lesson 1: devanagari

letter pronounciation example

अ (क) a alive

आ (का) aa faather

इ (िक) i kit

ई (की) ee heat

उ (कु) u foot

ऊ (कू) oo fool

ऋ (कृ ) ri wrist

ए (के) e when

ऐ (कै) ai man

ओ (को) o go (not a dipthong)

औ (कौ) au autumn

क k skit (minimalise breath)

क q quran

ख kh cough (more aspirated)

ख kh bach

ग g gift

ग g (no equivalent - like g, but further back in throat)

घ gh dog-house (more aspirated)

च c cheese (minimalise breath)

छ ch pitch-hook (more aspirated)

ज j joy

ज z zebra

झ jh large house (more aspirated

ट t retroflex, or hard, t - ie. talk, but harder

ठ th same as above, but aspirated.

ड d retroflex d - as in do but harder

ढ dh aspirated form of d

ड r no english equivalent - the rolling 'r' as in spanish

ढ rh aspirated form of r

त t t' sound made with the tongue touching the front teeth

थ th aspirated form of 't'

द d d' sound made like the soft 't'

ध dh aspirated form of 'd'

न n another

प p spin

फ ph top-hat

फ f for

ब b bill

भ bh club-house

म m mill

य y yes

र r rain

ल l level (tongue against front teeth)

व v between 'v' and 'w' sound in english, closer to spanish 'v'

श sh shell

ष sh retroflex "sh" - close to german "sch" (i.e. schmidt)

स s sell

ह h hot, or, of course, hindi :p

lesson 2
personal pronouns and the verb "to be"

all of you who watch bollywood films should already be familiar with the pronouns and "hona" - to be.
here's the full list:

मै हूँ i am हम है we are

तू है you(intimate. तुम हो you (familiar)

sing)

आप है you (formal)

यह है he/she/it is ये है these/they are,

he/she is
(formal)

वह है he/she/it is वे है those/they are,

he/she is
(formal)
remember the honourific levels in hindi:
• तू is used only in addressing someone very close, a child, a lover etc.

• तुम is casual in used with anyone not expecting formality - a friend, a servant etc.

• आप is formal and indicates respect. when in doubt, always use "aap". note that aap applies to third
 person as well, so if you're speaking about a person you would address as आप, use ये or वे:

वे मेरे अधयापक है ।
he is my teacher.
note that everything on the right hand column is grammatically plural, even though it may indicate one
person only. to specify more than one person, add "log" - people:
आप कैसे है , साहब?
how are you, sir?
आप लोग कैसे है ?
how are you people?

yes/no questions

these are formed simply by adding "kya" to the beginning of a statement.

सब ठीक है ।
everything is ok.
कया सब ठीक है ?
is everything ok?

of course, one can also, like in english, simply use a rising tone to express a question.
सब ठीक है ?

nouns and adjectives:

remember that every noun in hindi is either masculine or feminine. this affects the grammar, the plural form
of the nouns and sometimes the adjectives describing them.

masculine nouns ending in -aa usually change this ending to -e. the exception is sanskrit loan-words.
लडका/लडके - boy/boys
कमरा/कमरे - room/rooms
राजा - king/kings
चाचा - uncle/uncles

all other masculine nouns stay the same:

आदमी - man/men
मकान - house/houses
िदन - day/days

feminine nouns are also of two types: those ending in -iyaa, -ee or -i will all change this ending to -iyaa.n
लडकी/लडिकयाँ - girl/girls
गाडी/गािडयाँ - car/cars
िचिडया/िचिडयाँ - bird/birds

all other feminine nouns will have -e.n added on to the end:
िकताब/िकताबे - book/books
माता/माताएँ - mother/mothers
भाषा/भाषाएँ - language/languages
note that if the feminine noun ends in -oo, shorten this sound to -u before adding -e.n:
बहू/बहुएँ - daughter-/daughters-in-law

adjectives ending in -aa almost always inflect according to the noun they describe. it will change to -e for
masculine plural, and -ee for feminine singular and plural.
बडा लडका - big boy
बडे लडके - big boys
बडी लडकी - big girl
बडी लडिकयाँ - big girls

all other adjectives do not change:

