ছাড়া

What does ছাড়া mean?

ছাড়া (chhara) is a Bangla postposition that means without, except in English.

This postposition translates to 'without', 'except', or 'apart from', describing exclusion or absence. In everyday spoken Bangla, it directly follows an uninflected noun or an objective pronoun, as in তুমি ছাড়া (tumi chhara) for 'without you'. A common pitfall is confusing this postposition with conjugated forms of the verb ছাড়া (chhara), which means 'to leave' or 'to release'.

How do you say “without” in Bangla?

Say ছাড়া, pronounced chhara. Press play to hear a native Bangladeshi voice say it.

Pronunciation tips

• It has a breathy consonant (bh, chh, dh, kh, th): say it with a small puff of air, as if a soft h follows.
• It has a flapped ড় (R in the precise spelling): curl the tongue tip back and flick it forward once.

These sounds have no exact English match. Practise them letter by letter in the Bengali alphabet guide.