Intro
After you say hello in Hmong, what comes next? In this lesson, you’ll learn how to continue a natural conversation in White Hmong by asking and answering common follow-up questions. These are the types of questions people use when meeting someone new: asking their name, where they live, where they are from, what they do for work, what they study, how old they are, and what they like to do.
Each sentence in this lesson is practical, high-frequency, and immediately useful. By practicing these short exchanges, you’ll build confidence forming real conversations in Hmong instead of memorizing isolated vocabulary. Listen, repeat, and try answering each question about yourself to make the language personal and memorable. Lets start with the
Vocabulary
Below you can find some of the key vocabulary for the lesson. You can click on any box and hear the audio. Marking words you already know will remove them from any of the following testing sections. Leave the words you would like to learn.
Flash Cards
The following game will help you embed the key vocabulary words into your memory. Practice them until you can spell them from memory!
How Hmong Questions Work
Let’s look at a few patterns you’ll see throughout this conversation.
1. Question Words Stay in Place
In Hmong, question words like li cas (how/what), qhov twg (where), and dab tsi (what) usually stay in the same position as the answer.
- Koj npe hu li cas?
(What is your name?) - Kuv hu ua Pov.
(My name is Pov.)
Notice that li cas stays at the end of the sentence.
2. “Koj” vs. “Kuv”
Hmong clearly marks who is speaking.
- Koj = you
- Kuv = I / me
Example:
- Koj nyob qhov twg? (Where do you live?)
- Kuv nyob California. (I live in California.)
This makes conversation structure very consistent and easy to practice.
3. Using “puas” for Yes/No Questions
The word puas turns a statement into a yes/no question. ‘Puas’ always goes before the verb in question.
- Koj tsev neeg nyob ntawm no.
(Your family lives here.)
What is the verb that you want to know about? In this case you are asking where they live. So, add puas before the word ‘nyob’:
- Koj tsev neeg puas nyob ntawm no?
(Does your family live here?)
To answer a yes or no question, you can always answer with the verb for yes (or with the whole sentence) or with the verb proceeded by the negative word ‘tsis’ to mean, in this case, ‘not live’:
- Nyob. (Yes.)
- Tsis nyob. (No)
- Or respond with the full sentence “Kuv tsev neeg nyob ntawm no”.
4. Talking About Jobs and Study
A common structure is:
Kuv ua ib tug + profession
(I am a …)
- Kuv ua ib tug kws kho tsheb.
(I am a mechanic.)
For studying:
Kuv kawm ua ib tug + profession
(I am studying to be a …)
- Kuv kawm ua ib tug kws kho mob.
(I am studying to be a doctor.)
Practice Tip:
Try answering every question in this lesson about yourself. Replace the names, locations, jobs, and hobbies with your real information. That’s when the language truly starts to stick.
Sentences
Below you can hear sentences in the Hmong language that use these vocabulary words. If you are not familiar with any of the other words, you can also hover over them to see a definition. If the definition is too long, you can click on the word to make the definition persistent and then scroll through the definition.
You can also select just sections or single words and press play to hear those again and again!
Word Order Game
The following section is a game that will help you put the right words in the right order for each sentence. This will help you pick up grammar naturally.