Hindi Lessons/Combinatet

{English book class 5th in Hindi}}

Lesson 1

Lesson 1: About Hindi. Linguistic Information.

The Republic of India has 22 official or national languages: Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Santhali, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu and English too. Not all of these languages are from the same group, so an Indian speaker of Hindi would understand a Tamil speaker as well as for example an Englishman would understand a Chinese speaker! As one of the official languages of India (Bhaarat), Hindi has more than 180,000,000 speakers. It is an Indo-European language, descended from Sanskrit, and is written using the Devanagari script. Another name for the Hindi language is "khadi boli" (khari boli), which is actually the name of a dialect, originally spoken in Delhi, and from which Hindi developed. Surprisingly, Hindi isn't spoken only in India and in parts of the surrounding countries, but also in... Africa! Yes, it's true - there are over 2,000,000 Hindi speakers in Africa. About the half of them live in South Africa (~800,000) and Uganda (~150,000).

Urdu, the national language of Pakistan is considered by many to be the same language as Hindi. Historically, India was a much bigger country, including the territories of today's Pakistan and Bangladesh, and the language spoken in the country was called Hindustani. The Hindi-Urdu language is often spoken about but, as languages spoken in different countries, Hindi and Urdu are also different in many ways - mostly in vocabulary. Since Urdu is spoken in an Islamic country, it had borrowed many words from Arabic and Persian and therefore has an Arabic hue, whereas Hindi uses more Sanskrit words. Another difference is the writing system: Hindi uses the Devanagari script, but Urdu uses a modified version of the Arabic script (or rather the Persian script).

Most of the other official languages of India have their own script. However, some of them, such as Marathi, use the Devanagari script too. Gujarati has its own script. Some Punjabi speakers use the Devanagari script, but others (Sikhs) use a special script called "Gurumukhi". It's very similar to Hindi though... It's regarded as the script of the gurus (teachers), and that is how it got its name - guru = teacher, mukh = mouth. On the other hand, "Devanagari" means "the heavenly script", or the script used in the city of gods (deva = god, nagari = city, town).

To get a simple idea of how written Hindi looks, see the text below:

हिन्दुस्तान में बहुत सारी भाषाएँ बोली जाती हैं और इस से पता चलता है कि भारत दुनिया का सब से बड़ा प्रजातान्त्रिक देश है।।

So, that was the very first lesson. It's short, but I think it's important to understand the linguistic background of the language you are learning. I hope you agree.

You're now ready to continue to Lesson 2, where you can discover and learn your first words in the fascinating Hindi language!

Lesson 2

Lesson 2: Some Basic Words & Phrases

In this lesson we will learn some very basic Hindi phrases. We'll start with the two little words "yes" and "no". I think they would be useful :-) So here we are:

• हाँ = YES ( haa~ - note the nasal "n" at the end of the word)
• नहीं = NO ( nahi~ - note the nasal "n" at the end of the word)

If you want to sound more polite you can use the particle "जी" (ji). Remember it well! It's a very important particle, similar to Japanese "さん" (san) or Korean "씨" (sshi) in that it can be glued at the end of a name or title. If instead of "Hello Mr. X" you say "Hello Mr. X-ji" a Hindi native would appreciate it... So, let's get back to our "yes-no" thingie and see how to use "ji" there:

• जी हाँ = YES (or "Yes, sir"... Ji Haa~)
• जी नहीं = NO (or "No, sir"... Ji Nahi~)

Note that you can place "ji" after "haa~" or "nahi~" too:

• हाँ जी = YES (or "Yes, sir"... Haa~ Ji)
• नहीं जी = NO (or "No, sir"... Nahi~ Ji)

You can also use जी (ji) on its own. Alone it can mean "YES", so if you reply to a question just with "ji" you speak proper Hindi. It can mean "what?" "pardon me" "yes?" etc.:

• जी = YES (kinda the English "yeah" or "yep")
• जी = Yes? Pardon me? What? What do you mean? etc.

Now it's time to learn how to say "Hello" and "Goodbye". Here they are:

• नमस्ते = Hello! OR Goodbye! ( Namaste )

As you see "namaste" is universal, just like Italian "Ciao" or Hawaiian "Aloha," which also are used for both hello and goodbye. There is another form of "namaste". It's namaskar, bearing the same meaning, and used more frequently in Southern India; you can use it instead of "namaste". They're fully interchangable. Of course if you want to be more polite, you can add the famous "ji" particle :-)

The language of Indian Muslims and Hindus from northeast India and Pakistan is more influenced by Persian, Arabic, and the Islamic religion. For example a Muslim might use the arabic "assalamu alaikum," or peace be upon you (salam /selam/ means peace, the same as the Hebrew "shalom") instead of the Hindu "namaste." If you are greeted with "assalamu alaikum", the proper response is "walaikum assalam" (peace be upon you too). In Urdu one says "khuda hafiz" for "goodbye." If you meet a Muslim you can use that for goodbye...

