LESSON NOTES

Absolute Beginner S1 #16

Changing Hindi Statements into
Questions

CONTENTS

Dialogue - Hindi
Main
English
Romanization
Vocabulary
Sample sentences
Vocabulary phrase usage
Grammar
Cultural insight

# 16
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DIALOGUE - HINDI

MAIN

1. सीता : नम ते, जेनजी । आप ठ क ह?

2. जेन : म ठ क ँ, ध यवाद। आज ब त गम है!

3. सीता : जी ब त गम है। या म आपक मदद कर सकती ँ?

4. जेन : ध यवाद! या पीने के लए ठं डा पानी है?

ENGLISH

1. Sita : Hello, Ms. Jane. Are you alright?

2. Jane : I am alright, thank you. Today is very hot!

3. Sita : Yes it's very hot. Can I help you with anything?

4. Jane : Thank you! Do you have some cold water to drink?

ROMANIZATION

1. Seetaa : namasTe, Jenjii. aap thiik hain?

2. Jen : main theek hoon, dhanyavaaD. aaj bahuT garmii hai!

3. Seetaa : Jii bahuT garmii hai. kyaa main aapkii maDaD kar sakTii hoon?

4. Jen : Dhanyavaad! Kyaa peene ke liye thandaa paanii hai?

VOCABULARY

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Hindi Romanization English Class Gender

आज aaj today noun masculine

आप aap you(formal) pronoun

ठक theek alright/well adverb

ब त bahuT very, a lot adverb

मदद maDaD help noun feminine

ठं डा पानी thandaa paanii cold water phrase

सकती saktee can (female) verb

गम garmii hot weather adjective

ध यवाद DHaNyavaaD thank you noun, expression

SAMPLE SENTENCES

आज असाधारण गम वाला दन था| परेड आज है

aaj asadharan garmi wala din tha. parade aaj hai

Today was an extraordinarily hot summer day. The parade is today.

आज कौनसा दन है? आज मेरा ज म दन है।

aaj kauNSaa DiN hai? Aaj meraa janmadin hai.

What day is it today? Today is my birthday.

आज सद है। आपको यह चा हए?

aaj sarDii hai Aapko yeh caahie?

It's cold today. Do you need this?

वह ठ क है। आज ब त सद है।

Voh theek hai. aaj bahuT sarDii hai

He is good. It's very cold today.

मेरी मदद करो! मदद ! पु लस !

meri maDaD karo! maDaD! Pulis!

Help me! Help! Police!

बेटे अपनी माँ क मदद करते ह| मुझको ठं डा पानी चा हए।

beTe apnii maa kii maDaD karTe hain Mujhko thandaa paanii chaahiye.

The sons help their mother. I need cold water.

म कर सकती ँ। जून म ब त गम हो जाती है

Main kar saktee hoon. June mein bahuT garmii ho jaaTii hai

I can do it. It gets very hot in June.

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 मदद करने के लए आपका ध यवाद| ध यवाद, म हमाजी!

madad karne ke liye aapka dhanyawad. Dhanyavaad, mahimaajee!

Thank you for your help! Thank you, Mahima!

VOCABULARY PHRASE USAGE

1. ब त (bahut), which means "very" or "a lot," is a useful word. It's also easy to use since it doesn't
inflect according to the gender and the number of the subject. So, it's always used in the same way.

For Example:

1. ब त गम
bahut garm
"very hot"
2. ब त ठं डा
bahut thandaa
"very cold"
3. ब त ल बा
bahut lambaa
"very tall" (for male subjects)
4. ब त ल बी
bahut lambee
"very tall" (for female subjects)

2. मदद (madad) means "help." As a noun, it is feminine. Therefore all the pronouns and adjectives
associated with it will take their feminine forms. So whether you're a man or a woman, you'll always say
मेरी मदद..., meri madad... ("my help...").

3. सकती (saktee) comes from the verb सकना (saknaa) which means "can."

For singular masculine cases, you use सकता (saktaa).

For plural masculine cases, you use सकते (sakte).

For singular and plural feminine cases, you use सकती (saktee).

GRAMMAR
The Focus of This Lesson is to Ask Simple Questions in Hindi
आप ठ क ह?
aap thiik hain?
"Are you alright?"

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In English if you were to ask simple questions, in other words, change simple statements into questions,
you'd have to change the verb order. For example, if you wanted to turn the statement, "This is your
house." into a question, you'd arrange it such that the verb comes at the beginning and it becomes, "Is
this your house?" Well, we have some good news. None of this is necessary in Hindi! In Hindi sentences,
verbs always come last and in an interrogative sentence they stay the same. The question is indicated by
the tone of the speech, you know, the questioning tone?

For Example:

If you are a female, you'd say:

1. म आपक मदद कर सकती ँ।

main aapkii maDaD kar sakTii hoon.
"I can help you."
2. म आपक मदद कर सकती ँ?
main aapkii maDaD kar sakTii hoon?
"Can I help you?"

For a male speaker, replace सकती (sakTii) with सकता (sakTaa). So, it would be:

1. म आपक मदद कर सकता ँ।

main aapkii maDaD kar sakTaa hoon.
"I can help you"
2. म आपक मदद कर सकता ँ?
main aapakii maDaD kar SakaTaa huun?
"Can I help you?"

Emphasize the Question

Instead of turning statements into questions with the change of tone, you can also add the word या,
kyaa ("what") for emphasis. It always goes at the beginning of the question.

For Example:

1. या म आपक मदद कर सकता ँ?

kyaa main aapakii maDaD kar SakaTaa huun?
"Can I help you?"
2. या आप ठ क ह?
kyaa aap thiik hain?
"Are you alright?"
3. या यह आपका घर है?
kyaa yeh aapkaa ghar hai?
"Is this your house?"

Examples from This Lesson

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 1. aap thiik hain?

2. kyaa main aapkii maDaD kar sakTii hoon?

3. kyaa peene ke lie thandaa paanii hai?

Examples from This Dialogue

1. आप ठ क ह?
aap thiik hain?
"Are you alright?"
2. या पीने के लए ठं डा पानी है?
kyaa peene ke lie thandaa paanii hai?
"Do you have some cold water to drink?"

Sample Sentences

1. आपका नाम कोमल है?

aapkaa naam komal hai?
"Is your name Komal?"
2. वह अ ा है?
vah acchaa hai?
"Is he good?"

Language Tip

In this lesson, we looked at how to form simple questions using या, kyaa ("what"). Let's look at some
more question words.

1. कहाँ, kahaan ("where")

2. य , kyon ("why")

3. कौन, kaun ("who")

4. कै सा/ कै सी/ कै से, kaisaa/ kaisee/ kaise ("how")

5. कौनसा/ कौनसी/ कौनसे, kaunsaa/ kaunsee/ kaunse ("which")

CULTURAL INSIGHT
Interpreting "The Nod"

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Indian people use a lot of head gestures while speaking. Some tourists need to get used to what a "yes"
nod is and a "no" shake is and a "maybe" wriggle is. Acutally, "yes" might not be the typical nod from
top to bottom that most foreigners are used to. It can be a swing of the head from side side. One
cannot rely on gesture alone but instead needs to infer from other things like expressions and body
stance. Subtle changes in the angle and degree of the head movement can imply totally opposite things,
"yes" or "no," so one needs to be careful when interpreting these things.

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