Are you wondering how to learn Hindi? Before you dive into learning Hindi, it might help you to know a few things about the language in general. Here is a list of six things to know about Hindi.
1. Word Order. In Hindi, there is some freedom in word order. Word placement can change for reasons of style or emphasis, but not as much as in other languages that are more heavily inflected. In Hindi, the verb usually comes at the end of the sentence. In a simple sentence, the word order of a sentence is usually
- subject
- object
- verb.
In more complex sentences, the word order goes as follows
- subject
- adverbs
- adjective and noun phrase of any indirect object
- adjective and noun phrase of any direct object
- Negative or interrogative marker, if any
- Verb, with auxiliary verb following the main verb.
Hindi uses postpositions instead of prepositions. That is the word follows the noun instead of preceding it. Adjectives precede nouns, as in English and German, but unlike Romance languages like French.
2. Case. Hindi is a weakly inflected language. That means that the endings of a noun will tell you its role in a sentence. Hindi has three cases:
- the direct case is used for the subject of a sentence and for other nouns that are not followed by a postposition
- the oblique case is used for nouns that is followed by a preposition
- some nouns have a separate vocative case, the form of the noun used when the noun is used as a form of address.
Singular and plural nouns are not always distinguishable in all declensions.
3. Gender. Hindi nouns recognize two genders, masculine and feminine. The masculine gender is used for male people and animals and for other objects deemed by usage “masculine.” Similarly, the feminine gender is used for female people and animals and for other objects deemed by usage “feminine.”
4. Pronouns. In Hindi, nouns do not reflect gender and the third person singular, comparable to the English “he,” “she” or “it,” actually corresponds to the English “this” or “that.” In addition to the direct and oblique case that Hindi nouns have, pronouns also have
- the accusative case, which is used for direct objects and
- the genitive case, which shows ownership.
There is no vocative case for pronouns.
The second person, corresponding to the English “you,” conveys three levels of honorifics.
- the formal form, which can be either singular or plural and is used in formal settings or when speaking to someone older or otherwise senior to the speaker
- the informal form, which can be either singular or plural and is used in informal settings or when speaking to someone younger or otherwise junior to the speaker
- the extremely informal, which exists only in the singular. It is used only between very close friends or in sacred poetic language and can be perceived as an insult if used inappropriately.
5. Verb Forms. Hindi verbs agree with their subjects in both number and gender. If the subject of a verb is a pronoun, the verb agrees with the noun that the pronoun represents. Hindi verbs indicate both tense, that is, whether an action is past, present or future, and aspect, that is, whether an aspect is habitual, progressive or perfective.
6. Interrogatives. As in other languages, questions can be formed in Hindi by using who, what, when, where and why. Additionally, the Hindi word kyaa, when placed at the beginning of a sentence, indicates an interrogative. Intonation can also indicate when a sentence is a question.
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