Next we'll learn two words, designating "thanks" or "thank you":

• धन्यवाद = Thank you. ( Dhanyavaad, it's the "native" Hindi word )
• शुक्रिया = Thank you. ( Shukriyaa, from the Arabic word "shukran")

We'll end this lesson with a phrase, meaning "Where are you from". You don't yet need to know what the words in there really mean, just remember it just as a phrase:

• आप कहां से हैं? = Where are you from? ( Aap kahaa~ se hain? )
  • Note that ~ is used to show nasal sound, i.e. nasalized a. I'll use always that mark to indicate nasalized sounds.

The transliterated "ai" is pronounced not as "a" + "i", but as "ae" or "e". It's similar to the sound of "a" in "apple". I don't write it as "e" to distinguish it from the other 'e'.

That's all for this lesson. Before you continue be sure to remember it well!

Lesson 3

Lesson 3: Pronouns.

First, a basic table of the Hindi personal pronouns, then some explanation.

Personal pronouns

SINGULAR		PLURAL
(हिंदी) Hindi	English	(हिंदी) Hindi	English
मैं (main, mai~)	I	हम (ham)	We
तु (tu)	You (intimate)	तुम (tum)	You (Informal)
		आप (aap)	You (Formal)
यह (yah/yeh)	He (close)/She(close)/It (close)/This	ये (ye)	They (close)/These
वह (vah/voh)	He (far)/She (far)/It (far)/That	वे (ve)	They (far)/Those

तु (tu) is used only for very close person, e.g. one's girlfriend/boyfriend. तुम (tum) is probably the most used word for "you" (singular) in Hindi. It can be used with everybody, unless one wants to be polite, in which case one says "aap" (आप). NB. When using "aap" (आप) or "tum" (तुम) conjugate the verb for plural. Well, you don't know how to conjugate at this point, but do remember this rule! When meeting someone for the first time, politeness is appropriate, so it is better to use "aap" for "you."

Next, the demonstrative pronouns:

• यह = This ( yeh / yah )
• वह = That ( woh / wah )

• ये = These ( ye )
• वे = Those ( ve )

And, the possesive pronouns:

possesive pronouns

SINGULAR		PLURAL
(हिंदी) Hindi	English	(हिंदी) Hindi	English
मेरा (mera)	My	हमारा (hamara)	Our
आपका (aapka)	Your
तुम्हारा (tumhara - /tum/)	Your	उनका (unka)	Their
उसका (uska)	His/Hers

So, let's build a Hindi sentence.

• है = is ( hai )

• मेरा नाम Peter है = My name is Peter. (Mera naam Peter hai. नाम (naam) means "name").

NB: The verb in Hindi is always placed at the end of the sentence, a feature which many Asian languages share. (Hindi is SOV, i.e Subject-Object-Verb, language). Thus, for "My name is Peter" we say, "My name Peter is." More examples:

• उसका नाम हसिनी है. = her name is Hasini. (Uska naam Hasini hai.)
• यह पानी है. = This is water. (Yah pani hai.)
• यह घर है. = This is a house. (Yeh ghar hai.)

That's enough material for this lesson I think. The next lesson will address genders and verbs.

Lesson 4

Lesson 4: Genders in Hindi. Hindi Verbs - Part 1.

Unlike many European languages which have three genders or those such as English which have none, Hindi has precisely two, masculine and feminine. There is no reliable rule for which words are which, but one can often deduce a word's gender from its ending. Most Hindi words end in a vowel. Those ending in -aa are usually masculine. Those ending in -i (-ee) are usually feminine. There are of course some words that end in consonants or other vowels, whose gender cannot be predicted and must be learned. When we learn the adjectives and verb conjugation we will find that those -a and -i endings are very important. So, please remember that well:

-aa (ा) as in l*a*va - general mark of masculine words (singular!) - nouns, adjectives, verbs

-ī (ी) - (ee) - general mark of feminine words (even both - singular and plural) - nouns, adjectives, verbs

Many masculine Hindi words (ending in -aa of course:) can be turned into feminine ones by simply replacing the -aa ending with -ī! For example:

लड़का (laRkaa) = boy, लड़की (laRkī) = girl

बिल्ला (billaa) = tomcat, बिल्ली (billī) = cat, pussycat

Some masculine words ending in -a:

कमरा (kamraa) = room केला (kelaa) = banana तारा (taaraa) = star हवा (havaa) = wind

Feminine Words ending in -ī (-ee):

चीनी (chīnī) = sugar

But exceptions exist. for e.g., the following end in -ī (-ee) but are masculine:

पानी (paanī) = water पक्षी (pakshī) = bird

Some words ending with consonants:

दोस्त (dost) = friend (masculine) किताब (kitaab) = book (feminine) औरत (aurat) = woman (feminine :-)

A word ending in a vowel different from -a or -i:

गुरु (guruu) = teacher

To the general rule of the -a and -i ending there exist some exceptions, that is, there exist some masculine words, which end in -i. For example, the word for "man":

आदमी (aadmī) = man

Verbs in Hindi. General Information.