लाल कमरा - red room
लाल कमरे - red rooms
लाल कुरसी - red chair
लाल कुरिसयाँ - red chairs

the simple sentence

as i'm sure many of you have noted, in hindi the verb comes at the end. if the sentence is negative,
"nahee.n" is added before the verb. also note that there is no direct article (i.e. 'the') in hindi. sometimes 'ek'
- one - is used to mean 'a'. pronouns can be implied, as in the sentence below:

this car isn't japanese. [it] is german.

यह गाडी जापानी नहीं है । जमन म है ।
similarly, 'hona' may be dropped in the negative:
यह गाडी जापानी नहीं। जमन म है ।

word order can be quite important: note the difference between:

यह कमरा छोटा है ।
this room is small
and
यह छोटा कमरा है ।
this is a small room.

please note: m stands for masculine, and f for feminine.

और and मकान m house
सुनदर beautiful कैसा how
पलंग m bed भरात india
बडा big भरातीय indian
िचिडया f bird राजा m king
िकताब f book भाषा f language
लडका m boy आदमी m man
गाडी f car माता f mother
कुरसी f chair ठीक ok, all right, fine
बचचा m child पुराना old (things)
साफ clean एक one, a
अलमारी
cupboard िसफम only
f
बहू f daughter-in-law लोग people
िदन day लाल red
बूढा elderly कमरा m room
खाली empty साहब m sir
english
अँगेजी छोटा small
(language)
अँगेज
englishman मूती f statue
m/f
सब everything पतथर m stone
पंखा m fan मेज f table
अधयापक
िपता m father teacher
m
बगीचा m garden चाचा m uncle(paternal)
लडकी f girl बहुत very
यहाँ here सफेद white
आशा f hope िखडकी f window

lesson 3

this is a pretty short lesson, focusing mainly on conversational matters which i'm sure most of you are
aware of. nevertheless, as i'm going by the book, here it is...

interrogative words

in the last lesson we looked at how "kya" is used to mark a yes-no question. however, as many of you
know, "kya" also means "what". here's some more question-words:
कया - what
कौन - who
कब - when
कहाँ - where
कयो - why
कैसा* - how, of what kind
िकतना* - how much, how many
* note that these two inflect as adjectives. thus kaisii for a girl, kitne for several masculine items etc.
agreement of adjectives with mixed genders

adjectives describing a mixed group of people are always in the masculine.

यहाँ लमबे लडिकयाँ और लडके है ।

there are tall girls and boys here.

when they describe inanimate objects, adjectives agree with the gender of the noun nearest to them
गिडयाँ और हवाई जहाज महँ गे है
cars and planes are expensive (agrees with planes, masculine)
ये शबदकोश और िकताबे अचछी है
these dictionaries and books are good. (agrees with books, feminine)

another note on plurals, while we're here:

type 1 masculine nouns (those ending in -a) will show the plural -e both numerically and honorifically,
while feminine nouns will only show the plural numerically. so:
तुम अचछे लडके हो
you are good boys or you are a good boy, but...
तुम अचछी लडकी हो
you are a good girl and
तुम अचछी लडिकयाँ हो
you are good girls.

conversational features

most of you should be aware of some of these, and they tend to be commonplace in films.
hello and goodbye, as you are all aware, is नमसते namaste, said with the hands folded in front of the chest.
for those of you who are interested, it comes from sanskrit - "nama", to bow, and "te", you, i.e. "i bow to
you." for a full explanation of all the symbolism, meanings and connotations of the word, check out this
article: http://bollywhat.com/forum/index.php?topic=2995.0 namaskar, from what i understand, is used
when adressing a group, and is also more formal.

