A chart with the Devanagari alphabet is available here: http://www. omniglot. com/charts/print/hindi. pdf.
अ a and आ aa अ does not change the consonant, so if you see a consonant without a modifying symbol, it will have this vowel sound. [4] X Research source When आ is added to a consonant, you add the symbol ा to the end of the consonant (for example, न na becomes ना naa when आ is added to it). इ i and ई ee When इ is added to a consonant, you add the symbol ि to the left-hand side of the consonant (before the consonant). When ई is added to a consonant, you add the symbol ी to the right-hand side of the consonant (after the consonant). उ u and ऊ oo When उ is added to a consonant, you add the symbol ु beneath the consonant. When ऊ is added to a consonant, you add the symbol ू beneath the consonant. ए e and ऐ ai When ए is added to a consonant, you add the symbol े above the consonant. When ऐ is added to a consonant, you add the symbol ै above the consonant. ओ o and औ au When ओ is added to a consonant, you add the symbol ो to the right-hand side of the consonant (after the consonant). When औ is added to a consonant, you add the symbol ौ to the right-hand side of the consonant (after the consonant). ऋ ri When ऋ is added to a consonant, you add the symbol ृ beneath the consonant. This vowel isn’t very common in Hindi and is only found in Hindi words of Sanskrit origin. [5] X Research source
Velar consonants, pronounced by using the back of the tongue at the roof of your mouth (e. g. , k or g in English): क k, ख k (a), ग g, घ g (a), ङ n Palatal consonants, pronounced by raising the front of the tongue just behind the gums[8] X Research source (e. g. , j in “job”): च ch, छ ch (a), ज j, झ j (a), ञ n Retroflex consonants, pronounced by curling the tongue backward and touching the roof of your mouth just behind the gums (none exist in English): ञ t, ट t (a), ड d, ढ d (a), ण n Flap consonants, pronounced by “flapping” the tip of your tongue toward the roof of your mouth behind your upper front teeth (e. g. , the t softening in words like “butter,” which often sounds like “budder”) : ड़ d and ढ़ d (a) Dental consonants, pronounced by touching the tip of your tongue behind the back of your upper front teeth (e. g. , th in “thin”): त t, थ t (a), थ d, ध d (a), न n Labial consonants, pronounced by using the lips together (e. g. , b in “baby”): प p, फ p (a), ब b, भ b (a), म m Semivowels are vowel-like consonants, such as the w in “wet”: य y (as in “young”), य r, ल l, व w or v Sibilant consonants, pronounced by using the tip of the tongue to push air out in a hissing noise[9] X Research source : श sh, ष sh, स s Glottal consonants, pronounced by using the glottis at thee back of the throat[10] X Research source : स h
Voiced consonants are pronounced by vibrating your vocal cords. [11] X Research source For example, voiced consonants in English include z in “zoo” and g in “good”. Unvoiced consonants are pronounced without vibrating your vocal cords. For example, unvoiced consonants in English include s in “snap” and k in “kitten”.
Aspiration is another term for a burst of air released through your mouth. The only way to really understand how this works in Hindi is to listen to recordings.
Once you have listened to the recording a few times, pause the recording and try to mimic the pronunciation of the speaker. Take your time and work your way slowly through alphabet.
A very general rule to determine the gender for a noun is words that end with the vowel आ aa are usually masculine and words that end with the vowel ई ee are usually feminine. However, there are many exceptions to this rule, so it’s important to still learn the gender of every noun through memorization and practice. [14] X Research source For example: The noun for boy is: लड़का ladkaa (M) and the noun for girl is: लड़की ladkee (F). So in the case of these nouns, the general rule of gender applies. On the other hand, nouns like केला kelaa - Banana (M) and मेज़ mez - Desk (F) or घर ghar - House (M) are all exceptions to the general rule of gender.