The infinitive form of every Hindi verb ends in ना (-na):

खाना (khaanaa) = to eat

पीना (pīnaa) = to drink

जाना (jaanaa) = to go

आना (aanaa) = to come

करना (karnaa) = to do (remember this one as it's used in many compound verb forms)

देना (denaa) = to give

लेना (lenaa) = to take

लिखना (likhnaa) = to write

पढ़ना (paDhnaa) = to read

समझना (samajhnaa) = to understand

समझाना (samjhaanaa) = to explain (i.e. to make someone understand)

सीखना (sīkhnaa) = to learn

For the root of the verb, required for conjugation, remove its -na ending.

Making plurals:

In plural the masculine -aa ending becomes -e while the feminine -ī ending either remains -ī or becomes -i~ (nasalized):

-aa (ा) - general mark of masculine words (singular) - MASC. SG.

-e (े) - general mark of masculine words (plural) - MASC. PL.

-ī (ी) - general mark of feminine words (singular and plural) - FEM. SG. and PL.

-īn and -i~ - occasional mark of feminine words (plural) - FEM. PL.

Now back to verbs:

Add "ता" (ta) to verb root for masculine singular and "ते" (te) for masculine plural. Add "ती" (tī) for feminine singular and plural.

Examples:

खाता (khaataa) = eat पीता (pītaa) = drink etc.

However, although these verbs are now conjugated, they are not quite ready to use. One cannot say "Mai~n khaataa"; one must use the copula "to be," the most important verb in Hindi:

The verb "TO BE" (Hona - होना)

मैं हुं (mai~ hu~) = I am

तु है (tu hai) = You (intimate) are

तुम हो (tum ho) = You are

वह है (voh hai) = He/She/It/That is

हम हैं (ham hai~) = We are

आप हैं (aap hai~) = You are

वे हैं (ve hai~) = They are

Let's give you a pattern:

Verb root + TAA / TE / TĪ + Conjugated corresponding form of "Hona" (to be) = Present Imperfect Tense

Some examples:

NB: Hindi does not use articles

मैं खाता हुं. (mai~ khaataa hu~) = I eat. (Said by a Male)

लडका खाता है. (laRkaa khaataa hai) = The (A) boy eats.

लडकी खाती है. (laRkī khaatī hai) = The (A) girl eats.

आप पीते हैं. (aap pīte hai~) = You (polite sg.) drink OR You (plural) drink.

मैं पानी पीता हुं. (mai~ paanī pītaa hu~) = I drink water. (Said by a male)

तुम पानी पीते हो. (tum paanī pīte ho) = You drink water. NB: "tum" is the most used word for "you" and is actually plural. So whenever you use it, conjugate the verb as plural.

A final, somewhat "funny," example:

मैं सिगरेट पीता हुं. (mai~ sigaret pīta hu~). I smoke a cigarette (Said by a male) ... The literal meaning of the sentence is "I drink a cigarette." Every language has its oddities and peculiarities!

More about other verb tenses in the next lesson(s). Please do review this whole lesson well before continuing to the next one.

Lesson 5

Lesson 5: Hindi Verbs - Part 2.

We continue with some other tenses in Hindi:

Present Continuous Tense:

Verb Stem + रहा / / रही (rahae/they) + Present Tense of "Hona" (to be)

For those who don't like grammatical terms and don't know for sure what's "continuous tense", I'll tell that it's the same as the English verbs, ending in "-ing". So if you want to say that you "read" a book in the moment of speaking, you have to say "I am reading a book", not simply "I read a book", because the last could mean that you read a book in general, i.e. you're not reading it in the moment of speaking. So let's clear all that out with some examples.

मैं किताब पढ रहा हुं. (mai~ kitab padh raha hu~) = I'm reading a book.

मैं पानी पी रहा हुं. (mai~ pani pi raha hu~) = I'm drinking water.

मैं रोटी खा रही हुं. (mai~ roti kha rahi hu~) = I'm eating bread. (a girl speaking!)

The verbs stem and raha/rahe/rahi are pronounced almost as one (at once), although they're written separately. Sometimes in colloquial speech all is even shortened more. The "raha hu~" for example is pronounced "rahu~", "raha hai" as "rahai"...

