	सोबत	SOH-baht	with
17	एक	ek	one
18	दोन	dohn	two
19	मोठा	MOH-thah	big
20	लहान	lah-HAHN	small
21	चांगला	CHAHNG-lah	good
22	नवीन	nah-VEEN	new
23	माणूस	MAH-noos	person
24	पाणी	PAH-nee	water
25	दिवस	DEE-vahs	day
26	वर्ष	varsh	year
27	वेळ	vehl	time
28	घर	ghar	house
29	काम	kahm	work
30	जीवन	JEE-vahn	life
31	शब्द	shahbd	word
32	असणे	AH-sah-neh	be
33	करणे	KAH-rah-neh	do
34	म्हणणे	MHAH-nah-neh	say
35	जाणणे	JAH-nah-neh	know
36	पाहणे	PAH-hah-neh	see
37	जाणे	JAH-neh	go
38	येणे	YEH-neh	come
39	देणे	DEH-neh	give
40	घेणे	GHEH-neh	take
41	इच्छिणे	ICH-chee-neh	want
42	खाणे	KHAH-neh	eat
43	पिणे	PEE-neh	to drink
44	आता	AH-tah	now
45	इथे	EE-theh	here
46	तिथे	TEE-theh	there
47	कुठे	KOO-theh	where
48	का	kah	why
49	सर्व	sarv	all
50	खूप	khoop	very
51	लांब	lahmb	long (great length)
52	बनवणे	bah-NAH-vah-neh	to make, create
53	वस्तू	VAS-too	thing, object
54	ऐकणे	AY-kah-neh	to hear, listen
55	मूल	mool	child
56	तीन	teen	the number 3
57	नाव	nahv	name
58	बघणे	BAH-ghah-neh	to look (direct the gaze)
59	जास्त	jahst	more, a greater amount
60	रात्र	RAHT-rah	night
61	शकणे	SHAH-kah-neh	can, be able to
62	चालणे	CHAH-lah-neh	to walk
63	धावणे	DHAH-vah-neh	to run
64	वाचणे	VAH-chah-neh	to read
65	माझा	MAH-jhah	my (possessive of I)
66	आवाज	ah-VAHJ	sound, noise; voice
67	हो	hoh	yes
68	सर्वात	sar-VAHT	most (superlative marker)
69	संख्या	SANKH-yah	number (numeric quantity)
70	कधी	kah-DHEE	when (question word)
71	वर	var	over, above
72	समजणे	sah-MAH-jah-neh	to understand
73	जेवण	JEH-vahn	food, meal
74	पेक्षा	PEK-shah	than (comparison)
75	बोलावणे	boh-LAH-vah-neh	to call (summon)
76	पहिला	PAH-hi-lah	first (ordinal 1st)
77	लोक	lohk	people, persons
78	कदाचित	kah-DAH-chit	perhaps, maybe
79	खाली	KHAH-lee	down, below
80	बाजू	BAH-joo	side (left-right side)
81	झोपणे	JHOH-pah-neh	to sleep
82	पुन्हा	PUN-hah	again
83	शोधणे	SHOH-dhah-neh	to find, search for
84	कोणताही	kohn-tah-HEE	any (no matter which)
85	जुना	JOO-nah	old (of things)
86	पैसे	PAY-seh	money
87	भाग	bhahg	part, portion
88	विकणे	VI-kah-neh	to sell
89	मिळणे	MI-lah-neh	to get, obtain
90	जागा	JAH-gah	place, location
91	आई	AH-ee	mother
92	राहणे	RAH-hah-neh	to live (reside); to stay
93	किती	ki-TEE	how much, how many
94	नंतर	NAHN-tar	after, later
95	परत	pah-RAHT	back, to a previous place
96	कमी	kah-MEE	few, less (small amount)
97	फक्त	fakt	only, no more than
98	गोल	gohl	round, circular
99	पुरुष	POO-roosh	man, adult male
100	महिना	mah-HEE-nah	month

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Curated for learners: Marathi 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 Marathi words

How many Marathi 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 Marathi?

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 Marathi word list come from?

It is curated for learners rather than corpus-ranked: Marathi 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.