Speak Hindi

Video: Learn Hindi in 30 Minutes - ALL the Basics You Need

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Part 1 of 4: Learn Hindi grammar
Part 2 of 4: Learning simple words
Part 3 of 4: Learning simple sentences
Part 4 of 4: Practicing your Hindi

Hindi (मानक हिन्दी) is one of the official languages in the Union of India and the lingua franca of North India.Hindi has the same origins as other Indo-Germanic languages such as Sanskrit, Urdu and Punjabi, as well as Indo-Iranian and Indo-European languages from Persian and Kurdish to Russian and Celtic. Learning to speak Hindi can be challenging, but you can start with simple words and phrases. You can also practice with others in a classroom or online, or with a language buddy.

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Part 1 of 4: Learn Hindi grammar

Learn Hindi nouns. In Hindi, all nouns, the words for objects, places and people, have a gender: masculine (M) or feminine (V). Make sure you know the gender of each Hindi noun as gender is essential for correct grammar and transmission of the language.
- You can use a general rule to determine the gender of a noun. Words ending with the vowel आ aa are usually masculine, and words ending with the vowel ई ie are usually feminine. Keep in mind that there are many exceptions to this rule. To be completely correct, you should still memorize the gender of all nouns and practice using them in Hindi sentences and phrases.
- For example, the noun for boy is: लड़का ladkaa (M) and the noun for girl is: लड़की ladkie (V). The general rule applies in the case of these nouns.
- But nouns like मेज़ mez - Bureau (V) or घर ghar - House (M) are exceptions to the general rule.
Learn Hindi personal pronouns. To communicate well in Hindi, you need to know simple personal pronouns such as he, she, me, us and them. The personal pronouns in Hindi are:
- First person singular: मैं meen - ik
- First person plural: हम hum - We
- Second person singular: तू toe - You (informal)
- Second person plural: तुम toem - You (informal), आप aap - You (formal)
  - Remember that any personal pronoun is based on the courtesy level of the conversation. You should use the formal आप monkey when you meet someone for the first time, or when you are talking to an elder, or when you want to show respect for the person you are talking to.
  - The informal तुम thum is used when talking to friends or family. The informal तू toe can be used when you have an informal or intimate conversation, such as with your partner or with young children. Do not use the informal तू when speaking to a stranger or someone you don't know well, as this is considered very rude.
- Third person singular: यह yah - He / She / It / This
- Third person singular: वह vah - He / She / It / That
  - In spoken Hindi, these words are pronounced slightly differently: यह is pronounced yeeh and वह as voh. You should use यह when talking about someone or something close to you. For example, you use यह yeeh when talking about someone standing next to you.
  - You should use वह voh when talking about someone or something further away. For example, if someone is on the other side of the road, use वह voh.
  - When in doubt, use वह voh.
- Third person plural: ये ye - This / They
- Third person plural: वे ve- Die / Zij
  - You often hear that ve is pronounced as the singular "voh". The third person plural follows the same rules: ये ye for people / things near (in distance) and वे vo for people / things further away.
  - Note that both यह yeh and वह voh can mean either "he" or "she". In Hindi, the third person personal pronoun is not based on the gender of the person you are talking about. Whether the person is a "he" or "she" should be taken out of the context of the sentence.
Study Hindi verbs. Start with Hindi verbs in the indefinite mood, because verbs are conjugated in Hindi by removing the indefinite ending and using other suffixes. Hindi verbs in the indefinite mood end in ना naa.
- Examples of the indefinite mood in Hindi are: होना honaa - to be; पढ़ना padnaa - to read or study; बोलना bolnaa - to speak; सीखना siekhnaa - to learn; जाना jaanaa - go.
Practice conjugating verbs. You have to conjugate verbs in Hindi to represent grammatical groups such as number, gender, mood and mood.
- For example, the indefinite verb होना honaa- to be, conjugated by number, becomes:
  - मैं हूँ meen hoen ("n" is silent) - I am
  - हम हैं ham hain ("n" is silent) - We are
  - तू है thoe hai - You are (intimate)
  - तुम हो thoem hoo - You are (informal)
  - आप हैं aap hain - You are (formal)
  - यह है yeeh hai - he / she / this is
  - वह है voh hai - he / she / that is
  - ये हैं yee hain - these / they are
  - वे हैं vee hain - who / they are
- There are three conjugations for gender in the present tense:
  - For masculine singular subjects, drop the indefinite ending ना naa and add ता taa.
  - For masculine multiple subjects, drop the indefinite ending ना na and add ते tee.
  - For feminine singular and multiple topics, drop the indefinite ending ना na and add ती tie.
- Hindi verbs have many "ways," so you will need reference books, such as language textbooks and language guides, to further learn conjugation of verbs. You can also use a good dictionary to help you conjugate new verbs.