---

Past Tense:
(This section needs to be revised as it does not account for the distinction between intransitive and transitive verbs. When forming the perfect tense (past) in Hindi, the verb will not always match the traditional subject of your sentence in gender/number (this depends on transitivity of the verb). Some of the examples below are incorrect for this reason and should be rewritten according to standard Hindi grammar and the "ne" construction.)

Building past is easy. Just take the root of a verb and add -a, -e, or -i, respectively for Masculine Singular, Masculine Plurar and Feminine both - Singular and Plurar:

Verb Stem + ा/े/ी (-A/-E/-I) = Past Tense

Note: For verbs, whose stem end in a vowel you have to add या/ये/यी (ya/ye/yi) E.g. खाना -> खा -> खाया(Khana -> Kha (stem) -> Khaya)

Some examples:

• मैं खाया. (mai~ khaya) = I ate.
• मैं पढा. (mai~ padha) = I read.
• लडका खाया. (larka khaya) = The boy ate.
• लडकी खायी. (larki khayi) = The girl ate.
• आप पीया. (aap piya) = You drank. (Sg. polite or Plural)
• मैं पानी पीया. (mai~ pani piya) = I drank water.
• तुम पानी पीये. (tum pani piye) = You drank water.

Some Verbs are irregular. I'll show you some of them (A little below you'll see the past of 'to be', which is needed to build the imperfect past tense, necessary to be able to say such phrases as "I've used to go ..."):

Past of जाना (Janaa = to go)

गया / गये / गयी / गयीं (gaya / gaye / gayi / gayi~) (1: Masc. Sg, 2: Masc. Pl. 3: Fem. Sg, 4: Fem. Pl.)

To build the past imperfect tense, we have first to learn the past tense of the "main" hindi verb: "to be" (Hona). Past of "hona" is even simplier than the present form:

Past of होना (Honaa = To be)

था (tha) = was (for Masculine SINGULAR) थे (the) = were (for Masculine PLURAL)

थी (thi) = was (for Feminine SINGULAR) थीं (thi~) = was (for Feminine PLURAL)

Examples:

• मैं वहां था. (mai~ vaha~ tha.) = I was there.
• आप यहां थे. (aap yaha~ the) = You (polite) were here OR You (plural) were here.
• (वहां /vaha~/ = there, यहां /yaha~/ = here, जहां /jaha~/ = where)

Now as you know here/there/where (btw, there exists also another word for where = kaha~) I'll give you a Hindi proverb:

जहां धुआं है, वहां आग भी है. (jahan dhua~ hai, vaha~ aag bhi hai) = Where there is a smoke, there is a fire too.

---

Past Imperfect Tense:

... Verb Stem + ता / ते / ती (TA/TE/TI) + Past Tense of "Hona" (to be) = Past Imperfect Tense Stem + ता/ते/ती + था/थे/थी/थीं = Past Imperfect Tense The past imperfect tense is used to tell about habitual actions in the past. In English it's best translated with the pattern "used to + verb":

• मैं खाता था. (mai~ khata tha) = I used to eat.
• लडका खाता था. (larka khata tha) = The boy used to eat.
• लडकी खाती थी. (larki khati thi) = The girl used to eat.
• आप पीते थे. (aap pite the) = You used to drink. (Sg. polite or Plural)
• मैं पानी पीता था. (mai~ pani pita tha) = I used to drink water.
• तुम पानी पीते थे. (tum pani pite the) = You used to drink water.

Next comes of course the past continous tense:

---

Past Continuous Tense:

Well, no need to help you much here. It's the same as the present continous except that it's used the past tense of Hona:

Verb Stem + रहा / रहे / रही (raha/rahe/rahi) + Past Tense of "Hona" (to be) = Past Continuous Tense

मैं किताब पढ रहा था. (mai~ kitab padh raha tha) = I was reading a book.

मैं पानी पी रहा था. (mai~ pani pi raha tha) = I was drinking water.

मैं रोटी खा रही थी. (mai~ roti kha rahi thi) = I was eating bread. (a girl speaking!)

I think you got it, now for the FUTURE:

---

Future Tense:

The Future tense it a bit more complicated than the past for it has more verb-endings for person than those by the past tense.

Future Imperfect Tense:

Let us conjugate a verb in the future tense, then I'll give the endings:

Future Imperfect of "Pina" (पीना = to drink)

मैं पीउंगा (mai~ piunga) = I will drink

तु पीएगा (tu piega) = You will drink

तुम पीओगे (tum pioge) = You will drink

वह पीएगा (voh piega) = He/She/It will drink.

हम पीएंगे (ham pienge) = We will drink

आप पीएंगे (aap pienge) = You will drink.

वे पीएंगे (ve pienge) = They will drink.

For "I" use -unga, for "Tu" use "ega", for "Tum" use "oge", for "voh" use "ega" and for "ham/aap/ve" the plural form "enge".

