Convenience Store

1. କଣ ଦରକାର?

   Ka-na dar-kaar?

   What do you need?

   Usage

   Said by staff. A small Odia dokana is counter-service, with the stock shelved behind the owner. You cannot pick things up yourself as in a Japanese konbini

   Grammar Note

   "Darkar" is a Persian loanword shared across the North Indian languages. Dropping the verb and letting a noun carry the sentence is entirely ordinary in spoken Odia

2. ବ୍ୟାଗ ଦରକାର କି?

   Byaag dar-kaar ki?

   Do you need a bag?

   Usage

   Said by staff. Odisha too restricts single-use plastic, so thin carrier bags are fading out. Shops hand over paper or cloth, often for a charge, and locals simply bring their own

   Grammar Note

   Adding "ki" at the end is all it takes to make a question — the same job as Japanese "ka", with no word-order change, unlike English

3. ଖୁଚୁରା ଅଛି କି?

   Khu-chu-raa a-chhi ki?

   Do you have small change?

   Usage

   Said by staff. Small Indian shops are always short of change, so a 500-rupee note prompts this every time — and the sale can fall through. Deliberately keep notes of 100 and under

   Grammar Note

   "Achhi" is the core Odia verb of existence, covering both being and having. Possession is phrased as "mo pakhare achhi" — literally "it is near me"

4. QR ପେମେଣ୍ଟ ହେବ କି?

   QR pe-ment he-ba ki?

   Can I pay online by QR code?

   Usage

   UPI QR payment is universal in India, used even for ten-rupee purchases, and small shops in Bhubaneswar and Puri all display a QR board. Foreigners, though, need an Indian bank account to use it

   Grammar Note

   "Heba" is the future of "heba" (to become) and serves as an all-purpose "will that work?". English loanwords are simply transliterated into the Odia script

5. ଏହା ଗୋଟିଏ ଦିଅନ୍ତୁ

   E-haa go-ti-e di-an-tu

   Please give me one of these

   Usage

   Since the stock sits behind the shopkeeper, pointing while saying this is the surest way. Change the number for "duita diantu" (give me two)

   Grammar Note

   The "-ti" in "gotie" is a classifier attached to numerals, obligatory when counting in Odia. "Diantu" is the honorific imperative, the right register for a stranger

6. ଥଣ୍ଡା ପାଣି ଅଛି କି?

   Than-daa paa-ni a-chhi ki?

   Do you have cold water?

   Usage

   Never drink tap water in India — buy sealed bottles. Odisha summers pass forty degrees with high humidity, so the chilled stock goes first. Always check the seal is unbroken

   Grammar Note

   Odia adjectives precede the noun and do not inflect. Unlike Hindi, Odia has no grammatical gender, which keeps adjective forms mercifully simple

7. ଦୋକାନ କେତେବେଳେ ବନ୍ଦ ହୁଏ?

   Do-kaa-na ke-te-be-le ban-da hu-e?

   What time does the shop close?

   Usage

   A Bhubaneswar dokana opens early and runs to around nine at night, though many shut for a few hours after lunch. In a temple town like Puri, festival days can upend the schedule entirely

   Grammar Note

   "Ketebele" compounds "kete" (how much) with "bela" (time). The pattern "noun + heba" expresses a change of state, so "banda hue" means it comes to be closed

8. ସବୁ ମିଶି କେତେ ହେଲା?

   Sa-bu mi-shi ke-te he-laa?

   How much does it all come to?

   Usage

   In a dokana the items come out one by one and you ask for the total at the end. There is usually no till or display — the owner adds it up in his head — so this is the cue to pay

   Grammar Note

   "Mishi" is the participle of "mishiba" (to mix, to combine), meaning "taken together". "Hela" is perfective — literally "how much has it become", the same idiom as English "how much did it come to"

9. ରସିଦ ଦିଅନ୍ତୁ

   Ra-sid di-an-tu

   Please give me a receipt

   Usage

   Small dokanas normally issue no receipt, so ask if you need one; chain stores in Bhubaneswar's malls print them automatically. Get one whenever you might return an item or claim an expense

   Grammar Note

   "Rasid" is of Persian origin (from rasīd, "arrived"). Indian commercial vocabulary is full of such Perso-Arabic borrowings, many of them understood right across South Asia

10. ଏହାକୁ ଗରମ କରି ଦେଇପାରିବେ କି?

