In this post, you will learn how to say ‘how are you?’ in Bengali. You’ll also learn common responses so you can respond if you’re asked this question. This can be really useful if you’re speaking with someone from Bangladesh, India or if you’re travelling to either.
Bengali, also known as Bangla, is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Bengal region in South Asia which covers parts of India and Bangladesh.
Bengali is the most widely spoken language in Bangladesh and the second most widely spoken in India after Hindi.
There are approximately 228 million native Bengali speakers and another 37 million people who speak it as a second language making it the 7th most spoken language in the world.
Table of Contents
How To Say ‘How Are You?’ In Bengali
There are a few different ways to ask ‘how are you?’ depending on the situation. Here are the most common:
In formal situations, such as with people older than you or people you don’t know, you can say:
| How are you? (speaking to one person) | Apni kemon achen? |
| How are you? (speaking to a group) | Apnara kemon achen? |
The words ‘apni’ and ‘apnara’ are often dropped in speech. They both mean ‘you’ in a formal way. You can simply say ‘kemon achen?’ to either a group or one person.
In informal situations, such as with people you know well or people who are younger than you, you can say:
| How are you? (speaking to one person) | Tumi kemon acho? |
| How are you? (speaking to a group) | Tomra kemon acho? |
| How are you (very informal) | Tui kemon achish? |
| How’s it going?/What’s up? | Ki khobor? |
The words ‘tumi’ and ‘tomra’ are also often dropped in speech. They also mean ‘you’ but in an informal way. You can simply say ‘kemon acho?’ to either a group or one person.
Check out the below video to hear the pronunciation of these phrases:
How To Respond To ‘How Are You?’ In Bengali
There are many different ways that you can reply to this question. Below are the most common responses to this question. I’ve also included how to say ‘thank you’ as it’s polite to thank someone if they ask how you are.
| Thank you | Dhonyobad |
| I’m fine/well | Ami bhalo achi |
| I’m very well | Ami khub bhalo achi |
| Okay | Accha |
| Good | Bhalo |
| I’m tired | Ami klanto |
| I’m not feeling well | Ami aashusta |
| I’m happy | Ami khusi |
It’s also useful to know how to say ‘and you?’ or ‘what about you?’ to find out how someone else is if they ask you.
| And you? (formal) | Aar apni kemon achen? |
| And you? (informal) | Aar tumi kemon acho? |
The above phrases are the versions used when speaking to one person. You can also use these with a group by changing the word ‘apni’ to ‘apnara’ or ‘tumi’ to ‘tomra’.
Check out the below video to hear the pronunciation of these phrases:
Example Conversation:
Person 1: Kemon acho? (How are you?)
Person 2: Ami bhalo achi, dhonyobad. Aar tumi kemon acho? (I’m fine, thank you. And you?)
Person 1: Ami bhalo achi (I’m fine)
Thanks for reading this post.
You should now know how to say ‘how are you?’ in Bengali and you should also be able to respond if you’re asked!
If you found this post useful, you may also want to learn how to say I love you in Bengali.
You can’t go wrong with these simple phrases.