जी jii, following a surname, is the same as "mr", "mrs" or "ms" - it has a fairly cordial, fairly formal tone,
and is often used with relationship terms, ie. "pitajii", "matajii" etc. साहब saahab is an urdu alternative
which is used commonly in hindi, particularly to address strangers - you may have heard srk address a
complete stranger as भाई साहब "bhai saahab" in a film. the female equivalent to bhai saahab, according to
the book, is बिहन जी bahin jii, but i've been told that this is far too formal and it's far better to you दीदी
"didii".
for very formal language, use शी shri (lord, sir) / शीमती (lady, madam) shrimatii before a name. this is
also used in addressing gods.

कया हाल है ? "kya haal hai?" literally means "what's [your] condition" and is commonly used in place of
"aap kaise hai.n", although it's far more colloquial.

"accha" is a term so commonplace i trust i don't have to introduce it in too much depth. it literally means
"good", but is also used as an exclamation meaning "really!", "i see!" etc.

"na" placed at the end of a sentence means "no?" as if inviting a confirmation of the statement. thus "mai.n
hoo.n na" really translates to "i am [here], aren't i?"

"aur" you already know means "and". it also is used to mean "more", "else" or "other". it tends to be
emphasised when used to mean this:
और लोग
more people
कौन और?
who else?

भी "bhii" means "also" and qualifies the noun directly before it.
वह भी होिशयार है
he, too, is clever (as she is clever)
वह होिशयार भी है
he is clever also (as well as tall)

and that's all for this chapter! here's the vocabulary.

हवाई जहाज
m aeroplane जयादातर mostly

हवा f air नया new

सब all अखबार m newspaper

भी also या or

angry, paper(a piece

नाराज displeased कगज m of)

जवाब m answer कृ पया please

खराब bad पदष

ू ण m pollution

बुरा bad सवाल m question

कयोिक because चपपल f sandal

भाई brother जुता m shoe

पर but बीमार sick

ससता cheap साहब sir

िबलकुल completely बिहन/दीदी f sister

हाल m condition बेटा son

 पागल crazy,mad सखत strict

बेटी daughter छात m student

शबदकोश m dictionary छाता f student

गंदा dirty िवदाथी m/f student

महँ गा expensive लमबा tall

मोटा fat, thick धनयवाद thank you

खुश happy दब
ु ला/पतला thin

मेहरबानी f kindness आज today

िचटठी f letter परे शान upset

weather,
बात m matter/issue मौसम m season

lesson 4
postpositions

as we all know, in hindi prepositions come after the word they relate to - so where in english you would
say, in the house, in hindi you say:
मकान मे
the house in!

there are five simple postpositions:

मे - in
को - 'to', etc. 'ko' is used quite extensively, and will be elaborated on later.
पर / पे - on
से - the closest literal one, i find is "from", but it also means a variety of things and will be explored later
as well. note the examples marked with stars below
तक - 'up to', 'until', 'as far as', etc.

some examples:
पिरवार मे - in the family
फशम पे - on the floor
िदल से - from the heart*
आदमी को - to the man
अब तक - until now
मुििकल से - with difficulty*
गाडी से - by car*

think about the effect of prepositions in english on pronouns. one doesn't say "from i" or "to she" - one says
"from me" and "to her". pronouns following a preposition are put in the oblique case. similarly, many hindi
nouns preceeding a postposition are put in the oblique case. this is relatively simple: masculine type 1
nouns change their '-a' endings to '-e', and all plural nouns gain an '-o.n' at the end, which takes the place of
the masculine plural '-e' and the feminine plural '-e' and 'iya.n' endings. note the examples below:
masculine 1
लडके से - from the boy

लडको को - to the boys

masculine 2
घर पर - a home
आदमी से - from the man

घरो मे - in the homes

आदिमयो को - to the men**

feminine 1
लडकी से - from the girl
गाडी से - by car

लडिकयो को - to the girls

गािडयो मे - in the cars

feminine 2
मेज पर - on the table
समसया मे - in the problem

मेजो पर - on the tables

समसयायो से - with problems

once again, note the difference in word order:

