Today we are going to take you through some great words and phrases in Hindi. It is a beautiful Indo-Aryan language spoken throughout most of India and in some parts of Africa as well as Yemen.
Learning some common Hindi words and greetings and expressions is a great way to expand your language skills. Hindi speakers love when people try to learn their mother tongue.
In this phrase-book style shortlist, we have gathered some of the most common and some of the most beautiful Hindi words for you to fall in love with.
Important Hindi Greetings
If you want to start speaking in Hindi, you are going to need to know a few greetings to approach people with.
Culturally there is a lot of respect interwoven in the language itself and there are customs to follow. So you should be aware there are informal and formal greetings to pick between.
While we have formal and informal options in English, Hindi has far more variations for speaking to strangers or authority figures.
Here are a few phrases to start your vocabulary bank with. We present them to you written in Devanagari script and the Latin alphabet beside each word to help with the pronunciation.
- नमस्ते (namaste) – hello & goodbye
- स्वागत (swagt) – welcome to a stranger
- आप से मिलकर खुशी हुई (Ap se milkar kushi hui) – Nice to meet you!
- कैसा चल रहा है? (kaisa chal raha hai?) – How are you?
- नमस्कार (namaskar) – good afternoon
- सुसंध्या (susandhya) – good evening
- सुबह (subah) – morning
- फिर मिलेंगे (phir milenge) – see you
- विदाई (vidai) – farewell
Basic Hindi Words
In addition to common greetings, there are a few basic Hindi words that will allow you to express yourself a little more.
We have rounded up some important imperatives, common expressions of gratitude and politeness, verbs, and adjectives to explore as well as the Hindi words ascribed to family members.
Modifiers and Imperatives
- हाँ (haan) – yes
- नहीं (nahi) – no
- चलो (chalo) – let’s go
- रुको (ruko) – stop
Marks of Courtesy
- कृप्या (kripaya) – please
- धन्यवाद (dhanyavaad) – thank you
- माफ़ करना (maaf karana) – sorry
Family Relationships
- मुझे (mujhe) – me
- परिवार (parivara) – family
- मां (mam) – mother
- पिता (pita) – father
- बहन (bahana) – sister
- भाई (bhai) – brother
- चचेरा (cacera) – cousin
3 Basic Verbs
- खाओ (khaao) – eat
- खेलो (khelo) – play
- काम करो (kaam karo) – work
Useful Adverbs of Time
- आज (aaj) – today
- कल (kal) – tomorrow/yesterday
- दिन (din) – day
- रैना (raina) – night
Crucial Nouns
- खाना (khaana) – food
- पानी (pani) – water
Some Basic Ways to Express an Emotion or Opinion
- अच्छा (accha) – good
- खराब (kharaab) -bad
- मोहब्बत (mohabbat) – love
- नफ़रत (nafarata) – hate
- उदास (udasa) – sad
- खुश (khusa) – happy
- सुभग (subhaga) – charming
Beautiful Hindi Words
Before we move on to some essential phrases to learn, we want to share with you some of the most beautiful Hindi words.
Each with a powerful meaning, some with a unique depth that can’t be directly translated into English.
- सुंदर (Sundara) – Beautiful, lovely, or pretty.
- आशा (Aasha) – Hope or expectation.
- हसरत (Hasrat) – Wish or desire (notice it shares the same consonants as the word for hope above).
- शक्ति (Shakti) – Physical power or strength.
- इन्द्रिय (Indriya) – Literally, it means senses, but refers again to power. This is a different kind of power one that comes from within we would equate it to a spiritual strength or life force.
- पराक्रम (Paraakram) – is the word for courage, strength, and heroism.
- ख्याल (Khyaal) – This one is tricky to explain, it loosely means “regardful-ness” or “notion”, you can think of it as a fond remembrance or muse.
- रूह (Rooh) – Means soul.
- राब्ता (Raabta) – Is an Urdu loanword of Arabic origin that has been adopted into Hindi to describe a soulful connection.
- तनहाई (Tanhai) – The word for loneliness.
- एहसास (Ehsaas) – Equates to feelings.
- मोक्ष (Moksha) – Is a word used for salvation or freedom and is ascribed to a deliverance not dissimilar to the Buddhist concept of Nirvana.
- वात्सल्य (Vatsalya) – The Hindi word that expresses a mother’s unconditional love
- जिजीविषा (Jijivisha) – This beautiful Hindi word doesn’t directly translate to English. It is the inherent will to live and means something like hope for life, some might say survival instinct but that doesn’t adequately reflect the depth at the core of the word.
Common & Essential Hindi Phrases
Of course, a handful of words won’t get you too far with a Hindi Speaker, so you will need to understand a few common expressions and have some essential phrases to use.
Common Hindi Questions for Beginners
- क्या आप हिन्दी बोलते हैं? (kya ap hindi bolte hain?) – Do you speak Hindi?
- आपका नाम क्या है? (aapka naam kya hai?) – What is your name?
- आप कहाँ से हो? (aap kahaan se ho?) – Where are you from?
- यह क्या है? (yeh kya hai?) – What is this?
- शौचालय कहाँ है? (shauchalay kahan hai?) – Where is the bathroom?
- कितने का है? (kitane ka hai?) – How much is this?
Phrases to Express an Opinion
- मुझे पसंद नहीं है (mujhe pasand nahi hai) – I do not like…
- मुझे पसंद है (mujhe pasand hai) – I like it.
- मुझे नहीं पता (mujhe nahiṁ pata) – I don’t know.
Other Useful Hindi Phrases to Learn
- क्या आप इसे दोहरा सकते हैं (kya ap issey dohra saktey hain?) – Please say that again.
- मुझे अकेला छोड़ दो! (mujhe akela chod do) – Go away!
- मैं थक गया (main thak gaya) – I’m tired
- मुझे भूख लगी है (mujhe bhookh lagee hai) – I am hungry
- ज़्यादा कुछ नहीं (zyaada kuch nahi) – Nothing much
- जल्दी से ठीक हो जाओ (jaldi se ṭhik ho jao) – Get well soon
- आप का दिन अच्छा बीते! (ap ka din accha bite!) – Have a nice day!
- मुबारक हो! (mubaarak ho!) – Congratulations
Video Guide
Hindi Words -Final Thoughts
The path to learning Hindi starts with a few simple greetings, phrases, and basic vocab.
It can be daunting to learn a language with a script that isn’t Latin. But hopefully, the way we have presented it today will make it less overwhelming.
With the right mixture of types of words and a few key phrases in your head, you can understand a lot of basic conversations pretty fast.
Get practicing these 70-plus examples and you will be well on your way to a half-decent conversation with a Hindi Speaker…And they will undoubtedly be impressed by your efforts!
Want an easier way to learn Hindi? Check out our comprehensive review guide on the best Hindi learning apps.
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