Warning! Major vocabulary dump coming your way.
This article is for people who want to learn Hindi fast.
Okay so there’s no real shortcut to learning another language but with these essential beginner phrases, you will get a boost at the very least.
Linguistically speaking, from an analytical perspective, Hindi speakers use 20% of their language’s total vocabulary 80% of the time. So by focusing on that 20% you are already well on your way to fluency.
Whether you’re learning to travel or have a newly found love of Bollywood movies, learning some of the most common Hind phrases is the key to understanding Hindi quickly.
So let’s take a look at 100 must-know Hindi phrases to kickstart your language learning journey.
Introducing Yourself in Hindi
What better way to start than with how to introduce yourself?
Below you’ll find a list of greetings and some common questions used to get to know someone.
Get a few of these in your head and you’ll be able to make a great first impression and muddle your way through a few conversations.
Pay attention to the question words because they will be useful for expressing much more than introducing yourself to locals. We will look at some more further on.
- Hello – नमस्ते (na-ma-sté)
- Good Morning – शुभ प्रभात (Shubh-pra-bhaat)
- Good Afternoon – नमस्कार (namaskaar)
- Good Evening/Night – शुभ रात्रि (shubh-raa-tree)
- What is your name? – आपका नाम क्या है? (aapka naam kya hai?)
- My name is _____ – मेरा नाम _____ है। (mera naam _____ hai.)
- I am pleased to meet you – आप से मिलकर ख़ुशी हुई (aap sé milkar khushee hooee)
- How are you? – आप कैसे हैं (aap kaisé hain)
- I am good. How are you? – ठीक हनु। आप कैसे हैं? ( thik hu. aap kaise hain?)
- I am not well – मैं ठीक नहीं हूँ (main theek nahi hoon)
- Where are you from? – आप कहाँ से हैं? (aap kahan se hain?).
- I am from _city_ and _country_ – मैं _____ and _____ से हूँ (main _______ and ____ se hoon)
- I am Indian/America/ English – मैं भारतीय / अमेरिकी / अंग्रेजी हूं(main bhaarateey / amerikee / angrejee hoon)
- Goodbye – अलविदा (alavida)
- See you again – फिर मिलेंगे (phir milenge)
Answering a Question in Hindi
Even if you don’t understand what you are asked you can still make a lot of headway in Hindi by learning the negative and affirmative for non-rhetorical questions. See below;
- Yes – हाँ (haan)
- No – / नही (nahi)
- Maybe – शायद (shaayad)
- I don’t know – मुझको मालूम नहीं (mujhe maloom nahi)
- I don’t understand – मुझे समझ नहीं आया (mujhe samajh nahi aaya)
- Do you speak English? – क्या आप अंग्रेज़ी बोलते हैं? (kya aap angrezee bolate hain)
- I don’t speak Hindi – मैं हिंदी नहीं बोलता हूँ (main hindi nahin bolta hoon)
Being Polite in Hindi
Of course, you won’t make any friends without knowing how to be courteous and show respect. So words such as “please” and “thanks” are essential as is knowing how to apologize.
- Please – कृपया (krip-ya)
- Thank You – धन्यवाद (dhanyavad)
- Thank you so much – बहुत धन्यवाद (bahut dhanyavaad)
- You are welcome – आपका स्वागत है (aapka swagat hai)
- Excuse me – सुनिए (Suniyé)
- It’s fine – यह ठीक है (yeh theek hai)
- I am sorry – माफ़ कीजिए (maaf keejiyé)
The Numbers in Hindi – Learn to Count
Learning to count is paramount in any language, you are likely going to her number in Hindi being said aloud daily.
They are vital for shopping and bartering making appointments and as well as telling the time, which we follow with next.
- 0 – शून्य (shoonye/ zero)
- 1 – एक (ek)
- 2 – दो (do)
- 3 – तीन (teen)
- 4 – चार (chaar)
- 5 – पाँच (paanch)
- 6 – छः (cheh)
- 7 – सात (saat)
- 8 – आठ (aath)
- 9 – नौ (nau)
- 10 – दस (das)
- 11 – ग्यारह (gyarah)
- 12 – बारह (baarah)
- 13 – तेरह (terah)
- 14 – चौदह (chaudah)
- 15 – पन्द्रह (pandrah)
- 16 – सोलह (solah)
- 17 – सत्रह (satrah)
- 18 – अट्ठारह (ataarah)
- 19 – उन्नीस (unnis)
- 20 – बीस (bees)
- 30 – तीस (tees)
- 40 – चालीस (chaalees)
- 50 – पचास (pachaas)
- 60 – साठ (saath)
- 70 – सत्तर (sattar)
- 80 – अस्सी (assi)
- 90 – नबे (nabé)
- 100 – सौ (sau)
- 500 – पाँच सौ (pach so)
- 1000 – हज़ार (hazaar)
- 2000 – दो हज़ार (do hazaar)
Telling the Time in Hindi
As promised here are some beginner-friendly phrases to learn to tell the time in Hindi, we have included a few temporal nouns so you can see them in use and where they fit in the sentence structure.
- What is the time? – कितने बजे हैं? (kitné bajé hai?)
