hindi

I'm reading the 18th lesson of Complete Hindi by Rupert Snell and I don't understand the use of causative in perfective participle form + जाना . सुहास : प्रताप, टैक्सीवाले को कहलवा दो कि वह चला जाए । सुरेश : हाँ, टैक्सी को तो बाद में वपास बुलवाया जा साकता है । and further : मेरे लन्दन में...

Re: liking things: I get the sense (I could be wrong; am hardly an expert) that, unlike Gujarati, where we hear bhaave chhe & game chhe fairly often and where some things bhaave chhe but can't game chhe and vice versa, in Hindi-Urdu bhaanaa isn't as widely used (though still common). Are there...

Dear Foreros, I was wondering what the official terms for working and non-working hours are in the languages above. From a quick Google search the following is what is returned so far as Urdu is concerned: Auqaat/Oqaat e kaar which would suggest that Ghair-auqaat/oqaat E kaar would be the...

Friends, What is "manvaa nagrii" in the stanza below? The polem is a generic lamentation for the beloved's absence, called "Balma", and it was featured in Coke Studio 2019 bechain, manvaa nagrii bechain haaN, birhaa kii maarii, more birhaa kii maarii more rovat nain [Youtube: Fx1Ec3Nd82w...

In cheejon kee keemat kitanee hai. I want to know here is that should I say "kitna" hai aur "kitni" hai with kimat? And kindly explain me the rules.

How do you say "to draw the line" as in "this is the limit"? Example: "He's done a lot of bad things, but smoking is where you draw the line?" My attempt: "usne bahut saarii burii cheezeN ki hain, lekin tum uske sigreT peene par to had rakhte ho?" Would this make sense?

Hi all, Is "r" pronounced at the end of syllables in English loanwords? In my experience, words like "card," "internet," and homework," are pronounced without an "r" (i.e. 'kaaD', 'inTaneT', 'homvak'). However there are some English loanwords which seem to keep this "r" (e.g. "car" is 'kaar'...

Tell me the right way to do this job yah kaam karane ka sahee upaay mujhe bataie Do upaay and tarika mean the same? Can I use them in the written sentence?

How would you talk about living within one's means, colloquially? And beyond one's means? With a gun to my head, I might say: हर एक को अपनी हदों में (के अंदर?) जीना ( रहना?) चाहिये. Beyond - ?

Dear Foreros, I was wondering how would you refer to someone as "like family or to be family to you" in the languages above. If someone were your blood you would say "tum to meraa/humaaraa xuun ho", however the same wouldn't apply for an adopted member of the household I.e. whether its a friend...

Friends, What does "surtiyaa" mean in the context below? My assumption is, that it is a diminutive for surtaa = considerate, thoughtful, mindful, etc. These are the typical lyrics about a woman paining for her absent beloved, it belongs to the song "Laage Re Nain" from Coke Studio jab se...

Friends, What does the "chin" below mean? My assumption is that, somehow, "the moments are unable to cram the ghurry, and peace doesn't stay" (with chinna = chunna) laage re nain tum se piyaa more ghaRii pal chin nahiiN chain paRat hai The lyrics belong to the song "Laage Re Nain", from Coke...

Is there a word for shelf life in Hindi? What is the shelf life of eggs? ( How long does an egg last until it spoils?) Please do the translation in Hindi?

My understanding is that "muft" means "costs nothing" and "mukt" means "unrestrained/emancipated"? Is this correct or can they be used interchangeably? Are the following sentences correct then? "यहाँ मुफ़्त में मिलती है" (yahaaN muft meN miltii hai) = "here you get it for free" "यहाँ मुक्त में...

I'm not sure which is the right preposition. mujhe pata nahin sahi preposition konsi hain. I'm not sure which preposition should be used. mujhe pata nahi konsa preposition ka vyavhar karna chahiye I'm not sure what the right preposition is. mujhe pata nahin hain sahi preposition hain kon...

Hello, For me a haunted house was always a bhootiyaa ghar, but the other day (in reference to a tree) I heard bhoot-haa peD, which was a new word for me. Are they interchangeable for native speakers? Also, I rewound a few times to double check, but it sounded like the people on TV did not...

Hi everyone, I am starting a reseach project where I need a database of African countries in various languages, with alternative spellings and case variants. Basically, I need to be able to identify country names in texts in those languages, in all different grammatical circumstances. I also...

