50 Common Gujarati Words Every Beginner Should Know

Gujarati is spoken by over 55 million people, primarily in the Indian state of Gujarat, with large diaspora communities across the world, including significant populations in the UK, US, and East Africa. Building a working vocabulary starts with small, everyday word groups.

Greetings and courtesy

Kem chho? (how are you?), namaste (a respectful greeting), aabhar / dhanyavad (thank you), maaf karo (excuse me/sorry) — the everyday courtesy phrases that open most conversations.

Family

Maa (mother), bapuji (father), bhai (brother), ben (sister), mitra (friend) — core relationship vocabulary.

Numbers

Ek (one), be (two), tran (three) through dus (ten) — Gujarati numerals in Gujarati script have their own distinct forms, worth learning alongside the spoken words.

Everyday life

Paani (water), khoraak (food), ghar (house), rasto (road), dukaan (shop) — practical daily vocabulary.

Time

Aaje (today), kale (tomorrow/yesterday, context-dependent), samay (time), savaar (morning), raat (night).

Why script matters here

Gujarati script is a distinct writing system, historically derived from the same broader family as Devanagari (used for Hindi and Marathi) but visually distinct — notably lacking the continuous horizontal headline that Devanagari uses. Looking up words in proper Gujarati script, rather than Roman transliteration alone, builds genuine reading recognition from the start.

A simple way to build from this list

1. Pick five to eight words a day rather than the whole list at once.
2. Look each one up in Gujarati script and read it aloud.
3. Use each new word in a short sentence of your own.
4. Review yesterday's words before adding today's.

Look up any Gujarati word instantly, in proper script, offline, with English Gujarati Dictionary →