ལགས་མ་རེད
assertive
In Tibetan, 'no' can be expressed through several forms, the default being ལགས་མ་རེད. Wiktionary also lists ལགས་མིན and ལགས་མེད.
Meaning: used to show disagreement or negation (particle)
Ways to say it
| Tibetan | Romanization (Wiktionary) | Note |
|---|---|---|
| ལགས་མ་རེད | assertive | |
| ལགས་མིན | ||
| ལགས་མེད | ||
| ལགས་མི་འདུག | ||
| ལགས་ཡོད་མ་རེད | lags yod ma red | assertive |
These forms are used to express disagreement or negation. To show respect to a person, you may use the term La after their name or title, meaning 'respected'.
Which one should you use?
The forms ལགས་མ་རེད and ལགས་ཡོད་མ་རེད are specifically tagged as assertive. The other forms provided are ལགས་མིན, ལགས་མེད and ལགས་མི་འདུག.
Did you know?
- In Tibetan, the concept of 'no' is often expressed by negating the verb at the end of the sentence, meaning the listener must wait until the very last word to know the answer is negative.
- In many Tibetan social contexts, a direct 'no' can be seen as too harsh. People often use indirect language or a polite hesitation to signal disagreement without explicitly using ལགས་མ་རེད.
- Tibetan has distinct words for 'no' depending on whether you are denying a fact, a possession, or an existence. Using ལགས་མེད when you should use ལགས་མིན can change the meaning from 'it is not' to 'there is none'.
Example sentences for Tibetan are not verified yet.
Example conversation
Two friends are discussing a missing book.
- ནོར་བུ། Norbuའདི་ཁྱེད་རང་གི་དེབ་ལགས་མེད།di khye rang gi deb lak meIs this your book?
- ལྷ་མོ། Lhamoམེད། དེ་ལགས་མ་རེད།me, de lak ma reNo, that is not it.
- ནོར་བུ། Norbuའདིངས་ སེར་པོ་ལགས་མེད།ding ser po lak meIs it the yellow one?
- ལྷ་མོ། Lhamoལགས་མ་རེད། སྔོན་པོ་རེད།lak ma re, ngon po reNo, it is blue.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “no” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