- It’s 1 o’clock – एक बजा है (ek baja hai)
- 12 noon – बारह (barah)
- 12:15 – सवा बारह (sava-baa-rah)
- 12:30 – साढे बारह (sade-baa-rah)
- 3:45 PM – पौने चार (paune-chaar)
- Today is a good day – आज अच्छा दिन है (aaj acha din hai)
- Tomorrow – कल (kal)
- Yesterday – बिता हुआ कल (bita hua kal)
- The day after tomorrow – परसों (parson)
- Yesterday I saw him – कल मैंने उसे देखा था (kal maine use dekha tha)
- I saw in the morning – मैंने सुबह देखा (maine subah dekha)
- I saw in the afternoon – मैंने दोपहर को देखा (maine dopahar ko dekha)
- I saw at night – मैंने रात को देखा (maine raat ko dekha)
- Come soon/fast – जल्दी आ (jaldi aa)
- Come later – बाद में आना (baad mein aana)
The Days of the Week in Hindi
In addition to learning the numbers, the days of the week are essential for making plans, attending appointments, or understanding formalities.
- Monday – सोमवार (somvaar)
- Tuesday – मंगलवार (mangalvaar)
- Wednesday – बुधवार (budhwar)
- Thursday – गुरुवार (guruvaar)
- Friday – शुक्रवार (shukrawar)
- Saturday – शनिवार (shanivaar)
- Sunday – रविवार (ravivaar)
Basic Questions in Hindi
Question words are so important to learn as a beginner, knowing what someone is asking, even if not specifically, can help calm the anxiety that can come with traveling abroad by leaps and bounds.
If you have been paying attention so far you may have already ascertained a few of them already!
- When? – कब? (kab)
- Who? – कौन? (kaun?)
- What? – क्या? (kya?)
- Which? – कौन कौन से? (kaun kaun se)
- Where is ___? – कहाँ है ___?– (kahaan hai)
- What are you doing? – तुम क्या कर रहे हो? (tum kya kar rahe ho)
- How many? – कितने? (kitane)
- What’s the price? – कीमत क्या है? (keemat kya hai)
- How much does this cost? – यह कितने का है? (yeh kitné ka hai?)
- Where is the washroom? – शौचालय कहाँ है? (shauchalay kahan hai?)
- Who are you – तुम कौन हो? (tum kaun ho)
Expressing Wants in Hindi
The following four phrases are a good place to start expressing what you want. You can change up the nouns later once your vocabulary has grown.
- I want this – मैं यह चाहता हूँ (main yahi chahta hoon)
- I would like to have___ – मुझको _____ चाहिए (mujhko _____ chaahiyé).
- I want to go to the market – मैं बाज़ार जाना चाहता हूँ (main bazar jana chahta hoon)
- I want to make a phone call – मैं फोन करना चाहता हूं (main phone karan chahta hoon)
Asking for Directions in Hindi
There is nothing worse than getting lost in a town you don’t know and we all know that it’s easy to do in your native country where you speak the language.
Now, hopefully, you won’t get yourself too far from the beaten path but just in case you do, or if somebody asks you, here are some useful words and phrases for taking and giving directions.
- Left – बायाँ (bayaan])
- Right – दायाँ (daayan])
- Turn – मुड़िए (moodiyé)
- Straight ahead – सीधा (seedhaa)
- Behind – पीछे (peeché)
- Under – नीचे (neeché)
- Before – पहले/ सामने (saamné /pahelé)
- Toward this – यह की तरफ़ ( yah kee taraf)
- Past this – यह के आगे (yah ké aagé)
- This is near by – यह पास है (yeh paas hai)
Asking For Help in Hindi
Again, fingers crossed you won’t find yourself in a situation where any of the following phrases are necessary.
But, regardless of whether or not you find yourself in danger, the vocabulary in these phrases is invaluable for adapting to other uses.
- Help! – मदद कीजिए (madad keejiyé)
- Can I help you? – क्या मैं आपकी मदद कर सकता /सकती हुँ?– (kya mein aapki madad kar sakta (male) / sakti (female) hoon?)
- Hold on, please – एक मिनट ( ek minute)
- Watch out! – सावधान (savdhaan)
- I am lost – हम खो गये हैं (hum kho gaye hain)
- I lost my passport – मेरा पास्पोर्ट खो गया (mera passport kho gaya)
- Call the police – पुलिस को बुलाओ (pulis ko bulao)
- I am in danger – मैं खतरे में हूं (main khatre mein hoon)
- Someone is in danger – किसी को खतरा है (kisi ko khatra hai)
- Please call an ambulance – कृपया एम्बुलेंस बुलाएं (kripaya ambulans bulan)
- I am in pain – मुझे दर्द हो रहा है (mujhe dard ho raha hai)
- There’s a fire – यहाँ आग लगी है (yahaa aag lagi hai)
Essential Hindi Phrases for Daily Use – Video Guide
Hindi Phrases – Final Thoughts
There is no surefire way to fast-track your Hindi language learning. But once you can confidently pronounce the letters of the alphabet, common greetings and phrases like we have gathered here today are a great way to dive in.
Question words are a key ingredient. Then with the numbers, days of the week, and just a few phrases to express wants and needs; You can expand your knowledge of the language pretty quickly.
Then with a cheat sheet memorized all you really need to do is focus on sentence formation and structure before you can begin dabbling with forming your own.
The best way to learn is by exposure, especially when learning a new writing system and alphabet full of sounds that are very different from your own phonetics. So get absorbing those Bollywood movies and songs.
Want an easier way to practice and learn Hindi? Check out our comprehensive guide on the best apps to learn Hindi.
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