---

Future Continuous Tense:

To build that tense use these endings: रहूंगा रहेगा रहेंगे रहोगे (rahunga/rahega/rahenge/rahoge) similarly as the forms for Future Imperfect together with the "conjugated" verb.

Verb Stem + TA / TE / TI + rahunga/rahega/rahenge/rahoge = Future Continuous Tense

Let's make the future continuous of the verb "pina" to make things clear:

Future Continuous of "Pina" (पीना = to drink)

मैं पीता रहुंगा. (mai~ pita rahunga) = I will be drinking.

तु पीता रहेगा. (tu pita rahega) = You will be drinking.

तुम पीते रहोगे. (tum pite rahoge) = You will be drinking.

वह पीता रहेगा. (voh pita rahega) = He/She/It will be drinking.

हम पीते रहेंगे. (hum pite rahenge) = We will be drinking.

आप पीते रहेंगे. (aap pite rahenge) = You will be drinking.

वे पीते रहेंगे. (ve pite rahenge) = They will be drinking.

So, now you have everything you have to know about verbs except if I've missed something. That was a long and a hard lesson so have a rest before you go to the next lesson :) Mr. Samir

Lesson 6

Lesson 6: Adjectives. Colors,Qualities

After the long and fatiguing lesson about hindi tenses, let me explain you how adjectives act in hindi in a short and neat lesson :-)

What you've learned so far will help you much to understand the adjectives in Hindi. Actually they act just like nouns or verbs, having the ending -a for masculine and -i for feminine (generally speaking). The other thing you have to know about them is that they're declined according to the noun they modify. Nothing new as I said! Here are some adjectives, which I'll use a little below in a few examples.

General Adjectives:

• बडा,महान (bada - some pronounce that 'bara') = Big
• छोटा,अल्प,लघु (chhota) = Small
• लम्बा,दीर्घ (lamba) = Long
• ठिगना (thigna)= short
• महंगा (mahnga) = Expensive
• सस्ता(sasta) = Cheap
• साफ,निर्मल (saf) = Clean
• गान्दा,मलिन(gandha) = Dirty
• ठण्डा(thanda) = Cold
• गर्म (garam) = Hot
• शुभ (shubh) = good
• अशुभ (ashubh) = bad
• सुरूप( sundar) = beautiful
• कुरूप (karuup) =ugly
• बलवान (balvan) = strong
• नीरस,अशक्त(ners, ashkt) = weak
• शीघ्र (shegr) = clever
• मूर्ख ( murkh) = stupid

Note that all adjectives given above are in masculine. To make them feminine simply change the -a to an -i and of course those not ending in a vowel do not change at all...

Now we'll use those to build some sentences you already are familiar with:

यह बडा घर है. (Yeh bara ghar hai. ) = This is a big house. यह घर बडा है. (Yeh ghar bara hai.) = This house is big. लडकी अच्छी रोटी खाती है. (larki acchi roti khati hai) = The girl eats a tasty bread. मैं ठण्डी पानी पी रहा हुं. (mai~ thandi pani pi raha hu~) = I'm drinking cold water.

Note how meaning can change depending on the position of the adjective in the first two sentences. Actually nothing so different in meaning, but rather the way of saying that "the house is big" is changed... Now you get the idea, I hope. Therefore let me show you some colors:

Colors:रंग (rang)

• सफेद, श्वेत (safed) = White
• काला,श्याम (kala) = Black
• नील (nila) = Blue
• हरा (hara) = Green
• पीला (pila) = Yellow
• लाल,रक्त,लोहित रंग का (lal) = Red
• जामुनी, बैंगनी( jamuni, baingni) =Purple
• कपिश,भूरा(kapish, bhura) = brown
• धूसर(dhusr) = grey
• गुलाबी, पाटल (gulabi, patl) = pink
• नारंगी,कमला (narangi, kamla) orange

I've mentioned it above, but I'll say it once again. You have to "decline" the adjective according to the word it modifies. If it's masculine, use the adjective with the ending -a else i.e. if the word being modified is feminine change the ending to -i. If a word ends in a consonant however you don't have to decline it at all!

You have it all now. You can build crazy sentences as for example "This is a blue house" (Yeh nila ghar hai) or "The girl eats red bread" (Ladki lal roti khati hai) etc. :-) Just be imaginative. I won't give more examples in this lesson. I've promised it'll be short, so it is. Next lesson is about the cases. It isn't really hard, but it's very important. There you'll learn some postpositions as well.

Lesson 7

Lesson 7: Cases in Hindi. The Direct and Oblique cases. Plural of Nouns.

Like the many prepositions in English (e.g. in, at, on, under, below, of etc.) in Hindi there exist the so called postpositions, playing the same role as the English prepositions, having the same meaning, but with the only difference that they stay after the noun not before it. For example in English we say "In London", but in Hindi that would be "London in" (London men).

