LEARN HINDI – LESSON 3

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3

A.  COMMON PHRASES

 

yaeh pustak kiskii hai?: Whose book is this?

yaeh merii pustak hai: It is my book

aapkii lekhniyaan kahaan hain?: Where are your pens?

ve yahaan hain: They are here

achchhaa!:  Good!

hindii kii pustak kaisii hai?: How is the Hindi book?

vo bahut achchhii hai: It is very good

hindii men “door” ko kyaa kaehte hain?:  How does one say “door” in Hindi?

“dwaar” kaehte hain: One says (lit. they say)”dvaar”

aur “window” kyaa kaehte hain?: And how does one say “window”?

“vaataayan” kaehte hain: One says “vaataayan”

bahut achchhaa!: Very good!

aap bahut achchhe vidyaarthii hain: You are a very good student   

mere ghar aaiye!: Please come to my house!

yaeh meraa ghar hai: This is my house

merii beTii ghar hai, par meraa beTaa ghar nahiin hai: My daughter is at home but my son is not

kripayaa, andar aaiye!: Please come in! (Welcome in)

baiTHiye!: Please sit down!

aapkaa ghar bahut sundar hai: Your house is very beautiful

kyaa tum jaanti ho ki shivraaj kahaan hai?: Do you know where Shivraj is?

jii nahiin, main nahiin jaantii: No, I don’t know

maataa-pitaa ghar par hain?: Are Mother and Father at home?

jii nahiin, ve nagar men hain: No, they are in the town

aap kyaa kaam karte hain?: What ( work) do you do?

 main adhyaapak huun. main naye aashram men kaam kartaa huun: I am a teacher. I work at  the new school

aap kyaa khaanaa chaahte hain? What would you like to eat?

mujhe keval phal chaahye: I would just like some fruit

phal bahut achchhaa hai: The fruit is very good

aap roTii khaaiye!: Have (lit. eat) some bread

mujhe jaanaa hai: I have to go

aap kahaan jaate hain? Where are you going?

main kaam jaataa huun: I am going to work

 

B. GRAMMAR

CONJUGATION OF HINDI VERBS

Hindi verbs are conjugated by adding the syllable taa to the verbal root.  Thus if the verb is KAR-NAA, taa is added to the root KAR, resulting in the imperfect participle KAR-TAA.

The tense is then formed by combining the imperfect participle with an auxiliary verb, e.g., HO-NAA (to be):

KAR-NAA (TO DO)

SINGULAR (EKVACHAN)

 

            Main kartaa huun

    I   do

            Tuu  kartaa hai

    You (familiar) do

            Vo    kartaa hai

    He, she, it  does

 

 

 

PLURAL (BAHUVACHAN)

 

            Ham  karte hain

       We   do

            Tum   karte ho

       You (polite) do

            Aap    karte hain

       You (formal) do

            Ve      karte hain

       They do

 

KAAM KAR-NAA (TO WORK)

SINGULAR

 

     Main kaam kartaa huun

    I   work

     Tuu  kaam kartaa hai

    You (familiar) work

     Vo    kaam kartaa hai

    He, she, it  works

 

 

 

PLURAL

 

     Ham  kaam karte hain

       We   work

     Tum   kaam karte ho

       You (polite) work

     Aap    kaam karte hain

       You (formal) work

     Ve      kaam karte hain

       They work

JAAN-NAA (TO KNOW)

SINGULAR

 

            Main jaantaa huun

    I   know

            Tuu  jaantaa hai

    You (familiar) know

            Vo    jaantaa hai

    He, she, it  knows

 

 

 

PLURAL

 

            Ham  jaante hain

       We   know

            Tum   jaante ho

       You (polite) know

            Aap    jaante hain

       You (formal) know

            Ve      jaante hain

       They know

JAA-NAA (TO GO)

SINGULAR

 

            Main jaataa huun

    I   go

            Tuu  jaataa hai

    You (familiar) go

            Vo    jaataa hai

    He, she, it  goes

 

 

 

PLURAL

 

            Ham  jaate hain

       We  go

            Tum   jaate ho

       You (polite) go

            Aap    jaate hain

       You (formal) go

            Ve      jaate hain

       They go

 

NUMBER OF HINDI NOUNS

Hindi nouns may be divided into two main groups: (1) masculine nouns ending in –aa and (2) feminine nouns ending in –ii.

