If you’re planning a trip to India, or trying to make friends with Hindi speakers then this beginner’s lesson written phonetically is going to be a perfect place to start.
Hindi is a versatile language due to the multi-linguistic nature of India and its cultural heritage. Therefore, it has various ways to express the same things, many of which are context specific.
Today we’ll discuss a myriad of ways that you can ask how someone is in Hindi.
Remember, as with English, a formal ‘how are you?’ can be asked much more casually among friends.
Some casual greetings are downright silly if we were to translate them literally, especially among younger demographics and taking slang into account; “how’s it hanging?”, “wassup”!
So, we’ll take you through your options as well as a handful of different, vocab-boosting, adjective-filled responses.
Say ‘How Are You?’ In Hindi – An overview
| Aap kaise hain? | आप कैसे हैं? | How are you?(formal masculine and plural form) |
| Aap kaisee hain? | आप कैसी हैं? | How are you?(formal femanine form) |
| Kaise hain aap? | कैसे हैं आप | How are you? (Informal) |
| Kaise ho? | कैसे हो | How ho (slang) |
| Kya haal hai? | क्या हाल है? | What’s up/ what’s going on”? |
| Sab theek? | सब ठीक? | Everything okay? |
| Aur baTaaiye! / Aur baTaao! | और बताइये! / और बताओ! | And, tell more! (slang) |
| Sab kaiSaa caL rahaa hai? | सब कैसा चल रहा है? | How is everything going? |
| Kahaan ho aaj kaL | ?कहाँ हो आज कल? | Where are you these days? |
| Main (adjective) hoon | मैं (…) हूँ | I am (adjective)(How to respond to “how are you”) |
| Aura aap? | और आप? | And you? (formal) |
| Aura tum? | और तुम? | And you? (informal) |
The Formal Way to Say ‘How Are You?’ In Hindi
We are getting the ball rolling with your formal options because there is only one phrase considered the proper and correct way to say “how are you” and that is “Aap kaise hain आप कैसे हैं?
This changes if you are speaking to a female but only slightly so it should also be easy to remember.
Here they are together so you can see the difference;
- To a male or group; Aap kaise hain? आप कैसे हैं?
- To a female; Aap kaisee hain? आप कैसी हैं?
Use the formal way to say “how are you” with those you don’t know well, your elders and authority figures.
Informal Ways to Say ‘How Are You?’ In Hindi
There are tonnes of great informal ways you can ask the same question in most languages.
Informal situations allow you to switch things up a bit and show off your vocabulary!
All of the following phrases mean something along the lines of ‘how’s it going?’ as opposed to the correct and proper “how are you?” we discussed above.
Kaise hain aap? कैसे हैं आप
You will see this one is almost the same as the formal way to ask “Aap kaise hain?” the words are in a different order, and the sentence structure is technically incorrect so it’s informal! It is another way you might hear “how are you?” being asked.
Kaise ho? कैसे हो
The word Kaise कैसे means “how” and the “ho” part is an onomatopoeic cheer, the literal interpretation could be compared to when you might greet a close friend with nothing more than a friendly noise like “eeey” and they simply know you are asking how they are!
Kya haal hai? क्या हाल है?
Another good way to ask how life is going is to use “Kya haal hai” or “क्या हाल है?”.
“Haal” is the word for situation or circumstance and “Kya” is the question word for “what”. So you are asking something like “what is your situation?”
It is less formal than it sounds translated into English, you could view it as “what’s up” or “what’s going on”.
Sab kaiSaa chaL rahaa hai? सब कैसा चल रहा है?
Sab kaiSaa chaL rahaa hai? सब कैसा चल रहा है? Is the Hindi phrase for “how is everything going?”.
“Sab” is the word for “all” or in this particular case “everything” and “rahaa” is the word for “live”, “dwell”, “stay”, or “remain.
It is a deeper way to ask how someone is if you care and want a detailed answer. Great for informal use with close friends.
Sab theek? सब ठीक?
Now, we just told you “sab” is the word for “all or “everything”- “theek” is the word for “normal”, “correct”,” sure”, “decent”, it means things are moderately good or at least as they should be and so the word has been adapted for use as the word “okay”.
So when you say “sab theek” “सब ठीक?” you are saying “everything okay?”. It’s a nice easy to remember, very casual way to ask how are you, perfect for use with mates.
Aur baTaaiye! और बताइये!
Aur baTaaiye और बताइये is another way to say “what’s up?”.
The literal translation in English is “and tell more” it is mostly used by younger speakers as a greeting and is an acceptable informal way to say “hello” as well as “how are you”.
Some people say aur baTaao और बताओ which means the same thing instead.
Kahaan ho aaj kaL?कहाँ हो आज कल?
Kahaan is the Hindi word for “where” and although this phrase refers to somebody’s whereabouts, it is another way to ask how someone is, or rather “how have you been?”
If you haven’t seen someone for quite some time then it’s a great phrase. The literal translation is “Where are you these days?”.
Responding To “How Are You?”
Obviously, how you reply when faced with the question “how are you” is subjective. But the easiest response to learn is with the sentence structure Main मैं +adjective for mood or feeling + hoon हूँ.
Below are a few different examples of how you might be feeling, to get you started, notice the structure never changes.
| I’m good | Main ah-cha hoon |
| I’m fine/okay | Main theek hoon |
| I’m very good/great | Main bahut ah-cha hoon |
| I’m very happy | Main bahut khoosh hoon |
| I’m sad | Main dukhee hoon |
| I’m sick | Main beemaar hoon |
| I’m tired | Main thak gayaa hoon |
| I’m bad/not good | Main bura hoon |
Easy! Main मैं… hoon हूँ means I am…
All you need to do is slip the appropriate adjective in between the two.
You may have deduced that adding the word ‘bahut’ before your adjective means “very”.
How To Ask Back After Responding
Before we bring things to a conclusion we have one final phrase that you should know.
After we are asked how we are doing we typically ask “and you?”out of politeness and genuine interest.
Hindi uses the same concept, there are two options one formal and one informal;
| Formal | Aura aap? |
| Informal | Aura tum? |
If you are with a friend you can simply say “Tum?” or “aap” as both words mean you, you are simply responding “you?” instead of “and you?”.
How Are You in Hindi – Final Thoughts
So there you have it, the formal and informal ways to say ‘how are you?’ in Hindi.
You have plenty of casual options to choose from and you know how you can respond when you are asked how life is.
If you travel through India you should be able to get through a bit of small talk with everything you have learned in this article. Make sure you check out our other Hindi Phrase Guides too!