In Hindi there are two cases: The Direct case and The Oblique case. When a word is used with a postposition it is in the Oblique case, in all other cases it is in the Direct case. The Direct case is rather like the Nominative case in many European languages. Here are some postpositions:

में (me~) = In से (se) = From का (ka) = Of को (ko) = (To) Not really translatable, used to build Dative and Accusative. I'll explain a little below.

In the previous lessons, I gave many nouns. Their forms are the main forms, i.e. they're in the Direct case. I explained also that masculine nouns ending in -a become in the plural the ending -i. That's the general rule. However there are words, which do not end in -a and I haven't explained the plural of feminine, so here it goes:

     Singular and Plural of Nouns in the Direct Case:

Masculine: Ending in -a

Singular: लडका (ladka) = boy Plural: लडके (ladke) = boys

Masculine: Ending in other vowel (very few):

Singular: गुरु (guru) = teacher Plural: गुरु (guru) = teachers

Masculine: Ending in a consonant

Singular: दोस्त (dost) = friend Plural: दोस्त (dost) = friends

Feminine: Ending in -i

Singluar: लडकी (ladki) = girl Plural: लड़कियां (ladkiya) = girls

Feminine: Ending in a consonant

Singular: किताब (kitab) = book Plural: किताबें (kitabe~) = books

Feminine: Ending in -a or -u

Singular: अध्यापिका (adhyapika) = female teacher Plural: अध्यापिकाएं (adhyapikae~) = female teachers

All the sentences I gave in past lessons you can easily turn into plural now or in some cases the sentences are even in plural since some words don't change in plural. Let me show you some examples:

लड़कियां अच्छी राटी खातीं हैं. (larkiya acchi rati khati~ hai~). = The girls eat tasty bread. लडके अच्छी रोटी खाते हैं. (larke acchi roti khate hai~) = The boys eat tasty bread. ये बडे घर हैं. (Ye bare ghar hai~) = These are big houses. वे सुन्दर लड़कियां हैं. (Ve sundar larkiya~ hai~) = Those (they) are pretty girls. वे लड़कियां सुन्दर हैं. (Ve larkiya~ sundar hai~) = Those girls are pretty.

Now for the oblique case. Nouns change in singular and plural in the oblique case as well, here is the explanation (to make it easier for you i'll use the same words as in the examples of direct case above):

     Singular and Plural of Nouns in the Oblique Case:

Masculine: Ending in -a

Singular: लडके (ladke) Plural: लडकों (ladko~)

Masculine: Ending in other vowel (very few):

Singular: गुरु (guru) Plural: गुरुओं(guruo~) (for "admi" /man/ it'll be "admiyo~" - आदमियों)

Masculine: Ending in a consonant

Singular: दोस्त (dost) Plural: दोस्तों (dosto~)

Feminine: Ending in -i

Singluar: लडकी (ladki) Plural: लड़कियों (ladkiyo~)

Feminine: Ending in a consonant

Singular: किताब (kitab) Plural: किताबों (kitabo~)

Feminine: Ending in -a or -u

Singular: अध्यापिका (adhyapika) Plural: अध्यापिकाओं (adhyapikao~)

At last you know the cases in Hindi. Now (believe me) you know almost all grammar in Hindi! Congrats! Now we can extend our well-know sentences and make them look really long. Let's try:

सफेद घर में लडकीया अच्छी रोटी खातीं हैं. (safed ghar men larkiya acchi roti khati~ hai~). = The girls eat tasty bread in the white house. मैं कमरे में ठण्डी पानी पी रहा हुं और लडकी अच्छी राटी खा रही है. (mai~ kamre me~ thandi pani pi raha hu~ aur ladki acchi rati kha rahi hai). = I'm drinking cold water in the room and the girl is eating tasty bread. etc... The point is, whenever you wanna say "in", "at", "on", "of" etc of something, you have to use the oblique case, since you use the word with a postposition. Note for example how it is: "kamre me~", not "kamra me~", because we use the postposition "in" (me~).

Now I want to explain to you the use of the postposition particle "ka", meaning "of".

     Use of the postposition "का" (ka) = OF

1. Since it's a postposition you always have to use the word preceding it in the Oblique case. 2. Second thing you have to know about it is, that it could (and should :) change to ke/ki according to the word following it (the object).

In English we say "the house of the girl". In Hindi that should be said as "the girl 's house". In this case "the girl" should be in oblique case and house of course (since obviously it is the object) is in the direct case. Our example will be in Hindi "Ladki ka ghar" (लडकी का घर). But if we use a feminine word for an object "ka" changes to "ki" as in "Ladki ki sari" (लडकी की सरी), meaning "the sari of the girl" (sari is a traditional indian female clothing). Then if we wanna say "the houses of the girl" we have to say "ladki ke ghar" (लडकी के घर). I think you got the idea. Now we can build even bigger sentences...

