Numbers, prices and the shop
🎯 Count, ask a price, and complete a purchase.
🗣️ Say these out loud
- એક, બે, ત્રણ, ચાર, પાંચ 🔊 ek, bay, tran, chaar, paanch 1 to 5 બે for two — not दो and not দুই.
- છ, સાત, આઠ, નવ, દસ 🔊 chha, saat, aath, nav, das 6 to 10 Very close to Hindi from here on.
- કેટલા રૂપિયા? — ketla rupiya? 🔊 KET-la roo-PEE-ya How many rupees? કેટલું ketlun = how much; કેટલા for countable things.
- બહુ મોંઘું છે — bahu monghun chhe 🔊 ba-HOO MON-ghoon chhay It is very expensive. સસ્તું sastun = cheap.
- થોડું ઓછું કરો ને — thodun ochhun karo ne 🔊 THO-doon O-chhoon KA-ro nay Do make it a little less. ને at the end softens it into a request, as in Marathi ना.
- બરાબર છે — baraabar chhe 🔊 ba-RAA-bar chhay That's right / agreed. The handshake at the end of a bargain.
Read every line aloud twice before moving on. The mouth learns a language, not the eye.
🔍 The script is Devanagari with the roof taken off
Every Gujarati letter is its Devanagari cousin without the headline. If you read Hindi, you can learn to read Gujarati in a few days by mapping shapes.
- क ख ग घ → ક ખ ગ ઘ
- प फ ब भ म → પ ફ બ ભ મ
- The vowel marks work identically: ક + ા = કા, ક + િ = કિ
- Dropping the headline was a scribes' shortcut for fast business writing — which is exactly what Gujarati was used for.
🌍 Among the people
The Gujarati business ledger — ચોપડો — has its own new year, Bestu Varas, the day after Diwali, when old books are closed and new ones opened with a prayer.
🔁 Practise today
- Count to twenty aloud.
- Map ten Devanagari letters to their Gujarati shapes.
- Bargain for three imaginary items using કેટલા રૂપિયા and ઓછું કરો ને.
