Common Mando’a Questions

How do I respond to Me'vaar ti gar?

The literal translation of the above phrase is “What’s new with you?”. This is comparable to the English “What’s up?” – and not “How are you?” even though that is often given as a translation.

When a Mandalorian asks you this, they expect you to answer the question by telling them what is currently going on in your life. You don’t have to give a full summary of all your private ongoings, but rather just let the other person know what you’re up to at the moment.

Examples for proper responses:

• Ja'haili ner strill ib'tuur. (“I’m looking after my dog today.”)
• Gotal'u Beskar'gam. (“I am building my Beskar’gam.”)
• Ni haryc, jorcu ne nuhuna ca. (“I am tired, because I didn’t sleep tonight.”)
• Naas. (Literally: “Nothing”. Say this in place of “Nothing worth mentioning, just life as usual. You know the drill.”)

To return the question, you can either say Bal gar? (literally: “And you?”), or even shorter just Gar? (literally: “You?”). The rest of the question will be understood from context.

How and when do I apologise in Mando’a?

When you search the dictionary for “sorry”, you find two entries. One is N'eparavu takisit (lit.: ||I eat my insult||) and the other is Ni ceta (lit.: ||I kneel||). Notice how they both refer to actions, instead of emotions, and that is how you should treat them.

If you say something you don’t mean (or that turns out to be unintentionally insulting), then use N'eparavu takisit or for a less serious slip-up N'eparavu miit (lit.: ||I eat my word||). If you make a mistake that is so serious that you are willing to accept any punishment brought upon you, use Ni ceta – do not use this one lightly. In all other instances, use something else.

Examples:

• “You posted this in the wrong channel. Please delete it.”
  • Response: Suvari. (lit.: ||I understand.||) followed by fixing your mistake!
• English: “I’m sorry to hear that.”
  • Mando’a: Ibac dushne. Tion ni lise gaa'taylir? (lit.: ||That’s terrible. Can I help?||)
• “You made a mistake in your Mando’a.”
  • Response: Gar serim. Vor'e. (lit.: ||You’re right. Thank you.||)

How do I translate a word that ends in “-ing”?

The suffix “ing” serves several purposes in English, each of which is translated differently to Mando’a.

A Nominalization turns a verb into a noun. An example of that can be seen in the sentence “I like running.” This is not the same as “I like this drawing,” because in that sentence, “drawing” refers to an object, not a process. Nominalizations always refer to a process.

In Mando’a, these are expressed with the infinitive form of the verb: Ni guuro viinir ||I like to run||.

A Progressive expresses that an action is currently happening. An example of that can be seen in the sentence “I am running.”

Not many languages have a dedicated verbform for that, and Mando’a is no exception. It ignores the progressive, and simply uses the conjugated verb instead: Ni viini ||I run.||

Lastly, Verbal Adjectives, as the name suggests, turn a verb into an adjectives. Two examples of that are “The man running across is tired” and “The running man is tired.”

Mando’a has no direct way of expressing that. Instead, you should turn that into a relative clause, which means meg + conjugated verb: Kaysh meg viini, cuy haryc ||He who runs is tired||.