hindi

How would you translate a sentence like this: "But despite his attempts, he still lost"?

Friends, In the following stanza, which starts the simple and beautiful song "Woh Paas Rahe ya Door Rahe", sung by Suraiya vah paas rahe yaa duur rahe nazroN meN samaae rahte hai itnaa to bataa de koii hameN kyaa pyaar isii ko kahte haiN What is the reason for using "rahte" in "samaae rahte...

Friends, The expression kisii ke kaan pe chaar lagaanaa (to lay four on someone's ear) means "to slap someone"? I found it in the following stanza: ghuur ke dekhe jo koii tujhko kaan pe uske chaar lagaa duuN! [sample Youtube video OulN7vTDq1I at 0:58] Thanks in advance

Friends, The following are lines from the song "O Saqi Saqi" (a generic Bollywood drinking song, it doesn't really matter). [Youtube: 6wNFJIbTxNk at 1:24] tere jaisii maa'shuuqa(h) mujhe yaar chaahie na(h) paisaa chaahie, na(h) hii qaraar chahie Should it be "tere jaisii" or "teri jaisii"...

Friends, The song "Labb Par Aaye", of the popular Indian web series "Bandish Bandits", is supposed to be inspired in classical tunes, and it starts as follows: lab par aaeN giit suhaane maane na jiyaraa lakh bahaane The translation given is always: ... but my heart makes a thousand excuses...

There's been a few threads about how some (many?) Hindi speakers merge "ph" and "f" (फ and फ़), pronouncing both as "f" (फ़) . I'm more curious about how this merger is perceived. Is it normal? Is it stigmatized? For context, I learned Hindi with the two merged (e.g. I pronounce फिर "phir" as...

Friends, What does ghanan-ghanan mean? I find it in songs related to seasons and raining, and it is surely something clouds do, but, what? Thundering? Mushrooming? Gathering? Hammering? Is it an onomatopoeia? Or some sort of adverbial phrase equivalent to English gerund in -ing ? Examples...

Friends, What, or who, is a "jaanu shoNRaa"? Perhaps, by the context, it means someone who has been too pampered? The words appear in the song "Sajan Bin", of a new Indian series called "Bandish Bandits" which apparently became hugely popular. The story is about a couple of musicians: he, shy...

How would you translate this construction into English? Aese sunne mein aa/mil rahaa thaa ki ... / ऐसे सुनने में आ/मिल रहा था की ... / ... ایسے سننے میں آ/مل رہا تھا کی Simply, "I heard that..." or "They told me that.."? But it seems like a very round-about construction to say that.

As I spent a lot of time listening to people in Mumbai speak Hindi, I'm trying to pick up some common patterns to help understand the Hindi spoken by Mumbaikars. However, I have not really been able to find good resources on this. Wikipedia has a page with Bombay slang, which I've primarily...

Hi, I was surprised to discover that my Hindi dictionary lacks उभरना but contains अफरना. Do they mean the same thing in Hindi? I have never heard the latter in Urdu (but the former is extremely common). Thanks!

Friends, What kind of phrase is bolii-boliiN or bolii-boleN (verbal, adjectival, nominal)? What does it mean? It appears also in the Coke Studio song "Bholay Bhalay", and in which a woman narrates how she is seduced by her lover's apparent innocence. The translation given suggests "to...

Friends, Could someone please tell me what are they really saying in the last verse of this stanza? What does "koii maaNjhii chale saath" really mean? It belongs to the song "Bholay Bhalay", featured in Coke Studio Pakistan season 9 The song is about a woman narrating how his (deceptively)...

Friends, I found that haaN-meN-haaN milaanaa means: to ditto, to echo, to agree unquestioningly or sycophantically. But does haaN-meN-haaN milnaa also exist? I found it in the song "Meherbaan", from the 2014 Indian movie "Bang Bang!" jaane na(h) jahaan, jaane haiN kahaaN milii thii merii...

Friends, Does "khiNch laanaa" (not lenaa) exist as a compound verb? (I assume it would mean something like "being drawn to, being attracted") I found it in the song "aagaa baaii", from the 2012 Indian film "Aiyyaa". But I can't find it in dictionaries. The corresponding stanza is: baalii umr...

Hello all, I would be very grateful if a native speaker could: 1) confirm if the greeting in Hindi in the image below is correct, and 2) identify the other language in Devanagari script, below the Russian word ПРИВЕТ, and confirm if the greeting is correct as well. Thank you very much.

What does the word naam-o-nishaan / नामोनिशान / نام-و-نشان mean? I have a Hindi-speaking friend from Odisha who uses it a lot, but he has difficulty explaining to me how it is used. From what I gather, it is generally used in a periphrastic way to mean "nothing" with an additional emphasis...

