Essential Bengali phrases

The standard greeting. 'Nomoshkar' is the Hindu equivalent and both are heard. In offices, a simple 'slamalaikum' is the everyday contraction.

Thank you. Bengali speakers use it less freely than English speakers use 'thanks' — overusing it in casual exchanges sounds oddly formal.

How much? The essential word for rickshaws, CNGs and markets, where the price is always negotiable and the first number is never the price.

The green three-wheeler auto-rickshaw, named for its fuel. Metered in theory, negotiated in practice. The workhorse of Dhaka transport alongside the rickshaw.

Traffic. Used in Bengali unchanged and constantly. 'Jam-e atke gechi' — stuck in traffic — is the most-used excuse in the country and usually true.

The northern diplomatic and expatriate district, with Banani and Baridhara beside it. Almost all missions, international organisations and buying houses sit in this triangle.

MRT Line 6, opened in stages from 2023 — Bangladesh's first metro, running Uttara North to Motijheel. It has genuinely changed where it is sensible to live.

'Brother' — attached to almost any man's name and used to address strangers. 'Apa' for a woman. Using it is the single fastest way to sound less foreign.

Used in Bengali to mean the ready-made garment industry as a whole. It is roughly four-fifths of Bangladesh's exports and the reason most foreign professionals are here.

'God willing', attached to future commitments. Sincere, and also the polite way a Bangladeshi counterpart tells you a deadline is aspirational.

999 is the national emergency service — police, fire and ambulance on one number. 333 is the government information helpline. 109 is the national helpline for violence against women and children.