मेज पे कलम है
on the table there is a pen (answers "what is on the table?")
कलम मेज पे है
the pen is on the table (answers "where is the pen?")

the adjectives describing the objects in the oblique, also go into the oblique form. the only ones that are
affected are the masculine singular adjectives ending in "-a". the others all remain:
बडा मकान
big house
बडे मकान मे
in the big house
बडे मकानो मे
in the big houses
बडी मेज
big table
बडी मेज पे
on the big table (it is a single table for tables use बडी मेजो पे )

oblique pronouns

below all the pronouns that change their form are listed. "ham", "tum" and "aap" remain the same in the
oblique.
मै - मुझ
तू - तुझ
यह - इस
वह - उस
कौन/कया - िकस
ये - इन
वे - उन
कौन/कया (plural) - िकन

the postposition may be added onto the oblique pronoun or the two may be kept as two separate words.

मुझसे, मुझ से - from me

आप को, आपको - to you

possessive pronouns
while on the subject of postpositions, we may as well introduce the possessive "ka" - equivalent to "'s" in
english. note that it acts as a postposition and as an adjective agreeing with the object possessed:

माता की गाडी - mother's car

लडिकयो का कमरा - the girls' room
बगीचे के फूल - the garden's flowers
आदिमयो की इमारते - the men's buildings

some pronouns take a special form in the possessive, while some just have "ka" added to them. the full list
is below:
मै - मेरा
तू - तेरा
हम - हमारा
तुम - तुमहारा
आप - आपका
यह - इसका
वह - उसका
ये - इनका
वे - उनका
कौन - िकसका(sing) / िकनका (plural)
remember that all of these act as inflecting adjectives agreeing with the object possessed - try removing the
"hai.n" and putting the subject after the possessive pronoun in the following line from one of my favourite
songs:
साँसे ये तेरी है (wrong) ये साँसे तेरी है (correct)
these breaths are yours...

but in songs, sentences are often broken according to the requirements.
तेरी साँसे
your breaths.

and here's the vocab list. a good idea, since these are probably going to come weekly at best, and possibly
fortnightly or more, is to print these out and put them up on your bedroom door, or somewhere where you'll
see them often. you may want to add in transliteration for yourself.

सारा all तिबयत f health

गुसलखाना m bathroom िदल m heart

काला black घर m home

साँस f breath पित husband

रसोईघर
इमारत f building \ रसोई m kitchen

बस f bus शायद maybe

शहर m city सुबह f morning

कपडा m cloth/ garment अब now

आराम m comfort कलम m pen

परदा m curtain तसवीर f picture

मुििकल f difficulty समसया f problem

दरवाजा m door दरी f rug/mat

दराज f drawer वहाँ there

वगैरह etc. चीज f thing

 रात f evening समय m time

पिरवार m family गाँव m village

फशम m/f floor दीवर f wall

फूल m flower खैर well/ anyways

wife ( pronounced
सामान m furniture, luggage पती patni)

ऐनक f, चिमा
m glasses

lesson 5
was/were

in hindi, the past tense of the verb 'to be' is very different from the present tense. there are four forms:
था - was (masculine)
थे - were (masculine)
थी - was (feminine)
थीं - were (feminine)

this applies across the whole range of pronouns:

हम थे - we were (remember "ham hai.n")
तुम थे, आप थे - you were (remember "tum ho", "aap hai.n")
वे थे - they were
वह थी - she was
वह था - he was
मै था - i was (remember "mai.n hoo.n")