Part 2 of 4: Learning simple words

Practice simple greetings. “Hello” and “Goodbye” are the same word in Hindi, “namaste”, pronounced nah-MAS-stee. You greet someone with “namaste” at the beginning of a conversation or as an informal greeting when you meet someone.
- "Good morning" in Hindi is "Soeprabhaat", and "Good evening" in Hindi is "Shub sundhyaa". "Welcome" in Hindi is "Aapka swaagath hai!"
- You can find a pronunciation guide for these words here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hD9serDDbY8#t=17.
Learn the days of the week. Practice expanding your Hindi vocabulary the days of the week. It is useful if you hear the days of the week spoken by a fluent speaker, and you can find it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hD9serDDbY8#t=17.
- Sunday: RavievaaR
- Monday: SomvaaR
- Tuesday: MangalvaaR
- Wednesday: BoedvaaR
- Thursday: GOOD
- Friday: SjoekRavaaR
- Saturday: shanievaaR
- You can also practice saying "yesterday" which is "cal"; today is “aaj”; day is “dhin”; night is “raath”.
Count in Hindi. Another easy list is the numbers from 1 to 20 in Hindi. Learning the numbers and numbers is a great way to further expand your vocabulary and get comfortable with the sounds of the Hindi words.
- Zero: shoenya / siefer
- A: eyk
- Two: dho
- Three: thien
- Four: ts year
- Five: Paantsj
- Six: tsjey
- Seven: saath
- Eight: aat
- Nine: now
- Ten: dhas
- Elf: gyaaRah
- Twelve: baaRah
- Thirteen: teyRah
- Fourteen: chowdhah
- Fifteen: pandhRaah
- Sixteen: solah
- Seventeen: SathRah
- Eighteen: ataaRaah
- Nineteen: oennies
- Twenty: rush

