Basic Hindi | Lesson 1 | Introductions & Hello and Goodbye

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Namastē! Lesson 1 | Basic Hindi


Lesson objects

1 Introduction

2 Hello and Goodbye

3 Basic question and sentence structure


Lesson objects

1 Introduction

2 Hello and Goodbye



Introduction

The language

�हदं� – An official language of India One of the most widely spoken languages : ~500 Mil

speakers WW Significant communities in US, UK, Canada,

Nepal, South Africa


Introduction

�हदं� / Hindi

Member of Indo-Euro language family Vocabulary evolved from Sanskrit

Alphabet scheme - Devanagari


lesson object

1 Introduction

2 Hello and Goodbye



Greetings : Hello!

Hello

Namastē


Greetings

There are generally no time elemental greetings in Hindi such as good morning,

good afternoon, etc…

Namastē is the most universal greeting

It is said with hands folded and a small gesture of bowing

Namastē literally means 'I bow to you'


Greetings

It is customary to touch the feet of elders

Namaskār is the more formal form of Namastē


Pronunciation Tip

Did you notice the 'ā' in Namaskār The sound of ā is 'aa' like in father

The same goes for 'ē' in Namastē The sound is like 'e' in eight


Common Gestures

The infamous Indian head bobble

Indians are often seen performing a cryptic 'head

bobble' indicating a 'YES' or 'OK' if moved up anddown and 'NO' if moved from

side to side!


Norms in India


Culturally Speaking – Showing respect

jī (जी) may be added to the words 'yes' and 'no' to give it

a more polite tone

Jī may also be added to a person's name as a sign

of respect

-to relations like 'grandfather (dādā jī)

-to people’s names/ surname to show respect

*Eg: In India, Mahatma Gandhi is known simply

as Gandhijī (गाधंीजी)


Culturally Speaking – Comfort zone

In India, even shaking hands with a member ofthe

opposite sex is not very common in smaller townsand villages

Casual hugging and kissing on the cheek may alsobe considered inappropriate - although these are

slowly becoming common in the larger towns or metros


Goodbye

In Hindi, the salutation for hello and goodbye remains 'namastē' itself

Goodbye

Namastē


Culturally Speaking - Showing respect

Older people or authority figures (bosses, Govt. officers etc.) are generally addressed

with 'Sir' or 'Ma’am' after their names


Lesson objects

1 Introduction to India and culturalnorms

2 Hello and Goodbye



Basic question structure

Who are you?


Common Interrogations

You = āp is usually used whenaddressing someone formally

We will stick to the formal forms for theintroductory lessons

Who are you

Kaun haiṁ āp


Grammar Tip

In English, we usually have the interrogation at the beginning

of the sentence

This is not the case in Hindi The interrogation follows the subject for

'Wh' type of questions


Basic question structure

'Wh' Question Structure Subject | Interrogation |'to-be' verb

Who are you?

Āp kaun haiṁ?


Pronouncing ‘Āp’

You (Āp) stresses on the first ā The pronunciation follows the same

pattern as in ‘harp’

Phonetically, we would write harp as hārp


Pronouncing haiṁ

The last ṁ in haiṁ is pronounced nasally and carries a slight 'n' sound to

it like in 'angst'


So, remember!

The order for Hindi is Subject | Interrogation |'to-be' verb

This is the format in case of 'What / How' questions


Sentence Structure

Moving on, let’s look at the basic sentence structure in Hindi!


Sentence Structure

Lisa eats Apples

Lisa = subject Eats = verb

Apples = object

English sentence structure Subject | Verb | Object


Hindi sentence structure

Lisa eats apple

Lisā khātī hai sēb



Lisa eats apples

Lisā sēb khātī hai

Here, sentence structure becomes

subject | object | verb + 'to-be' verb

(SOV)

It becomes khātī, as Lisa is a female

We shall discuss verbs, and gender later



In some sentences, there are no ‘objects’ Eg : ‘I am Lisa’ has no direct object

For the sake of simplicity, we assume Lisa to be the object of the sentence


Basic sentence structure

I am Lisa



I am lisa

Maiṁ hooṁ Lisā



I = Maiṁ = Subject Lisa = Lisā = (Object)

Am = Hooṁ = 'to-be' verb

Remember, Hindi sentence structure: Subject | Object | 'to-be' verb



Sentence structureSubject | (object) | 'to-be' verb

I am Lisa

Maiṁ Lisā hooṁ


Remember!

*An assumed object willalways

be put in brackets

Sentence structure Subject | (object*) | 'to-be' verb


Examples

English Hindi

I am British Maiṁ Briṭiśha hooṁ

I am pretty Maiṁ sundar hooṁ


Try yourself

Problem 1 : Who are you?

(hint : who = kaun)

Problem 2 : I am Lisa

(hint : am = hooṁ)


Solution : Sentence Structure

English Hindi

Who are you? Āp kaun haiṁ?

I am Lisa Maiṁ Lisā hooṁ


Try yourself

Problem 1 : Lisa eats oranges

(hint : Oranges = Santarē)

Problem 2 : I am Indian

(hint : Indian = Bhāratīya)


Solution – Problem 1

Lisa eats oranges

Lisā khātī hai santarē



Sentence structureSubject | object | verb | 'to-be' verb

Lisa eats oranges

Lisā santarē khātī hai



I am Indian

Maiṁ hooṁ Bhāratīya


Solution

Sentence structureSubject | (object) | 'to-be' verb

I am Indian

Maiṁ Bhāratīya hooṁ


Revision

English Hindi

Hello Namastē

Who are you? Āp kaun haiṁ?

Lisa eats apples Lisā sēb khātī hai

I am Lisa Maiṁ Lisā hooṁ

I am British Maiṁ Briṭiśha hooṁ

I am pretty Maiṁ sundar hooṁ

Lisa eats oranges Lisā santarē khātī hai

I am Indian Maiṁ Bhāratīya hooṁ


Culture Leaf


Culture Leaf

A culture leaf each lesson gives you a taste of the peculiarities, eccentricities and traditions that are

the bearers of Indian culture

We hope that you blend in their environment andsoak in all their goodness!

Happy learning!


Culture Leaf

The world's first University

was established in India

The University was established

in 700 B.C.

at the place of Taxila


What’s Next?

In the next lesson, we will learn basicpronouns, the ‘to-be’ verb and use them in

sentences!


Credits

Content : CultureAlley

Culture Leaf http://tinyurl.com/2qusr7

Images

http://tinyurl.com/n9brl76


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Basic Hindi | Lesson 1 | Introductions & Hello and Goodbye

Travel

lisa eats

lisa eats

basic question

basic sentence

hindi sentence

3 basic question

sentence structure

culture leaf