Numbers and counting extended (lesson 23)
Beyond 1-10: tens, hundreds, thousands, the Nepali lakh/karod system, ordinals (pahilo/dosro/tesro), and the classifier 'jana' for people vs 'wata' for things.
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FSI 1979, lesson 23. Numbers beyond 10 — the lesson where price negotiation finally becomes possible. Minutes 1–4: the twenties through nineties — each decade in Nepali has its own slightly irregular form (bis, tis, chaalis, pachaas, saathi, sattari, asi, nabbe). Minutes 5–8: hundred and above — sae (100), hajaar (1,000), then the South Asian unit shift to lakh (100,000) and karod (10,000,000). The trap drilled here: a Nepali phone bill saying '5 lakh rupees' means 500,000 — not 5,000. Minutes 9–13: ordinals — pahilo (first), dosro (second), tesro (third), choutho (fourth), with a clear pattern after fifth. Minutes 14–16: classifiers — '5 jana manche' (5 people) but '5 wata kitaab' (5 books). Foreigners who skip classifiers sound jarring but are understood; getting jana vs wata right is a competence signal.
Attribution
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