तो

this is a nifty little word i love, and has a couple of meanings. it may take a while to grasp its usage
properly. "to" can mean "so" at the beginning of a phrase:
तो आप कौन है ?
so who are you?
तो काम खतम है ?
so the work is finished?
when it follows a word or phrase, it qualifies the word preceding it by contrasting it, as one would use in
english, "as for". unlike english, that which contrasts it is usually omitted:
मै तो दक ु ान पर कल था (लेिकन मेरा भाई घर पर था)
i was at the shop yesterday (but my brother was at home)
मै दक ु ान पर तो कल था (लेिकन मै घर पर नहीं था)
i was at the shop yesterday (but i wasn't at home)
मै दकु ान पर कल तो था (लेिकन आज मै नहीं था)
i was at the shop yesterday (but i wasn't there today)

play around with this word for a while, and you will begin to understand how it works. try and think up of
some sentences of your own, maybe. i'm sure you'll come across many times in your life where you'll find
it useful, and wonder why english never adopted it :p.

comparison of adjectives
unlike english, this isn't done with degrees of comparison. instead, the postposition "se" is used in the
sense, "than":
चाय कॉफी से अचछी है
tea is better than coffee.
to specify "more" or "less" use the words "zyaadaa/aur" and "kam" respectively:
अँगेजी िहनदी से जयादा मुििकल \ किठन है
english is more difficult than hindi
आप उस से और होिशयार है
you are more intelligent than him
the above sentence looks correct when we go for exact translation from english but it is wrong 
when we try to understand the meaning आप उस से जयादा होिशयार है  is much better

वह आपको कम बडा है
he is younger (less big) than you.
the above sentence is wrong as it should be वह आपसे कम बडा है   or even better वह आपसे छोटा
है
there is no superlative in hindi. instead, if something is the best then it must be better than all - and that's
the superlative in hindi:
सब से अचछा
best of all
वह सब से लमबा
he is the tallest.

constructions with "ko"

"ko", as explained in the previous lesson, means "to". it is also the basis for a lot of grammatical
constructions. "ko" is commonly used with abstract nouns and diseases, and it works like this: instead of
saying, as in english, "i have a cold", the cold becomes the subject, and the sentence becomes: "to me there
is a cold". it is very important that you realise that the abstract noun, previously the object, is the subject of
the sentence. it thus doesn't matter how many people have a cold - the sentence will always agree with the
singular masculine as below:
मुझको जुकाम है
i have a cold
बिहनो को जुकाम था
the sisters had a cold
a few words that use this structure are listed below:
जुकाम - cold (m)
it is जुखाम but now जुकाम is also used which came from urdu
बुखार - fever (m)
अफसोस - regret (m)
आशा - hope (f)
खुशी - happiness(f)
मालूम - knowledge (m)
पसनद - pleasing (m)

these last two are really important, so here are example sentences:
मुझको बॉलीवुड िफलमे पसनद है
i like bollywood films (lit. bollywood films are pleasing to me)
आप को मालूम है िक वह कहाँ है ?
do you know where he is? (lit. is it known to you...?)

the vocative
this is used to address people (as in "o, friends"). it's basically the oblique, but the plural ending (-o.n) isn't
nasalized:
बचचो! - children!
दोसतो! - friends!
बेटे - son!

and here's the vocab. before i say goodbye, let me remind you all that you may email me any questions at
any time - just please be aware that i am under pressure, and will not be able to answer long questions in a
short time.
उम age
अकेला alone
बनद closed
कॉफी coffee (f)
जुकाम cold (disease)(m)
ठं डा cold(adjective)
पयारा dear, lovely
बुखार fever (m)
खाना food(m)
िवदे श foreign country (m)
दोसत/िमत friend
सोना gold (m)
खूबसूरत handsome
खुशी happiness(f)
मेहनती hardworking
पहाड hill/mountain(m)
गरम hot/warm
होिशयार intelligent
दाल lentils (f)
कम less/little
मतलब meaning (m)
जयादा more/very
पडोसी neighbour
दफतर office (m)
बाहर out/outside
महल palace (m)
पसनद pleasing
पहले previously
अफसोस regret(m)
िरितेदार relative
दक
ु ान shop (f)
चाँदी silver(f)
मजबूत strong
गोली tablet(f)
चाय tea(f)
िक that
काम work
साल year (m)
कल yesterday/tomorrow

