When to use it
Use it in a shop, taxi or restaurant before paying, to check whether cash is accepted.
The sentence in English — “Can I pay in cash or only by card?”
In “Can I pay in cash or only by card?” ‘pay’ is one verb and English uses two different prepositions: ‘in cash’ but ‘by card’.
- Can
- auxiliary verbcan · tense: present · modal verb of ability or permission; it opens the question
- I
- pronounpersonal pronoun, always written with a capital letter
- pay
- verbpay · form: base form (infinitive without "to") · main verb after "can"
- in
- prepositionpreposition
- cash
- noununcountable noun; money in notes and coins
- or
- coordinating conjunctioncoordinating conjunction
- only
- adverbadverb
- by
- prepositionpreposition
- card
- nounnoun; a bank card
The sentence in Bangla — “আমি কি নগদে দিতে পারি, নাকি শুধু কার্ডে?”
In “আমি কি নগদে দিতে পারি, নাকি শুধু কার্ডে?” paying is expressed with দেওয়া (to give): ‘দিতে পারি’ (can give). Both ‘নগদে’ (in cash) and ‘কার্ডে’ (by card) use the same ending ‘-এ’, and ‘নাকি’ is the ‘or’ of questions.
- আমি
- pronounpronoun 'I'
- কি
- particlequestion particle
- নগদে
- noun'cash' + -এ: 'in cash'
- দিতে
- verbদেওয়া · form: infinitive (-তে) · দিতে পারি 'can give/pay'
- পারি
- verbপারা · tense: simple present · person: 1st · পারা 'can'
- নাকি
- coordinating conjunction'or' in questions
- শুধু
- adverbadverb 'only'
- কার্ডে
- noun'card' + -এ: 'by card'
English × Bangla — What changes from one language to the other
English needs ‘in’ for cash and ‘by’ for card; Bengali uses ‘-এ’ for both. English ‘or’ becomes ‘নাকি’ in a Bengali question.
Example conversation
— আমি কি নগদে দিতে পারি, নাকি শুধু কার্ডে?
— Can I pay in cash or only by card?
— দুটোই চলবে, মোবাইলে দেওয়াও চলবে।
— Both are fine, and phone payments too.