    E-haa-ku ga-ram ka-ri de-i-paa-ri-be ki?

    Could you heat this up for me?

    Usage

    Odia dokanas do not reheat food. For something hot, go to a street stall or a small eatery where it is cooked fresh — cheaper and better anyway

    Grammar Note

    Adding "deba" (to give) to a verb marks doing it for someone's benefit, and stacking "pariba" (to be able) on top expresses possibility. Odia layers auxiliaries to build fine shades of meaning

11. ପାଖରେ ଏଟିଏମ ଅଛି କି?

    Paa-kha-re e-ti-e-ma a-chhi ki?

    Is there an ATM nearby?

    Usage

    Indian shops do not house ATMs, but the owner knows the area and will direct you. Machines run out of cash routinely in rural Odisha, so withdraw before leaving town

    Grammar Note

    "Pakha" (vicinity) takes the locative ending "-re" to give "nearby". Odia has no prepositions, marking place and direction with case endings on the noun instead

12. ମୋବାଇଲ ରିଚାର୍ଜ ହେବ କି?

    Mo-baa-i-la ri-chaarj he-ba ki?

    Can I top up my mobile here?

    Usage

    Prepaid Indian SIMs top up right at the dokana counter — give your number and the amount and the owner handles it from his own app. It is the quickest fix when your data runs out

    Grammar Note

    The pattern "noun + heba" gives an impersonal "it can be done", with no need to name an agent. It is a broadly useful frame for asking whether a shop can do something

13. ଏହା କେତେ ଦିନ ରହିବ?

    E-haa ke-te di-na ra-hi-ba?

    How many days will this keep?

    Usage

    Odisha's heat and humidity spoil food fast, and dairy or cooked sweets can turn within hours. Package dates are often hard to read, so asking the shopkeeper directly is safest

    Grammar Note

    "Rahiba" means to stay or remain, and extends naturally to food keeping. The future "rahiba" is formed regularly by adding "-ba" to the stem

14. ଗୋଟିଏ ସିଗାରେଟ ମିଳିବ କି?

    Go-ti-e si-gaa-re-ta mi-li-ba ki?

    Could I get a single cigarette?

    Usage

    Cigarettes in India are commonly sold singly, not at the dokana but at a roadside paan stall that also sells betel, sweets and drinks and doubles as a neighbourhood news hub

    Grammar Note

    "Miliba" (to be obtained) is intransitive and is the standard frame for asking whether something can be had. Avoiding the other person as subject softens the request

15. ପାଣି ବୋତଲ ସିଲ ଅଛି ତ?

    Paa-ni bo-ta-la sil a-chhi ta?

    The water bottle is sealed, right?

    Usage

    Refilled bottles of tap water do turn up in India, so always check the cap seal is intact. Water is the single biggest cause of travellers falling ill, so make this check a habit

    Grammar Note

    The final particle "ta" seeks confirmation or agreement, much like Japanese "desu yo ne". It is gentler than the question particle "ki" and avoids sounding accusatory

16. ବ୍ୟାଗ ଦରକାର ନାହିଁ, ମୋ ପାଖରେ ଅଛି

    Byaag dar-kaar naa-hin, mo paa-kha-re a-chhi

    No bag needed, I have one with me

    Usage

    How to decline when carrying a reusable bag. Since the plastic restrictions took hold in Odisha, cloth bags have become common, and this line speeds things up

    Grammar Note

    "Nahin" is the negative of "achhi" and negates both existence and possession. Possession is phrased as "-pakhare achhi" (it is near someone); Odia has no verb equivalent to "have"

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