Plural: masculine –aa nouns take the ending –e; feminine –ii nouns take the ending –iyaan.

MASCULINE:

beTaa (son)   -  beTe (sons)

laRkaa (boy)  -  laRke (boys)

FEMININE:

beTii (daughter)  -  beTiyaan (daughters)

laRkii (girl)  -  laRkiyaan (girls)

Note: among exceptions are feminine nouns ending in a letter other than ii, which take the plural ending en:

mez (table)  -  mezen (tables)

pustak (book)  -  pustaken (books)

bahin (sister)  -  bahinen (sisters)

maataa (mother)  -  maataaen (mothers)

Some nouns, whether masculine or feminine, remain unchanged in the plural. Their number is gauged from the context.

ek ghar (one house)  -  do ghar (two houses)

ek bhaaii (one brother)  -  do bhaaii (two brothers)

 

ADJECTIVES

Adjectives are inflected in a similar way and mostly take the ending of the corresponding noun:

MASCULINE

achchhaa beTaa (good son)  -  achchhe beTe (good sons)

baRaa laRkaa (big boy)  -  baRe laRke (big boys)

 

FEMININE

achchhii beTii (good daughter)  -  achchhii beTiyaan (good daughters)

baRii laRkii (big girl)  -  baRii laRkiyaan (big girls)

 

POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS

SINGULAR

 

            Meraa

    My

            Teraa

    Your (familiar)

            Iskaa (Uskaa)

    His, her, its

 

 

 

PLURAL

 

            Hamaraa

       Our

            Tumhaaraa

       Your (polite)

            Aapkaa

       Your (formal)

            Inkaa (Unkaa)

       Their

Like verbs, nouns and adjectives, Hindi possessive pronouns terminate in aa, e or ii according to gender and number.

MASCULINE

meraa beTaa (my son)  -  mere beTe (my sons)

meraa bhaaii (my brother)  -  mere bhaaii (my brothers)

meraa ghar (my house)  -  mere ghar (my houses)

FEMININE

merii beTii (my daughter)  -  merii beTiyaan (my daughters)

merii bahin (my sister)  -  merii bahinen (my sisters)

When a pronoun refers to a group of male and female beings, it takes the masculine plural ending in –e. 

mere maataa-pitaa (my parents)

mere bhaaii aur bahinen (my brothers and sisters)

However, when the pronoun refers to a group of male and female objects (as opposed to living beings), it takes the masculine or feminine plural ending which corresponds to the nearest noun. See also verb gender, LESSON TWO.

mere samaachaar-patr aur pustaken: my (masc.) newspapers and books

merii pustaken aur samaachaar-patr: my (fem.) books and newspapers

Note: the pronouns iskaa and uskaa literally mean “of this” and “of that”, respectively. Similarly, inkaa and unkaa mean “of these” and “of those”. However, “his, her, its, their” are the usual English equivalents and these are therefore used in translation.

 

C. VOCABULARY

kaa  (masculine sg.)          of

ke    (masculine pl.)           of

kii    (feminine)                  of

kiskaa, -e, -ii                      of whom

meraa, -e, -ii                       my

yahaan                                here

achchhaa, -e, -ii                 good

bahut                                   much, many, very

kah-naa                              to say

ko  (postposition)               to, for

dwaar  (m.)                          door

vaataayan (m.)                   window

vidyaarthii                           student

aa-naa                                   to come

aa-iye!                                   please come, welcome!

andar                                    inside

andar aa-naa                       to come in

beTii                                       daughter

beTaa                                     son

par                                          but

kripayaa                                please

baiTH-naa                             to sit down

sundar                                    beautiful

ki  (conjunction)                    that

jaan-naa                                 to know

nagar  (m.)                             town

kaam  (m.)                             work

kar-naa                                  to do

adhyaapak   (m.)                   teacher

adhyaapikaa  (f.)                   teacher

nayaa, -e, -ii                           new

aashram (m.)                         school

khaa-naa                               to eat

chah-naa                               to want

keval                                      only

phal (m.)                                 fruit

roTii (f.)                                   bread

khaanaa (m.)                         food

jaa-naa                                   to go

 

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