1. pen gxao w 'is', are', also means 'to change into, to become'.  It is used in this way to talk about sickness and disease.

]k;gxaos;afw	la#aw pen wa#t	He is caught a cold.
]k;gxaow0hw	la#aw pen kha^y	He has a fever.

 pen Na^G gxaospa'w at the beginning of sentences means 'why'.  In the following sentences it means 'what's wrong with, what's the matter with'.  

g9qhkgxaospa'w	ca@w pen Na%G	What's wrong with you?
c0;og9qhkxaospa'w	khE%En ca@w pen Na%G	What's wrong with your arm?
]k;g9qhkgxaospa'[+,kw	la#aw pen Na%G bO&O ma#a	What's the matter with him that he didn't come?

 

Compare the word order in the following two questions. 

gxaospa']k;9b'[+dyog0qhkw	pen Na%G la#aw cy&G bO&O kin kha^w	Why doesn't he eat?
]k;gxaospa'9b'[+dyog0qhkw	la#aw pen Na%G cy&G bO&O kin kha^w	What's wrong with him that he doesn't eat?

 

The following sentence would be a suitable answer to either of the above questions. 

]k;g9a[mhv' ]k;9b'[+dyow

la#aw ce#p thO@OG la#aw cy&G bO&O kin     He's got a stomachache so he's not eating.

pen gxaow is also used as a secondary verb meaning 'to know how to, to be able to'. 

]vpoehgxaow	lO#Oy na@m pen He knows how to swim.
.-h,uf[+gxaow	sa@y mi@it bO&O pen He doesn't know how to use a knife.
dyovkskogzaf[+gxaow	kin aaha%an phe#t bO&O pen He can't eat spicy food.

da@y wfhw 'can, be albe', and  pen gxaow have overlapping meanings. 

g;qhkwfhw	wa@w da@y	can speak (knows how)
g;qhkgxaow	wa@w pen	can speak (knows how)

da@y wfh  and  pen gxao can also be used differently.  

]vpwfhw	lO#Oy da@y	can swim (is permitted to swim)
]vpgxaow	lO#Oy pen	can swim (knows how)

3. ky^ap gdnv[w 'almost', is a helping verb.

0hvpgdnv[[+maow	khO^y ky^ap bO&O tha#n	I almost didn't make it on time.
9vdgdnv[c8dw	cO^Ok ky^ap tE^Ek	The glass almost broke.
gIafgdnv[c]h;c]h;w	he&t ky^ap lE@Ew lE@Ew	I am almost finished.

4. nO@Ok ca^ak ovd9kdw 'except, except for, unless', is a connecting word.  

ovd9kdg9qhklywxF 0hvp[+wxw	nO@Ok ca^ak ca@w si pay, khO^y bO&O pay	Unless you go, I won't go.
ovd9kdg9qhkF wx|qf-j67qow	nO@Ok ca^ak ca@w, pay mo#t su&u kho#n	Excerpt you, Everyone is going.

5. su&u -6j means 'every' in the following sentences.   

|qf-6j7qo,adw	mo#t su&u kho#n ma&k	Everyone likes it.
wx|qf-6j7qow	pay mo#t su&u kho#n	Everyone is going.
-6j,nhouh wxs^kp7qow	su&u my@y ni@i pay la%ay kho^n	Everyday more and more people go.

bO&O su&u [+06jw is following sentence means 'not so much'.   

7qo[+0j6wxs^kpw

kho#n bO&O su&u pay la%ay

People don't go so much.

6. ta&aG 8jk'w  'different', is used like khy#y 7n . w  

lv'7qoouh8jk'daow	sO%OG kho#n ni@i ta&aG kan	These two people are different.
7aoouh8jk'daoda[7aooAow	kha#n ni@i ta&aG kan ka#p kha#n na@n	This car is different from that one.

ta&aG ta&aG 8jk' Cw means 'various'.  

wxc0;'8jk' Cw

pay khwE%EG ta&aG ta&aG

Go to various provinces.

7. sa#aw -k;w as in sa#aw na#a means 'person, people.'  It combines with other words.   

-k;rt,jkw	sa#aw phama@a	Burmese
-k;l;ow	sa#aw su%an	Gardener, Fruit-grower
-k;8jk'xtgmfw	sa#aw ta&aG pathe@et	foreigner

8. phu@ak r;dw 'group' combines with ca@w g9qhkFw ha#w gIqk :w

g9qhkw	ca@w	You (s)
r;dg9qhkw	phu@ak ca@w	You (pl.)
gIqkw	ha#w	we
r;dgIqkw	phu@ak ha#w	we

It also combines with khO^y 0hvpw and khaca@w 0tg9qhkw

0hvpw	khO&y	I
r;d0hvpw	phu@ak khO&y	us, my group
0tg9qhkw	khaca@w	they
r;d0tg9qhkw	phu@ak khaca@w	them, their group

9. Compare the following sentences; different words may be used like classifiers. 

-klv'9vdouh8jk'daow	sa#a sO%OG cO^^Ok ni@i ta&aG kan These two cups of tea are different.
-klv'9vdouh[j7ndaow	sa#a sO%OG cO^^Ok ni@i bO&O khy#y kan These two kinds of tea are not the same.
,u-klv's=jw	mi#i sa#a sO%OG hO&O There are two packages of tea.
,u-klv'lj;ow	mi#i sa#a sO%OG su%an There are two packages of tea.