Hindi Vocabulary Lists

Assorted art from the #TheLilyPadProject

Why recreate the wheel...here are 13 great Hindi word lists to take a look at.

These lists can be used in several ways. You can memorize them or take each word and write a sentence (which I find quite helpful).

1. My First Phrases from Hindi for Christmas

2. Anything Anil Mohato is great! This is one of his vocabulary videos (video below).

3. Common verb list (short but could be learned in a week)

4. Days of the week and directions from linguanaut.com

5. Numbers  from linguanaut.com

6. Adjectives from linguanaut.com

7. Vocabulary from linguanaut.com

8. Survival Terms from linguanaut.com

9. Grammar Tense Practice from Hindi for Christmas

10. Urdu lists from linguanaut.com

11. Hindi Words that come from Arabic from Namaste-America

12. Yet another list of Arabic words in Hindi from Baheyeldin

13. A third Arabic, Urdu/Hindi, Punjabi word list from PakPassion.net

Hindi Phrases: Speak Hindi Phrase App

My first phrase list has been your favorite blog post of mine so far, so I figured you would enjoy a round two with some more phrases that I learned from a phrase app on my phone. It is called "Speak Hindi."

I give this app at 4 out of 5 starts. It has both spoken and text for each of the phrases and is organized well into categories that make sense. I couldn't give it 5 stars because a few spoken phrases do not match with the text.

If you are using the language learning strategies of memorizing phrases to begin learning a language, the mismatch is confusing. Another common purpose of using a phrase app is for those who have no knowledge of the language. The inconsistency is confusing for this people group as well.

But there are only a few of these inconsistencies and it really didn't bother me that much. I would certainly recommend the app.

I will share the text below (and share any corrections Hindi speakers share with me in the future).

Basics

A photo from our trip...I will share more photo stories soon.

Kya aap dohrane ki kripya karenge?
Can you please repeat that?

Bhagwaan aapka acha kare
Good luck

Woh kya hai?
What is that?

Business

Jitnee jaldi ho sake
As soon as possible

Acha kaam kiya
Good job

Yeh raha mera business card
Here is my business card

Hum bharat mein kaam karna chahtein hain
We want to work in India

Emergency

Doctor/Police ko bulayo
Call the doctor/police

Yahan par aspatal kahan par hai
Where is a hospital

Kya aap angrezi boltein hain?
Do you speak English?

Main kho gaya hun
I am lost

Main bimar hoon
I am sick

Mujhe madad ki jaroorat hai
I need help

My First Hindi Phrases - A Great Starting Place

I went to India knowing how to say, How are you? What is your name? and how to count to 10 in Hindi. While there I picked up a few more words and phrases. English was spoken almost everywhere and I was not trying to learn Hindi at the time so language learning was not a major goal of the trip. The trip was actually an art class through the University of Wyoming, if you would like to my artwork in response to my India travels, be sure to check out my art blog.
see more about

Even though this trip did not focus on the language, here is a list of the words and phrases Ilearned while in India.

Found this little guy crawling around the Bishnapur Temples
in West Bengal, India

Chalo
let’s go!

Thik hai
ok

Aap Kaise Hain?
how are you

Main Thik Hoon, shukriya*
I am fine, thanks

Mujhe aapka desh bahut pasand hai.
I like your country very much.

*Chinto
Chinta mat karo
Don’t Worry

Alvida
Goodbye

Shubh Rhatree
Good night (literally, I’m going to bed)

Nahin…bus
stop…enough

Ek, do, teen, char, panch, sath, aath, nou, dus
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

Kahan hai…?
Where is…?

Aap ka naam kya hai?
What is your name?

Mera naam Felicia hia
my name is Felicia

For those of you interested in learning a language, Hindi or any ohter, I would suggest starting with this or a similar list of phrases. Memorize these phrases. Once you get them move on to some more. Eventually you will find more vocabulary and be able to start having basic conversations with people.

*While in India I quickly learned that shukriya is not Hindi but Urdu. I have since learned more about Urdu…But I will post on Urdu later

The Last Night Meme from Sunday Stealing

I found this meme* at SundayStealing.blogspot.com and thought that last night would be fun for me to write about especially since it surely applies to my Hindi learning.

Dancing at Diwali night with some of the guys from cricket.

Haan, mujhe memes bahut pasand hai kyunki main thoda thoda nerd hoon.

Did anyone call you last night? Naa, but I did have a couple Hindi text conversations with friends.