Part 3 of 4: Learning simple sentences

Practice saying “what's your name?Once you feel comfortable with Hindi words, you could use simple phrases such as "what is your name?", What is "Aap ka nam kya hai?" Pronounced "aap kaa NAME kya hai."
- You can also learn to answer when someone has asked you your name in Hindi by saying, “My name is…” or “Mera nam..hein”, pronounced “MEE-ra name..hay . ” For example, if your name is Marieke, you can say, "Mera name Marieke hein."
Learn to “how are you?" to say. To keep your conversation going in Hindi, you might now ask "how are you?" or "Monkey kaisey hain?" pronounced "aap KEE-se hain."
- You can answer the question with "I'm fine, thank you!" or "Mein thiek hoon, shukriya!"
- You can also practice saying "thank you" or "Dhanya vaad" pronounced "DAAN-y ie vaad." You can respond when someone thanks you in Hindi with “please” or “Shukriyaa”.
Try the phrases back and forth in a short conversation. Once you feel good with the different words and phrases in Hindi, you can stick together into a short back and forth conversation with a fluent speaking friend or your language buddy. Of course you can also practice alone. For example, a conversation could go like this:
- "Namaste!" (or “Arrey, Dost!” which means “Hello friend!”, a less formal greeting)
- "Namaste!"
- "Monkey kaisey hain?" (How are you?)
- “Mein thiek scorn, shukriya! Aur monkey? ” (I'm fine, thank you. And you?)
- "Thiek-thaak." (Good)
- "Alvida!" (Bye!)
- "Namaste!" (Day!)
Practice simple travel phrases. If you are planning to go to India or another place where Hindi is spoken, it might be a good idea to practice some travel phrases to support you on your journey. Practice these phrases with a friend who is fluent in Hindi or who is learning Hindi so that you can master the pronunciation of these short phrases and terms.
- "I'm lost": "Hoem kho gaye hain"
- "Can you help me?": "Kya aap meri madad kar saktey hain?"
- "Where is the toilet?": "Śaucaghara kahaan hai?"
- "How expensive is this?": "Yeh kaisey diyaa?"
- "I'm sorry ..." (to ask something): "Kshama kiejieae ..."
- "Pardon ..." (to pass someone): "Kshama kiejieae ..."
Learn how to order food in a Hindi restaurant. You can also practice how to order food in Hindi, which will help you master certain Hindi phrases and terms. You can find sound recordings of the phrases and terms in Hindi on the Audible Hindi website.
- "Do you want a …?" : “Kya aapako… pasand hai?”
- "What would you like to drink?": "Aap kya pina pasand karenge?"
- "I'd like ...": "main ... lena pasand karoenga."
- "I don't eat meat or fish.": "Main macchi ya maas nahin khata."
- "I don't drink.": "Main shrab nahin pita."
- "It's awful!": "Yah bhayankar hai!"
- "It's delicious!": "Yah swadisht hai!"

Part 4 of 4: Practicing your Hindi

Take a Hindi class. One of the best ways to learn a new language is to attend classes so that you interact with a teacher and fellow students at least once a week. You can practice your Hindi in personal conversations with your teacher and immediately receive lessons in pronunciation and intonation.
- It is also good to be with other students who are also learning the language, because you can support each other and practice the language together. Find Hindi classes near you at a school or university, or at an Indian community center.
Use online resources such as videos and podcasts. There are many online resources available for beginner Hindi speakers that focus on simple words and phrases, but also on the more complex elements of the language, such as conjugation, verbs, adjectives and Hindi sounds.
- Videos of Hindi pronunciation can be found here: http://www.linguanaut.com/videos.htm.
- A podcast on learning Hindi can be found here: http://www.hindipod101.com/?src=bc_LearnHindi1_Search_learning%20Hindi_vragencreativeaatsen_vragenplacement}.
Read or read children's books in Hindi. Children's books in Hindi are a great way to learn simple words and phrases in a fun and accessible way. Many children's books are also good for getting better at conversational Hindi and provide visual images to improve vocabulary.
- You can find more than 60 children's books in Hindi at: http://www.learning-hindi.com/, some even with audio recordings to improve the pronunciation even better.
Practice your Hindi with a friend who is fluent in it. If you have a friend who is fluent in Hindi, you could meet every week to practice and speak in Hindi. Limit yourself to simple topics like the weather or how you feel that day and slowly move on to more complicated topics.
- You can also see if there are any Hindi groups near you where you could practice with fluent speakers.
Watch Hindi movies. India has a gigantic film industry called "Bollywood" that produces more than 1,000 films every year. You can find Hindi movies online at the streaming services or through a service like iTunes. Watch Hindi movies at home and practice your conversational techniques in Hindi. You can watch with the subtitles on or off to practice conversations in Hindi by native speakers.
- A good start are the popular films of the Hindi cinema such as Mughal-e-Azam (often referred to as the greatest Bollywood film ever), the comedy Golmaal, and the drama Kahaani.
Go to Hindi meetings near you. In many large cities, but also in the smaller ones, you will find an Indian population, with Hindi festivals and cultural activities. Here you have the chance to meet new Hindi friends and learn more about Hindi culture. Keep an eye on Hindi gatherings near you or look online to find out.