These are some sentence structures which I can't really express in Urdu. Some examples of these strucutres in English are: "Although he won the race, his legs were broken" and "I would like to give a message to John" How do you express these type of sentences in Hindi/Urdu?

Hi folks, In the below quoted poem Madhushala by Harivansh Rai Bachchan (courtesy @aevynn SaaHib) the second word in the first verse is औ'. Is it a pure coincidence that it is bears similarity to Urdu و -o- or has this word have a different etymology in Hindi? On basis of the spelling alone...

Friends, In the song "aplam chaplam chaplaayii re" (which is very famous, for what I understand), from the 1955 Indian film "Azaad", I gather that "aplam-chaplam" are just some meaningless words to obtain a beat. But what about chaplaayii or chaplaii or chap laii? Does it mean anything...

Hi, all. Could you tell me how to understand "परमेश्वर के नियम सभी पर"? Can it be clearly understood as "God Rules Over All"?

Friends, What (if anything) does "aa fasii" mean in the stanza below? aisii ajnabii thii aapsii ki(h) ham se na kabhii koii aa fasii The lyrics belong to the song "Udd Gaye" from the singer-songwriter Ritviz, who is known for his somewhat too-figurative lyrics. It is probably the most famous...

What does this mean? I've seen this used in a variety of contexts, such as (it is bolded): میں اس گانے میں مزا لے رہا ہوں۔ (I am enjoying this song). In a poem written by Ghalib (said to be his first), I've noticed this as well: ایک دن مثل پتنگ کاغذی لے کےدل سر رشتۂ آزادگی خود بخود کچھ ہم...

Dear Foreros, I was wondering what a book launch party could be called in the languages above. Book itself obviously being kitaab, and bazm being an acceptable form of party, but how about the combined form of being a book launch party? Persophones it would be great if you translitered...

Friends, What does kiTT jaa ke mar jaanaa means? I found this expression in the song "Ghani Bawri", from the 2015 Indian movie "Tanu Weds Manu Returns", and the context is a girl losing her reputation for being madly in love. It is sung as part of a wedding entertainment. The stanza goes: jo...

Friends, Does आयेजा-आयेजा mean anything? It is from a song by Ritviz called "Liggi" (which, BTW, doesn't mean anything by the author's own admission). The video clip happens while a girl relaxes and fools around right after her wedding night, although the lyrics are more somber, suggesting some...

The compound postpositions are: ke andar - Inside ke aage - In Front ke oopar - On Top ke neeche - Beneath / Under ke peeche - Behind ke paas - Near ke baad - After ke baahar - Outside ke lie - For ke saath - With I've seen some cases of people omitting "key" from these positions...

Friends, Yesterday, I learnt that laapataa / लापता CATURVEDIलापता ADJECTIVEmissing; disappeared, gone underground; untraceable BAHRIलापता ADJECTIVE(a) without address; ~ पत्र a letter --. (b) missing: वह कई वर्ष से ~ था he had been -- for several years; वह मिनटों में ~ हो गया he...

Friends, In the famous Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan qawwali starting with the words "ja ke rulaayaa, raj ke haNsaayaa ..." (and known more commercially as "dekhte-dekhte"), assuming we are talking all the time about a single woman, why are all forms following "vo" consistently in masculine plural...

What is the meaning and origin of Himachali धाम dhaam/Dogri taam? It seems to be like a Kashmiri wazvan feast. I looked at some Sanskrit meanings of धाम, like site of pilgrimage/abode/holy site/residence and I saw a few other unrelated meanings but none of them seem like good candidates for the...

Friends, I have a little difficulty translating this stanza. It belongs to the song "Baabuujii dhiire chalnaa", from the Indian 1954 movie "Aar Paar". The singer is a dancer in some sort of shady den, performing for male customers. kyuuN ho khoe hue sar jhukaae jaise jaate ho sab kuch luTaae...

Hello, How should some compound words, such as भाई-बहन be inflected? It seems sometimes both parts are declined, sometimes the second part only. Version #1 (2nd part only is declined) Oblique: भाई-बहनों Vocative: भाई-बहनो Version #2 (both parts are declined) Oblique: भाइयों-बहनों Vocative...

Hi, Can someone suggest what the grammatical gender is for some city names: वाशिंगटन, न्यूयॉर्क, अंकारा, अबू धाबी, मेलबोर्न, एथेंस, ऐम्स्टर्डैम, ऑकलैंड, ऑक्सफ़ोर्ड, ओटावा, ओसाका, क़ुस्तुंतुनिया, कार्डिफ़, कुआला लमपुर, केपटाउन, कैंब्रिज, कैनबरा, कैलगरी, क्योटो, क्राइस्टचर्च, गोल्ड कोस्ट...