lesson 6

verbs

in english, verbs are listed in the dictionary as their stem - do, eat, sit etc. to make the
infinitive, we add a 'to' in front of the verb: to sit, to do etc.
in hindi, verbs are listed as the infinitive, which is the stem + 'na'/ना at the end:
to do
stem: कर
infinitive:करना

to go
stem: जा
infinitive:जाना

to give
stem: दे
infinitive:दे ना

to speak
stem:बोल
infinitive:बोलना

to see/look
stem: दे ख
infinitive:दे खना

to listen/hear
stem:सुन
infinitive:सुनना

commands and requests

chances are you've picked up some of these. remember the heirarchal structure of hindi
(tu, tum aap)? well, that plays a role here.

तू सुन - for 'tu', use the stem as a command. its shortness shows how blunt and informal
it is, so once again remember that 'tu' is only used with someone you're very close to, as it
can be offensive.

तुम सुनो - for tum, use the stem, and add -o.

however, watch out for the two exceptions:

तुम + दे ना = तुम दो
give
तुम + लेना = तुम लो
take

आप सुिनये - for aap, there are two different ways to make a request. the first is to add -
'iye' to the end. this is polite and mildly formal.

again, note exceptions:

आप + दे ना = आप दीिजये
please give

आप + लेना = आप लीिजये
please take

आप + पीना = आप पीिजये
please drink/smoke

आप + करना = आप कीिजये
please do

आप सुिनयेगा - to be extra polite, add '-iyega' to the stem. the exceptions to 'iye' count
here.

सुनना - you can also use the infinitive. this is deferred: ie, do this (whenever you may
have the time) it's not bound by the heirarchy.

for negative commands, add 'na' न or, for more strength, 'mat' मत

उसको मत मारो
don't hit him

मुझसे शादी कर
marry me

िमठाई न खाओ
don't eat the sweet

the above sentence is correct but looks odd we can use िमठाई मत खाओ
आपका दोसत को सुिनये
please listen to your friend.

in the above sentence आपका is wrong instead we should use अपने and sentence should 
be अपने दोसत को सुिनये

"ko"/को and objects

in a sentence like "give the clothes to the washerman" the clothes are a direct object, and
the washerman is the indirect object. in hindi, the indirect object is marked with 'ko' even
if it's not directly translatable to 'to':

कपडे धोबी को दीिजये

please give the clothes to the washer man

हमको पानी लाओ

bring us water

the above sentence is exact translation of english sentence but in hindi it looks odd to say 
like हमको पानी लाओ or हमको पानी िपलाओ which is like ordering in a princely manner 
. instead we should use हमको पानी िपलाना or  हमको पानी दे ना for general uses

with the direct object, 'ko' acts almost in the same way as 'the' in english. it differentiates
one object, as opposed to any object. use it to refer to something that is being discussed,
and also always use it when the direct object is a person:

इन समोसो को खाना
eat these samosas (not the others)

the above sentence is correct but while speaking it looks odd and is hardly used 
we can use use इन समोसो को खाओ
कृ पया िकताब को पिढये
please read the book

वह िफलम अचछी है - उसको दे खो

that film is good - watch it.