Friends, These are the last 2 verses of the fable "A Spider and a Fly", by Iqbal The fable is about the spider deceiving the fly through flattery, until finaly capturing her. bhuukaa thaa kaii roz se, ab haath jo aaii aaraam se ghar baiTh ke makkhii ko uRaayaa It is obvious that the spider...

Friends, What is the "long'/"future-like" most formal imperative of "denaa"? diijegaa or diijiegaa ? Both seems to be represented on the internet. Example 1: makkhii ne sunii baat jo makRe kii to bolii: hazrat, kisii naadaan ko diijegaa ye dhokaa! (from the "A spider and a Fly" fable of...

Dear Foreros, How would you define the concept of taking the credit or wanting the credit for having done something or an accolade in the respective languages. The word that shouts at me is daad. I would assume daad lenaa and chaahnaa would perfectly encapsulate the idea in Urdu and Hindi...

Friends, The stanza below is from "A Spider and a Fly", a fable by Iqbal: ik din kisii makkhii se yah kehne lagaa makRaa: - "is raah se hotaa hai guzar roz tumhaaraa lekin mirii kuTiyaa ki na(h) jaagii kabhii qismat bhuule se khabii tum ne yahaaN na(h) rakhaa" Now, I get that the...

Friends, There is one more questionI have about this "Jaag Rahii" song. Then I am done, promise :) . For context, the song is about a woman staying awake for the sake of her beloved. It is sung mostly from the female point of view, except for a short male counterpart, where the man says that he...

Friends, Many otherwise Hindi/Urdu love songs (for example "Le Jaa, Le Jaa" by Ustad Sultan Khan [sample Youtube=TQR70KKYMmQ]) use the expression: "nii muiiye, nii muiiye ..." which obviously is a Punjabi female vocative. It appears to be a general term of endearment towards women. My...

Friends, What is "takat", as it appears in the following context? (The CokeStutio Pakistan 2020 song "Jaag Rahi") jaag rahii maiN to piyaa ke jagaae raah takat din Duub gayaa laa'e na paNchhii toraa pataa The general idea is, a female lover staying awake for her beloved Season 2020 Episode 1...

I am going through transcriptions of conversations carried out by local Hindi speakers in Mumbai (done by a native speaker). I am noticing quite often people use the form verb+ne ka, where verb+na would be more intelligible to me. I wonder if this is colloquial way to present the infinitive...

Friends, Is "phir kahaaN" an idiomatic phrase, meaning that something that was generally available "is no more", "is (henceforth) nowhere to be found"? Or should it be translated literally, word-by-word? For example, in the song "ye raat yah chaaNdnii phir kahaaN", by Sahir Ludhainvi for the...

Dear Foreros, Whilst many of you would be familiar with the term above used to express one's exasperation towards unwelcome comments made by another. I had a few questions regarding it a) what does FiTe actually mean? B) Should it be transliterated as FiTTe or FiTe with a single t? In fact...

Hi, I was looking for the word chatyal 'bare, bleak, desolate' in my Hindi dictionary but couldn't find it. Is it not spelled चटयल? Thanks!

Friends, What is jhaaRo mean in the following context? It is again the general trope of approaching a woman while she goes to carry water, and it belongs to the song "Na To Karvan Ki Talash Hai". The song has some Punjabi, for what it's worth. naNd ko chhoro mohe roke jhaaRo to kyaa bhar...

Friends, What is "ban-ban" (hyphenated in the original), as it appears in the following lines of the song "na to kaarvaaN kii talaash hai" (also known as "yah ishq isqh"), from the Indian movie "barsaat kii raat"? ban-ban Dolii janak dulaarii pahan ke prem kii maalaa darshan jal kii pyaasii...

Friends, Is "jaan aajaan" an idiomatic expression into itself (something like "oblivious of life"), or it must be translated word-by-word? Example from the qalam "na to kaarvaaN kii talaash hai" (also known as "yah ishq isqh"), from the Indian movie "barsaat kii raat" jab-jab krSHNR kii...

Etymology/root for pagri (turban)? Given the retroflex, I'm almost sure it's native to the subcontinent, but perhaps it's been localized over time?

Friends, In the song "saarii saarii raat terii yaad sataaye" (from the 1958 film "ajii bas shukriyaa") they have this stanza: terii lagan banii rog saavariyaa kaise biite baalii umriyaa baalii umar morii baRaa taRpaae re ... (sample Youtube: 7Kx2JrdGYys at 1:50) What does rog savariyya...