The last thing I should tell you about in this lesson is the use of the particle (postposition) "ko". It could be translated as "to", but in some cases it shouldn't be translated at all. That's so because actually it's the accusative or dative marker. If somebody is the receiver of an action (or the verb) you have to use that particle.

     Use of the postposition "को" (ko)

I'll give first some examples and then explain:

लडका लडकीयों को पानी देता है. (ladka ladkiyo~ ko pani deta hai) = The boy gives water to the girls. लडका लडकीयों को किताबें देता है. (ladka ladkiyo~ ko kitabe~ deta hai) = The boy gives the books to the girls. मैं लडके को जानता हुं. (mai~ ladke ko janta hu~) = I know the boy. मैं लडकी को जानता हुं. (mai~ ladki ko janta hu~) = I know the girl. मैं लडकों को जानता हुं. (mai~ ladko~ ko janta hu~) = I know the boys. मैं लड़कियों को जानता हुं. (mai~ ladkiyo~ ko janta hu~) = I know the girls.

Some verbs require the use of dative/accusative and thus the use of 'ko'. Such verb is "to know - janna" (as spanish "conocer", italian "conoscere" or german "kennen"), there are of course other verbs of that sort as for example "to give". "I give the book to the girl" -> To whom do I give the book? -> to the girl (or even just 'the girl') -> dative, so "ladki ko"... I'm sure I'll find a better way to explain that, but for now use that poor explanation. However I think examples do much...

Lesson 8

Lesson 8: Modal Verbs.

Modal verbs are those such as "to want", "can" (to be able to), " to need to," "to have to" etc... This lesson covers how to use such verbs in Hindi, in particular these four.

(1). Can /be able to/ = sakna (सकना) You only have to know that it's added to the root of the main verb. "I can read hindi" - in that sentence "the main verb" is "read". So:

Verb stem + SAKNA / सकना (sakta/sakte/sakti/sakti~) + To be (hona, conjugeted) = Can + Verb

Oh, of course, you must "conjugate" the verb sakna as I taught you (i.e. add ta/te/ti/ti~ to its stem "sak"). Here are some examples:

मैं हिंदी में लिख सकता हुं. (mai~ hindi me~ likh sakta hu~) = I can write in Hindi. मैं हिंदी कुछ कुछ बोल सकता हुं. (mai~ hindi kuch kuch bol sakta hu~) = I can speak a very little Hindi. मैं वह नहीं समझा सकता हुं. (mai~ voh nahi~ samajha sakta hu~) = I cannot explain that. लडकी अच्छी राटी कर सकती हैं. (ladki acchi roti bana sakti hai~) = The girl can make tasty bread.

(2). Must (to have to)

To express the idea "to have to," Hindi uses the pattern: "to me ... it is." Thus "I have to go" in Hindi becomes "to me it is to go". "To have to" uses the Dative case, which requires the use of special pronouns which I haven't explained to you yet. For now I'll just say that "mai~" becomes "mujhe" (to me) and "tu" becomes"tujhe" (to you), while for the plural we add the particle "ko". I hope you remember it from the previous lesson. So "ham ko" = "to us".

Examples:

मुझे जाना हैं. (mujhe jana hai.) = (to me / to go / is) = I have to go. तुझे खाना हैं. (tujhe khana hai.) = (to you / to eat / is) = You have to eat. भरात में हमको हिंदी बोलना हैं. (bharat me~ hamko hindi bolna hai) = (India in / to us / hindi / to speak / is) = In India we have to speak Hindi.

(3). Need (Chahie - चाहीए)

"Chahie" is used in similar manner as "to have to." Again, we say "to me," "to you," "to us,: "to the person," etc., i.e. the dative case. Instead of placing the conjugated verb "to be" at the end of the sentence place "chahie":

मुझे जाना चाहीए. (mujhe jana chahie) = I need to go. (Similar to meaning and construction with "mujhe jana hai"...) मुझे पानी चाहीए. (mujhe pani chahie) = I need water.

(4). Want (chahna = चाहना)

Verb infinitive + CHAHNA / चाहना (chahta/chahte/chahti/chahti~) + To be (hona, conjugeted) = Want to + Verb

मैं जाना चाहता हुं. (mai~ jana chahta hu~) = I want to go. वह खाना चाहता है. (voh khana chahta hai) = He wants to eat. हम हिंदी सीखना चाहते हैं. (ham hindi sikhna chahte hai~) = We want to learn Hindi. मैं चाबल चाहता है. (mai~ chaval chahta hu~) = I want rice.

That'll end this lesson. Enjoy the next lesson, where you'll learn how to count to 20 and learn some wh-questions as well...