मुझको न बताओ
don't tell me.
note that most pronouns have an alternative version when used with ko. these are more
colloquial, but are also used to avoid repetition :

मुझको = मुझे
तुझको= तुझे
इसको = इसे
उसको = उसे
हमको = हमे
तुमको = तुमहे
इनको = इनहे
उनको = उनहे
िकसको =िकसे
िकनको = िकनहे
वह = वो = वे

i noticed many places वह is used which looks somewhat formal so try to use वो more

and, here's the vocab ^_^

धयान attention
धयान से attentively
थैला bag(m)
कंबल/कमबल blanket (m)
िसगेट/ िसगरे ट cigarette
कुता dog (m)
जलदी early, soon
िफलम film (f)
फल fruit
इधर here
घोडा horse(m)
जरा / थोङा just, a little, softly
चाबी key (f)
खत letter(m)
दध
ू milk(m)
पैसा money
खयाल/ खयाल opinion(m) \ khyal
झगडा quarrel(m)
तैयार ready
सचमुच really
ऋिष sage (m)
नौकर servant(m)
सरल simple
नारा slogan(m)
िमठाई sweet (m)
उधर there
पूछना to ask
होना to be, to become
मारना to beat, hit
लाना to bring
बुलाना to call, invite
साफ करना to clean
बंद करना to close
आना to come
करना to do
पीना to drink, smoke
खाना to eat(m)
ढू ँ ढना to find, look for
दे ना to give
जाना to go
सुनना to listen, hear
शादी करना to marry
चलना to move
ऱखना to put, keep
झगडा करना to quarrel
पढना to read/study
कहना to say
दे खना to see, look
िखलाना to serve
बैठना to sit
बोलना to speak
लेना to take
बताना to tell
छुना to touch \ its chuna not dhuna
ठहरना to wait, stop
जगाना woken up by someone , जागना - to wake (someone up)
धोना to wash
िलखना to write
िखलौना toy (m)
पेड tree
धोबी washerman(m)
पानी water
कौनसा which

lesson 7

in the last lesson we looked at verbs and the difference between the infinitive (which ends
in –na) and the stem. keep these terms in mind, they’re going to be useful as we work
with verbs.

the imperfective present tense

this is the tense you use to describe habits, regular events and opinions, as well as
describing personal traits to an extent, abilities. to put a verb into the imperfective tense,
add ‘-taa’/’te’/’tii’ according to the subject and then add “hai/hai.n/ho/hoo.n” etc., also
relating to the subject. here’s the full list of conjugations, and some examples:
 masculine feminine
मै बोलता हूँ मै बोलती ह ूँ
तू बोलता है तू बोलती है
वह बोलता ह ै वह बोलती है
हम बोलते ह ै हम बोलती है
तुम बोलती
तुम बोलते हो हो
आप बोलते ह ै आप बोलती है
वे बोलते ह ै वे बोलती है

मै िहं दी बोलता हूँ (masculine) \ mein hindi bolta hoon

i speak hindi

वह सबजी खाती है (feminine) \ wah sabjii khati hai

she eats vegetables
वे रिववार पर चलते है
they walk on sundays

the above sentence means “they walk over sunday” instead we use 
वे रिववार को चलते है \ ve ravivar ko chalte hein

तुम कहाँ रहते हो? \ tum kahan rehte ho ?

where do you stay?

कया आप पीती है ? \ kya aap peeti hein?

do you drink?

in the above sentence the question is being asked to a female. the same question to a male 
will be कया आप पीते है ?
in the negative, just like with the basic sentence, sometimes ‘hai’ (and all its conjugates)
is dropped. when this is done with the plural negative, be sure to nasalize the –tii ending.

मै पीती नहीं \ mein peeti nahi

i don’t drink.
वह गोित नहीं खाता \  wah gost nahi khata
he doesn’t eat meat.
वे यहाँ नहीं रहतीं \  ve yahan nahi rehti
they don’t stay here

in english above sentence is same for group of people whether feminine or masculine  but 
in hindi the above sentence (वे यहाँ नहीं रहतीं) is feminine but if you want to refer to 
‘they’ in general then it should be  वे यहाँ नहीं रहते not रहतीं

note that this describes habitual events, not things going on at the moment. however, it is
sometimes used to describe things going on at the moment, which aren’t habitual:

मै जाता हूँ - this is more formal, instead we use ­  मै जा रहा हूँ

i’m going/i’m off (lit. i go)

we’ll work with time later, but feel free to practise this by asking yourself “kitne baje…?”
– at what time (do you wake up, eat etc.)