Hi, संधि के अनुच्छेद 2 के अनुसार लीग के प्रमुख उद्देश्य इस प्रकार हैं- सदस्य देशों के मध्य संबंधों को और अधिक घनिष्ठ बनाना तथा उनकी राजनीतिक गतिविधियों में समन्वय स्थापित करना What does स्थापित करना mean in this context? My guess is: to set up, establish. Actually, I think that's the only...

This is a question that you couldn't even call H-U 101; it's so basic. Slowly as an adjective [EDIT: adverb!] is quite clear: dheere se /dheere-dheere. But I have never heard of the uninflected adjective whence those adverbs must have come: dheeraa. Is it used, and I just haven't come across...

Hi, In Urdu the verb دهتكارنا dhutkaarnaa has an aspirated "d" in the beginning. What about in Hindi? I was unable to find it but I did find a compound verb that sounded similar: दुत करना. It means "to reprimand; to drive away", just like the Urdu دهتكارنا. Actually, there are three...

Hello everyone, I'm struggling to get clarity on how you would communicate from english to hindi the sense of 'having' an abstract noun. The textbook I've read says to use the 'mujhe' construction for abstract nouns. While that applies in some cases (i.e. mujhe zukaam hai = I have a cold ), I...

Friends, What is the meaning of jaaveda(h), as used, for example, in several Bollywood songs titled "Javeda Zindagi". Example extract from of one of them [Youtube= y41Dqcpzr-Y at 1:54] tose nainaa laage milii roshnii tose man jo laagaa milii ziNdagii mohbbat to ek jaavedaa(h) ziNdagii hai In...

Hello, I was listening to a Gujarati video, and I didn't understand the word raandhvuN (to cook). Out of interest, I looked up 'to cook' in a Hindi dictionary was surprised to find रांधना. I have never heard of it. Is it very common? I always hear khaanaa banaanaa and pakaanaa, and that's...

Hello! I am interested learning Marwari language and looking for a language partner who would be willing to help me with this language, and also I'd be helping him if he needs any help with the languages I know. I speak mainly Slavic languages (Bosnian/Serbian, Bulgarian, Slovak, Russian) but...

Hello, I've recently noticed Hindi tends to prefer paudhaa whereas Urdu tends to prefer paudaa, for a plant. Does this seem to be a hard and fast rule for you in your respective language? Would the reverse seem strange or unidiomatic? DSAL etc have पौद for example, but I've never seen it...

Hi, What does शान्त shaant mean? समझवाला पुरुष शान्त रहता है। It seems to mean "silent" here. Does it have any other meanings (in other contexts)? Thanks!

Friends, The way to express the ide of "having a propensity/proclivity to do something, tend todo something" is: [subject in oblique] + ko + [oblique infinitive] + kaa chaskaa lagnaa ? I found this construction in the verse from Gulzar's song "nainaa Thag leNge": bhalaa maNdaa dekhe na(h)...

Friends, "To differentiate between good and bad" in Hindustani is idiomatically expressed as "to differentiate between good and the rest"? The reason why I ask, is because of this verse, in the song "nainaa Thag leNge", by Gulzar. The song is about some enchanting eyes, which are not to be...

Friends, The motto or logo for the coffe brand-sponsored musical show "Nescafé Basement" is (sic) "Jaagna Toh Parega" What does it mean, exactly? Prepare to be roused/awaken? (You) will be (suddenly) ketp awake? So that (you) will be woken?

Hi, Do چپراسی चपरासी and چپڑاسی चपड़ासी mean the same thing? Thanks!

Doubtless you have seen similar expressions in English writing. "He found his boss to be charming" "He found the work to be too difficult", etc. How do you translate these sentences into Hindi/Urdu?

Friends, What does the above expression mean? I found it in the song "dil merii na sune", by Manoj Muntashir [Youtube: YZLKoG_vhDY at 3:01] dil to hai dil kaa kyaa, gustaax hai yah Dartaa nahiiN paagal , bebaaq hai ye hai rakiib xud kaa hii, ittefaak hai ye My guess would be: "the heart being...

How is "have" translated when used as a verb? Examples: "I had a house" "I will have a house"

Hi all, Could you translate "there aren't any bananas." into Hindi please? I would instinctively translate as "कोई केले नहीं (हैं)।" but I have read in textbooks that कोई, when used as an adjective, should only be used with singular nouns. I've also read that कुछ which can mean 'any', and be...