First person singular: मैं main - I First person plural: हम ham - We Second person singular: तू too - You (Intimate) Second person plural: तुम tum - You (Informal/casual), आप aap - You (Formal/respectful) A note on informal and formal pronouns: each pronoun is used based on the level of politeness in a conversation. Use the formal आप aap when meeting someone for the first time, talking to someone older than you or simply to show respect to the person you are addressing. Use the informal तुम tum when chatting with your friends or close relatives. Use तू too when you are in a very informal or intimate conversation, such as talking to your partner or to young children. It would be considered extremely rude in Hindi to use तू too when talking to a stranger or someone you barely know. Third person singular: यह yah - He / She/ It / This Third person plural: वह vah - He / She/ It / That In spoken Hindi these words are pronounced slightly differently: यह is pronounced yeh and वह is pronounced voh. Use यह yeh when talking about someone or something close to you, so if someone is standing right next to you, use यह yeh. Use वह voh when talking about someone or something further away, so if someone is standing on the other side of the street, use वह voh. When in doubt, use वह voh. Third person plural: ये ye - These / They Third person plural: वे ve- Those / They You will often hear वे ve being pronounced as the singular “voh”. The third person plural pronouns follow the same rules: ये ye for people / things close to you (in the distance sense) and वे vo for people / things further away. Note that both यह yeh or वह voh could mean either “he” or “she”, so there is no difference based on the gender of how you are talking to. You must rely on the context of the sentence to determine if a person is talking to a “he” or “she”.
Examples of Hindi infinitives include: होना honaa - to be; पढ़ना pahrnaa - to read or to study; बोलना bolnaa - to speak; सीखना seekhnaa - to learn; जाना jaanaa - to go. [16] X Research source
For example, the infinitive verb होना honaa- to be, conjugated for number becomes[17] X Research source : मैं हूँ main hoon - I am हम हैं ham hain - We are तू है too hai - You are (intimate) तुम हो tum ho – You are (informal) आप हैं aap hain - You are (formal) यह है yah hai - he/she/this is वह है voh hai - he/she/that is ये हैं ye hain - these/they are वे हैं ve hain - those/they are There are three conjugations for gender in the present verb tense: For masculine singular subjects, drop the infinitive ending ना naa and add ता taa. For masculine plural subjects, drop the infinitive ending ना naa and add ते te. For feminine singular or feminine plural subjects, drop the infinitive ending ना naa and add ती tee. Because Hindi verbs have many tenses, you’ll want to use a textbook or other reference materials to learn verb conjugations beyond the basic present tense. A good reference dictionary will also help you conjugate new verbs.
There are also Hindi dictionaries online. The University of Chicago’s “Digital Dictionaries of South Asia” project includes a dictionary of Urdu and Classical Hindi. [20] X Research source
Sunday, Hindi word: RaveevaaR, Devanagari script: रविवार Monday, Hindi word: SomvaaR, Devanagari script: सोमवार Tuesday, Hindi word: MangalvaaR, Devanagari script: मंगलवार Wednesday, Hindi word: BudhvaaR, Devanagari script: बुधवार Thursday, Hindi word: GuRoovaaR, Devanagari script:गुरुवार Friday, Hindi word: ShukRavaaR, Devanagari script: शुक्रवार Saturday, Hindi word: ShaneevaaR, Devanagari script:शनिवार
Yesterday, Hindi word: kal, script:कल Today, Hindi word: aaj, script: आज Tomorrow, Hindi word: kal, script: कल Day, Hindi word: din, script: दिन Night, Hindi word: raat, script: रात Week, Hindi word: haftaa, script: हफ़्ता Month, Hindi word: maheenaa, script: महीना Years, Hindi word: saal, script: साल Second, Hindi word: doosRaa Minute, Hindi word: mint, script: मिनट Hour, Hindi word: ghantaa, script: घंटा Morning, Hindi word: saveyRey, script: सवेरे Evening, Hindi word: shaam, script: शाम Noon, Hindi word: dopaheR, script: दो पहर Midnight, Hindi word: aadheeRaat, script: आधी रात Now, Hindi word: ab, script: अब Later, Hindi word: baad mey, script: बाद में