Hi, I noticed the sticky thread about the closed Oxford dictionary. I know that McGregor's dictionary The Oxford Hindi-English dictionary for Hindi is alive and kicking, although there's no link to it on the main page.

Friends, What would be the literal translation of the second part of this verse? raat bhar kaa hai mahmaan amNdheraa kis ke roke rukaa hai saveraa The interpretive translation is: Darkness is a guest for as much as the night Who can hold back the morning bright? And it belongs to the song...

These are some words which I have trouble understand the rules for. When to use this words?

Hi, Is the word मुश्क مشک mushk masculine or feminine? I thought it was masculine but then came across the following entry in an Arabic-Urdu dictionary: سقاء: پانی کی مشک Thank you!

Friends, Is it customary to title ghazals using their full first line? In Bollywood movies, I observe that songs are often titled with the first few letters of the lyrics, even if they do not make complete grammatical sense (e.g. "aa chal ki(h) tujhe ...", "us mulk kii sarhad ko ...", etc.)...

Hello everyone! I have been encountering some difficulties conveying this meaning in a sentence. The formulation I am looking for is the following: - I am sure of nothing but this. - Why do I do this, if not for him? - I am nothing if not a man of my word. Basically - emphasis put on one...

When masculine nouns in Urdu do not end in ا and are not followed by a postposition (making them oblique), we usually have the singular and plural of those nouns remain the same. However, when you do pluralize such as a noun (like fruit:پھل), how can you tell the difference in a sentence when...

There is a toy whose origin I believe is in India. It is called a "mandala toy". I am guessing that this is a Hindi word. Can anyone tell me what "mandala" means.

In a song from the blockbuster 1975 movie "Sholey" شعلے (shu3le), known under the words "ko'ii Hasiinah jab ruuTh jaatii hae," you can hear the singer saying "bholiye", addressed to Hema Malini, in the context of words such as "nakhre/naxre vaaliyaaN" and "TaaNge vaaliyaaN" etc. bholii is a...

I've started reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (harii pauTar aur paaras patthar) and I've noticed that often times words like "jab" will have a "ki" following them. For example: vo unki baat par tab tak yaqiin nahin karne vaaliN, jab tak ki DambalDor khud na keh deN ki ye sac thhaa...

"woh" can be used to mean "this/that/these/it (far)", "his", "her", "he", "she". Example: وہ اپنی روٹی کھا رہا ہے۔ (woh apni rote kaha raha hai) "he is eating his bread" However, there are some cases where we don't use "woh", though it still translates to "this/that/these/it (far)"...

What are the differences between these 3 words? My understanding is that "yaqiin" is "belief/certainty", and "bharosa" is "trust/faith". But I don't understand how "vishvaas" fits into these definitions. Is there a difference between "mujhe vishvaas nahin ho rahaa hai" and "mujhe yaqiin nahin...

Friends, Is "sach-jhuuTh" the same as"jhuuTh-sach" (misrepresentation), or it is actually the opposite, something like "the truth (out of a lie)"? For example: - iNsaan ke sach-jhuuTh kii pahchaan hai aaNkheN -- this is from a song, "us mulk kī sarhad kō" - vah jantaa ko shikshit karne se...

Friends, What would be the romantic meaning of a woman calling a man parkhne-vaalaa? By a dictionary search, I know it means "assayer, one who tests the purity of metals", and more in general "tester, one who judges". The story goes like this: a man (who is a poet) and a woman (who is a...

Friends, In the song "Mujhe ye phool na de", from the 1964 Indian movie "Ghazal", Mohammed Rafi is the playback singer for a poet making love protest to his beloved, using poety-trade vocabulary Gazal kaa loch hai tuu nazm kaa shabaab hai tuu My question is: did Mr Rafi break my heart and...

Friends, What would be the Devanagari spelling of "baahj"? as in: [sohNRyaa], man kahnā, tere baahj meN [naiyyoN] rahnaa (It is not "बाहज", and Google Input refuses to do the conjunct character between ह and ज, which leads me to believe it won't be that, either :)) The general idea is, I...

Friends, What is the value/grammar of "maanaa" in the following phrase? haaN, maanaa is duniyaa kii huuN hii nahii maiN apnii hii duniyaa banaauNgii It is from the generic, unremarkable coming-of-age song "Ek Zindagi" of the 2020 Indian movie "Angrezi Medium". Is maanaa used: as a particle...