LEARN HINDI – LESSON 4

[Lesson 1]  [Lesson 2]  [Lesson 3]  [Lesson 4]  [Lesson 5]

4

A.  COMMON PHRASES

bhaarat hamaaraa desh hai: Bharat (India) is our country.

vo dharmbhuumi aur pitribhuumi hai: It is the Land of Righteousness and Land of Ancestors.

bhaarat sab hinduon kaa pavitr desh hai; rishion, guruon aur devraajaaon kaa desh hai: Bharat is the Holy Land of all Hindus; it is the land of holy prophets, gurus (spiritual masters) and divine kings.

apne aatmik prakaash aur mahimaa se bhaarat jagat ko pradipt kartaa hai: Bharat illumines the World with its spiritual light and glory.

bhaarat men bahut pavitr mandir hain: In Bharat there are many holy temples.

mere graam men puraanaa mandir hai: In my village there is an old temple.

us kaa darshan bahut log karte hain: Many people visit it.

mandir men shiv jii kii sundar sundar muurti hai: In the temple there is a very beautiful image of Lord Shiva.

ve saadhu mere guru jii hain:  That holy man is (lit. are) my Master.

aap ko meraa praNaam, guru jii: (My) Obeisance (to you), Master.

guru jii, yaeh ravi hai. vo yog siikhnaa chaahtaa hai:  Master, this is Ravi. He wants to learn Yoga.

namaste, ravi. tum achchhe laRke ho: Hello  Ravi. You are a good boy.

guru jii, hamen yog baare men kuch kahiye!: Master, please tell us something about Yoga!

Note that the verb kah-naa is here in the imperative which is formed by adding –iye to the verb root. For more on the imperative see LESSON FIVE.

shiv jii sab devon men uchchtam hai aur yog us kaa pavitr maarg hai: Lord Shiva is the highest God and Yoga is His Holy Path.

shiv jii paramaatmaa hai aur saadhutaa kaa paramtattw hai:  Lord Shiva is the Supreme Being and the Supreme Principle of Goodness.

jo shiv kii sharaN men aataa hai vo swarg jaataa hai aur paramaanand praapt kartaa hai:  He who takes refuge in Shiva goes to heaven and attains supreme happiness.

jay shiv mahaadev!: Victory to Great God Shiva!

  

B. GRAMMAR

THE OBLIQUE CASE

When a noun is a thing that does an action, it is said to be in the “direct” case. For example: the boy eats, the boy sees, etc. The noun boy is in the direct case.

When a noun is a thing to which an action is done, it is said to be in the “oblique” case: I see the boy, I give food to the boy, this is for/from/by the boy etc. Boy here is in the oblique case.

In many languages, a noun in the oblique case is preceded by a preposition such as to, by, for. However, such particles may also be positioned after a word. For example, English hereto, hereby, therefore. In such cases, the preposition becomes a postposition. This is the case in Hindi. Hindi, therefore, has no prepositions but postpositions.

In Hindi, a noun in the oblique case is followed by a postposition such as men (in), kaa (of), ko (to), par (on), se (from, by) and is inflected according to certain rules.

MASCULINE NOUNS ending in aa change their ending to e in singular and to on in plural:

SINGULAR (EKVACHAN)

Direct case: laRkaa khaataa hai (the boy eats)

Oblique case: main laRke ko khaanaa detaa huun (I give food to the boy)

Oblique case: main laRke ko dekhtaa huun (I see the boy)

PLURAL (BAHUVACHAN)

Direct case: laRke khaate hain (the boys eat)

Oblique case: main laRkon ko khaanaa detaa huun (I give food to the boys)

Oblique case: main laRkon ko dekhtaa huun (I see the boys)

ALL FEMININE NOUNS remain unchanged in oblique singular. However, just like their masculine  counterpart, they take the ending on in oblique plural. 

SINGULAR

Oblique: main laRkii ko dekhtaa huun (I see the girl)

PLURAL

Oblique: main laRkion ko dekhtaa huun (I see the girls)

 ADJECTIVES IN OBLIQUE

Hindi adjectives are of two kinds: inflecting and invariable. Inflecting adjectives change their ending from aa to e in both singular and plural oblique.

Direct singular: baRaa laRkaa (the big boy)

Direct plural: baRe laRke (the big boys)

Oblique singular: baRe laRke ko (to the big boy)

Oblique plural: baRe laRkon ko (to the big boys)

Invariable adjectives remain unchanged irrespective of case, number or gender:

MASCULINE  - Direct singular: sundar laRkaa (handsome boy)

Direct plural: sundar laRke (handsome boys)

Oblique singular: sundar laRke ko (to the handsome boy)

Oblique plural: sundar laRkon ko (to the handsome boys)

FEMININE: sundar laRkii, sundar laRkiyaan, sundar laRkii ko, sundar laRkiyon ko.

PRONOUNS IN OBLIQUE

Like adjectives, pronouns must agree with their corresponding nouns. Possessive pronouns meraa (my) teraa (your), etc. in oblique change their ending from aa to e in both singular and plural.

Direct singular: meraa laRkaa (my boy)

Direct plural: mere laRke (my boys)

Oblique singular: mere laRke ko (to my boy)

Oblique plural: mere laRkon ko (to my boys)

Yaeh meraa laRkaa hai (this is my boy); main mere laRke ko khaanaa detaa huun (I give food to my boy); main mere laRke ko dekhtaa huun (I see my boy).

 

C. VOCABULARY

desh   (m.)                         land, country

dharm   (m.)                     divine law, righteousness, religion

bhuumi   (f.)                      land, soil

dharmbhuumi  (f.)            Land of Righteousness

pitri      (m.)                       forefather, ancestor

pitribhuumi   (f.)               fatherland, land of one’s ancestors

pavitr                                 holy

rishi  (m.)                          God-seer, prophet

guru  (m.)                          spiritual teacher, master

dev    (m.)                          a god; God

raajaa  (m.)                      king

devraajaa  (m.)                divine king

apne                                   own

aatmaa  (m.)                     soul, Spirit

aatmik                               spiritual

prakaash  (m.)                    light

mahimaa   (f.)                     glory, greatness                        

se                                         by, with, from

jagat (m.)                           world

pradipt kar-naa                  to attain

mandir  (m.)                        temple

graam   (m.)                        village

puraanaa, e, ii                      old

darshan  (m.)                       sight, view, vision

darshan kar-naa                  to have a sight; to visit

shiv  (m.)                              Shiva, God, the Supreme Deity

sundar sundar                      beautiful beautiful (very beautiful)

muurti   (f.)                           image, icon, statue

saadhu  (m.)                          holy man

saadhutaa  (f.)                      goodness

praNaam  (m.)                      obeisance, bow

siikh-naa                               to learn

laRkaa   (m.)                        boy

baare men                             about

kuch                                      some

uchchtam                               highest

maarg   (m.)                           path

paramaatmaa   (m.)              Supreme Spirit

tattw  (m.)                              principle, reality

jo                                             he who

sharaN  (f.)                             refuge

sharaN men a-naa                 to take (lit. go for) refuge

swarg  (m.)                              paradise, Heaven

swarg jaa-naa                         to go to Heaven

paramaanand  (m.)                  supreme bliss (of Heaven)

praapt  kar-naa                        to attain

mahaadev  (m.)                        Great God (one of Shiva’s

                                                        Holy Names)

jay  (f.)                                       victory

jay shiv mahadev!                     victory to Shiva!  (Hail Shiva!)

or

mahaadev kii jay!                     victory to Shiva!  (Hail Shiva!)

                                      

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