knowledge of skills, especially speaking languages, works with a specific structure. the
person in the know receives ‘ko’. the subject is the skill/language known (remember all
languages are feminine) and the verb ‘aanaa’ “to come” is used in the imperfective:

मुझको िहं दी आती है \ मुझे िहं दी आती है

i speak hindi (lit. hindi comes to me)

we’ll look at this more later when i discuss the gerund.

to find out the hindi word for something, you can ask the following question, replacing
‘x’ with the word you want:
‘x’ को कया कहते है
what do they call ‘x’?

the imperfective of the verb ‘to be’/ ‘hona’ is used to imply a general statement, or one of
lasting validity. note the difference in these sentences:
अचछी सािडयाँ महँ गी होती है \  acchi saadiyaan mehgi hoti hein
good saris are expensive
हाँ, लेिकन यह तो ससती है \ haan, lekin yeh to sasti hai
yes, but this one is cheap.

using ‘maaluum hai’ (see lesson 5) in the imperfective implies that something appears:
मालूम होता है िक वह नाराज है \ लगता है िक वह नाराज है
it seems he’s angry.
मालूम है िक वह नाराज है \ पता है िक वह नाराज\गुससा है
i know he’s angry

“apna”: one’s own

this is a reflexive pronoun which possessively links a noun to the subject. the closest
english equivalent is ‘one’s own’. note who possesses the room in the following
sentences:
वह \ वो अपने कमरे मे है \   wah \ wo apne kamre mein hai
he is in his (own) room.
वह \ वो उसके कमरे मे है \  wah\wo uske kamre mein hai
he is in his (someone else’s) room

be careful with this word, as it always links back to the subject, whether you want it to or
not. it is not just a normal possessive word:
मै अपने भाई से लंबा हूँ \ mein apne bhai se lambha hoon
i am taller than my brother (i am the subject)
मेरा भाई लंबा है \ mera bhai lambha hai
my brother is tall (my brother is the subject, therefore no ‘apna’)
मै और मेरा भाई लंबे है \ mein aur mera bhai lambhe hein
note: there are 2 people in the sentence so it is plural so लंबे not लंबा
my brother and i are tall (the subject is me and my brother – it’s a joint subject, therefore
no ‘apna’)
it can of course be used with a possessive pronoun to lend emphasis:
यह or य़े मेरी अपनी गाडी है \ yeh or ye meri apni gaadi hai
this is my very own car

in a command, the subject is always ‘you’. thus ‘apna’ links to the person receiving the
command:
मुझे अपनी िकताब दो \ mujhe apni kitab do
give me [your] book. here kitab (book) is feminine

compound postpositions

hopefully you all remember how to work with postpositions and possession. if not, revise
them in lesson 4. the following is a list of some compound postpositions. they do put the
nouns they follow in the oblique.

की तरफ towards \ ki taraf

के अनदर inside \ ke andar
के आगे in front of
के ऊपर on top of
के नीचे beneath
के/से पहले before
के पास near
के पीछे behind
के बाद after
के बारे मे about
के बाहर outside
के िलये for
के यहाँ at (the place of)
के सामने opposite
के िबना without
\ ke aage
\ ke upar
\ ke neeche
\ ke or se pehle
\ ke paas
\ ke peeche
\ ke baad
\ ke bare mein
\ ke bahar
\ ke liye
\ ke yahaan
\ ke samne
\ ke bina

you’ll notice that many of them use ‘ke/kii’ – this is no different from the word we use
for the possessive, and it modifies pronouns accordingly:
मेरे िलये \ मेरे िलए \ mere liye
for my sake
तुमहारे िबना \ tumhare bina
without you
हमारे यहाँ \ hamare yahaan
at our place
उसकी िकताब के बारे मे \ uski kitab ke bare mein
about his book