Common Mizo Words for Beginners
The most useful first Mizo words: greetings, thank you, yes and no, family, food and numbers, all with English meanings.
Every Mizo course starts with the same question: which words do I learn first? This list gathers the most common Mizo words for beginners, grouped by situation. Every word here is taught, with native-speaker audio, in the LearnMizo course.
Greetings and being polite
- Chibai (chi-bai) – Hello
- Zing lam chibai – Good morning
- Tlai lam chibai – Good evening
- Mangṭha (mang-tha) – Goodbye, and also good night
- I dam em? – How are you? (literally "Are you well?")
- Ka lawm e (kah lawm eh) – Thank you
- Ka lawm lutuk e – Thank you very much
- Khawngaihin – Please
- Tihpalh – Sorry
- Min lo hrethiam lawk – Excuse me
Read more about the greeting in How to Say Hello in Mizo and the polite words in How to Say Thank You in Mizo.
Yes, no and everyday answers
- Aw (aw) – Yes
- Aih (ai) – No
- A ṭha e – It's okay, it's good
- Keipawh le – You're welcome, no problem
Family and people
- Pa – Father
- Nu – Mother
- Fapa – Son
- Hming – Name
- Kum – Age, year
Food and drink
- Chaw – Food
- Buh – Rice
- Chawhmeh – Curry
- Thingpui – Tea
Numbers and shopping
- Bial – Zero
- Pakhat – One
- Chanve – Half
- Man – Price
- Tlawm – Cheap
- To – Expensive
Time and getting around
- Vawiin – Today
- Naktuk – Tomorrow
- Nimin – Yesterday
- Zing / Chawhma – Morning
- Tlai / Zan – Evening / night
- Kal – Go
- Lo kal – Come
- Vei – Left
- Ding – Right
- Ngil – Straight
How do you actually remember these?
Reading a list is a start, but Mizo has sounds that text cannot show, like the ṭ in Mangṭha. The Mizo alphabet guide explains the four letters that are new for English speakers, and the free alphabet lesson lets you hear every letter.
Then move to the free Lesson 1: it teaches the greetings, thank you and excuse me from this list as an interactive lesson with native-speaker audio, so you hear each word before you say it.