Lesson 9

Lesson 9: Numbers up to 20. Wh-questions and other question-words.

Here is a table of the numbers up to 20:

Number	Hindi	Transliteratoin	Number	Hindi	Transliteration
1	एक	ek	11	ग्यारह	gyarah
2	दो	do	12	बारह	barah
3	तीन	thin	13	तेरह	terah
4	चार	char	14	चौदह	chaudah
5	पांच	panch	15	पन्द्रह	pandrah
6	छः	chha (chhe)	16	सोलह	solah
7	सात	sath	17	सत्रह	satrah
8	आठ	aath	18	अठारह	athharah
9	नौ	nau	19	उन्नीस	unnis
10	दस	das	20	बीस	bis

Next come the question words:

• क्या (kya) = What?
• कौन (kaun) = Who?
• कहां (kaha~) = Where?
• क्यों (kyo~) = Why?
• कैसा / कैसे / कैसी (kaisa/kaise/kaisi) = How?
• कितना / कितने / कितनी (kitna/kitne/kitni) = How much?, How many?

So, basically, that was the lesson, but I forgot something to tell you about. It's concerning the numbers. The Devanagari script even possess its own letters for writing the numbers, but those are not used much in our time. However I'll give them here too:

• १ = 1
• २ = 2
• ३ = 3
• ४ = 4
• ५ = 5
• ६ = 6
• ७ = 7
• ८ = 8
• ९ = 9
• १० = 10

As you can see they resembles the ""Arabic"" ciphers we use, and it should be so, since actually the Arabic ciphers are INDIAN ciphers. The writing system, on base 10, developed in India, where people used to write numbers with the letters you see above... Later Arabs adopted that system and brought it all over the word, thus it became known as "Arabic numbers"... By the way, written in Devanagari, the year, in which I'm writing these lesson will look as २०१०... may use hota ha request ke liye identify (sakta ha,sakti ha,sakta hu)

may i coming. 10.11

Glossary

Hindi-English lesson glossary

• HINDI ENGLISH
• धन्यवाद, शुक्रिया thank you
• गुरु teacher
• हाँ yes
• नहीं no
• जी हाँ yes
• जी नहीं no
• हाँ जी yes
• नहीं जी no
• नमस्ते Hello!; Goodbye!
• शुक्रिया thank you
• मैं I
• तू You (very informal)
• तुम You (mid formality)
• आप You (polite and formal)
• वह He, she, it, that
• हम We
• यह This
• वह That (demonstr.)
• ये These
• वे Those
• मेरा My
• तेरा Your (very informal)
• तुम्हारा Your (mid formal)
• उसका His/her (informal)
• उनका His/her (informal)
• हमारा Our
• आपका Your (very formal)
• उनका Their
• नाम Name
• पानी Water
• घर House/home
• लड़का Boy
• लड़की Girl
• बिल्ला Tomcat
• बिल्ली Cat
• कमरा Room
• केला Banana
• तारा Star
• हवा Wind
• चीनी Sugar, also Chinese as an adjective and noun for a Chinese person. Context would make which one clear.
• मकडी Spider
• पक्षी Bird
• दोस्त Friend
• किताब Book
• औरत Woman
• आदमी Man
• खाना To eat, also means food
• पीना To drink
• जाना To go
• आना To come
• करना To do
• देना To give
• लेना To take
• लिखना To write
• पढ़ना To read
• समझना To understand
• समझाना To explain, to make someone understand
• सीखना To learn
• सिगरेट Sigaret
• रोटी Bread
• वहाँ There
• यहाँ Here
• जहाँ Where
• धुआँ Smoke
• आग, अग्नि Fire
• भी Also, too, as well
• बड़ा Big
• छोटा Small
• लम्बा Long (object), tall (person)
• महंगा expensive
• सस्ता cheap
• साफ़ clean
• गंदा Dirty
• ठण्डा Cold
• गरम Hot (also spelled as गर्म)
• रंग Color
• सफ़ेद White
• काला Black
• नीला Blue
• हरा Green
• पीला Yellow
• लाल Red
• में In
• से From, with, by
• का Of
• आध्यापीका female teacher
• जानना to know
• चाबल Rice
• एक One
• दो Two
• तीन Three
• चार Four
• पांच Five
• छः Six (also spelled as छह
• सात Seven
• आठ Eight
• नौ Nine
• दस Ten
• ग्यारह Eleven
• बारह Twelve
• तेरह Thirteen
• चौदह Fourteen
• पन्द्रह Fifteen
• सोलह Sixteen
• सत्रह Seventeen
• अठारह Eighteen
• उन्नीस Nineteen
• बीस Twenty
• क्या What
• कौन Who
• कहाँ Where
• क्यों Why?
• कैसा How? Also, of what kind/sort/type?
• कितना How much?