How late were you on the computer last night? Shayad, midnight…I was actually on three super nerdy and great Hindi facebook pages. 1) Learn Hindi 2) Learn Hindi with Bharti  and 3) Learn Urdu

...aur Urdu kya hai?! I suppose the only people who can read the question already know the answer...mugar chalta hai...

If you are curious to know more about Urdu I will be posting more on the language here soon as it is looking like it will be the next language I tackle...

What did you have to eat last night? Main ek scone flavor ka pumpkin spice khati thi aur ek Hot Snow piti thi. Do bahut swad the. A Hot Snow is a white chocolate drink with almond milk.

Did you watch any good TV shows or movies last night? Haan, Main meri pati sath Dexter dhekte hain

Did any news items stand out to you last night? Kuch nahin…

Any regrets from last night? Haan, I didn't speak one of the specific Hindi sentences I had perfectly constructed in my head...lol I was kinda being hassled a little bit (but not much compared to the guys) and I was teasing one of the guys...Teasing is something that the guys do a lot. I think Indians just like to tease new people (old people and girls). It's some sort of bonding... Anyways, I wanted to tell my friend Rajeesh**, who is known for speaking very fast that he was speaking too fast. "Raj, Raj, sach batao, tum bahut jalde bolta ho. pata nahin kyu tum bol. Hum samajte nahin hain."

I constructed the sentences in my head just a bit too late and missed the chance...Chalta hai...next time.

Did you go out last night? After playing cricket, I went out for chai with the guys. Yesterday, both while playing cricket and at the coffee shop I was able to pick up more of the Hindi conversations than ever before. It was pretty cool.

Oh, and I actually played decent cricket, not great but better than usual, except I couldn't field for anything...I think I will write another post on my cricket learning.

What was the weather like last night? It was surprisingly nice. Maybe 30 F and only light wind.

What was the last thing you said last night? Goodnight, I love you.

What time did you go to bed last night? Shayad ek (1) ya do (2) baje

Phir se dhanyavaad doston!! Thanks again for joining me on my blog all about learning Hindi. 

* I did edit the questions just a bit.

** Raj is not the real name but if you figure out who you are and want your real name or would prefer a different pseudonym let me know yaar...

 

Common Hindi Verbs Thought of on the Fly

Here are the first verbs that came to mind when I began my list. And here is a practice sentence where you can fill in the black with the appropriate verb.

Main ______ chahati/a hoon

Main - I
Chahana - to want
Chahati/a - I want (i-feminine, a-masculine)
Hoon - am

Main khaana chahati hoon - I want to eat (said by a female)
 

Campaign Posters in Sanchi, Madhya Pradesh, India

Chahana              To want                      

Khaana                To eat

Hasna                  To laugh

Pina                     To drink

Karna                  To do

Pyar karna           To love

Banana                To do/to make

Khelna                 To play

Likhna                 To Write

Pardna                 To read/to study

Natchna               To dance

Sona                    To sleep

Bolna                  To speak

You can aslo see my India inspired artwork on my art blog at FeliciaFollum.Blogspot.com or on my
Facebook page.

Please feel free to practice in the comments.

To Me Hindi Gibberish Is

Poster from a Train Station in India

Mujhe hindi gibberish hai.
To me Hindi gibberish is.

This sentence is pretty simple to translate when written; however, when people talk, translating fast enough to make sense out of Hindi is too much difficult different at different times (**Wink*Wink** at Indian English). I do of course love the challenge and I get excited when I pick up entire phrases or even portions of a conversation. Maybe this excitement is a little more than normal but I hide it well with a facade of shyness.

The other night I went out with mere dosten after playing cricket (ohh yes, I will write a post on cricket). It was great...and as you know I am used to not knowing what is going on all the time and simply listening and trying to figure things out. This outing drove me absolutely bonkers and was a lot of fun. It was fun because I could tell when they were talking (and more importantly what they were saying) about the girls that a couple of the guys liked. ahh mere hindusthani dosten bahut cute hai (aww My Indian friends are too cute).

The confusing part of the conversation came when the guys switched back and fourth between topics. "veh bahut moushkil hai." You mean to say "he/she/it/that/the big difficult is" is what? "she is hard?" No, you have a problem? no ...ugh...wait...the PhD is hard...who? Where did that come from?

Main Hindi aur hindusthani log nahin samajti hoon (Literally "I Hindi and Indian people no understand am existing"). See what I mean. Gibberish is!

As you can see Hindi learning pagal hai...Learning Hindi is crazy...aur bahut thoda thoda fun!

If this isn't confusing enough just wait till I tell you about texting in my next post.