Find a friend in your language class or look online in language forums for individuals looking to practice their conversational Hindi. There are also recordings of basic phrases online that you can refer to. [23] X Research source Focus on phrases like:[24] X Research source Hi!, Hindi: Namastey!, script: नमस्ते Good morning!, Hindi: Suprabhaat, script: सुप्रभात Good evening!, Hindi: Shubh sundhyaa, script: शुभ संध्या Welcome! (to greet someone), Hindi: Aapka swaagat hai!, script: आपका स्वागत हैं। How are you?, Hindi: Aap kaisey hain?, script: आप कैसे हैं ? I’m fine, thanks!, Hindi: Main theek hoon, shukriya!, script: मैं ठीक हुँ । And you?, Hindi: Aur aap?, script: और आप? Good/ So-So, Hindi: Accha/ Theek-thaak, script: अच्छा/ ठीक-ठाक Thank you (very much)!, Hindi: Shukriyaa (Bahut dhanyavaad), script: शुक्रीया (बहुत धन्यवाद) Refer to this link for recordings of these phrases as well as more detail about their pronunciation: http://www. learning-hindi. com/convo. Don’t be afraid to start speaking the language even if you only know basic vocabulary and grammar. The sooner you start, the faster you will pick up the basics of the language—learning Hindi is really a matter of practice and determination.
North Carolina State University offers a series of 24 video lessons that include instruction on script, vocabulary, grammar, and culture, as well as exercises and quizzes. [25] X Research source The University of Pennsylvania offers a series of 20 audio lessons that cover the basics of Hindi grammar.
Rupert Snell’s Teach Yourself Hindi course and book is highly recommended for beginners and includes audio. Elementary Hindi by Richard Delacy and Sudha Joshi comprises a textbook and workbook with audio CD. Sonia Taneja’s Practice Makes Perfect Basic Hindi is a workbook full of exercises to help you build on existing knowledge and practice concepts such as conjugation.
Dainik Jagaran is the most popular Hindi newspaper in India. [27] X Research source Other important newspapers published in Hindi include Hindustan[28] X Research source , Dainik Bhaskar[29] X Research source , and Rajasthan Patrika[30] X Research source . The BBC also has a BBC India site. [31] X Research source The Parikalpana Award is an annual award given to Indian blogs, much like the Bloggie Awards in English. [32] X Research source As in most other places, popular social media in India include Facebook, Linkedin, and Twitter. [33] X Research source Visiting social media pages in Hindi will give you an accessible “in” to the language and to popular cultural topics. Prominent authors in Hindi literature include Chanda Bardai, author of the Prathviraj Rasau (12th century); Kabir (14th century), a devotional author; poet Ganga Das (1823-1913); novelist Munshi Premchand (19th century); Dharmavir Bharati (20th century); and novelist Jainendra Kumar (20th century). [34] X Research source Children’s books can be a great place to start because they are written very simply and often include pictures. Learning-Hindi. com has a collection of children’s books online. [35] X Research source
Important films in Hindi cinema include Mughal-e-Azam (frequently ranked the greatest Bollywood movie of all time), the comedy Golmaal, and the drama Kahaani. [37] X Research source If you enjoy superhero movies, India has quite a few of them. Popular films include Krrish and Ra. One.
If there are no cultural events nearby, look around online! Wesleyan University even maintains a “Virtual Village” where you can explore cultural topics and read interviews with “villagers. ”
Websites such as meetup. com offer you the chance to find groups of people who are interested in learning more about Hindi language and Indian culture. Meetup currently has 103 groups in 70 countries, but if there isn’t one near you, why not start your own? [38] X Research source Try striking up a chat with someone in your local Indian restaurant or grocery store. Not only will you get practice with your language, you will learn more about delicious Indian cuisine!
