hindi

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...

How do you translate this phrase? A sentence: "They are supposed to listen to him, not the other way around". Thanks in advance

Hi, What does मन्द बनाना mean? रात में, आप तेज़ी से सो जाने में मदद करने के लिए, अपने बच्चे को दूध पिलाते समय कम बात करना चाह सकती हैं। आप अभी भी उसे गले लगा सकते हैं और उसे देख सकते हैं, लेकिन बातचीत के अन्य तरीक़ों को कम करने की कोशिश कर सकते हैं। इसके अलावा, रात में भोजन करते समय, प्रकाश को...

Hi, What does सम्बोधित करना mean? उत्तर प्रदेश के मुख्यमंत्री योगी आदित्यनाथ 2 दिन के बिहार दौरे पर हैं. आज बिहार के दरभंगा पहुँचते ही योगी को एक जनसभा को सम्बोधित करना था लेकिन बीती रात आई आंधी तूफ़ान के कारण कार्यक्रम स्थल पर बना पंडाल धराशायी हो गया. Thanks!

Pretty much what the title says. For example: "The more knowledge man obtains, the less ignorant he becomes", or "As the temperatures are increasing, the amount of snow is decreasing", and similar sentences.

I am having trouble with this sentence, how do you translate this into Hindi and Urdu?

Friends, Does paTii-puraanii (jeans) mean "stone-washed", i.e., having undergone that treatment to make them look deliberately old and worn out? I found this in the song "Rockstar", by Ali Zafar [Youtube ZwINALbVF7w] o socho Gaalib ne pehnaa ho Dizaainar se le ke kuuT niilaa ... us par goTe...

Friends, The song "Jinhen Naaz Hai Hind Par", written by Sahir Ludinavi and interpreted by Mohammad Rafi, was reproduced in the 1957 film "Pyaasaa". The movie is about a poet who is repeatedly disenchanted with the baseness, materialism of the world. In the movie scene where the song is used...

Hello, Trying to figure out how to talk about rhyming in H-U has been quite interesting. I came across tukbandi. How would we say: - What rhymes with X? Googling, I found that Hindi speakers equated 'tukbandi' with rhyming, with no other connotations. But Urdu speakers (on Quora, etc)...

Is there any connection (semantic, etymological, or otherwise) between cauR "demolished, destroyed" and cauRaa "wide, broad" ?

Friends, Also related to the song "Main", composed and interpreted by Meesha Shafi in the Pakistani Show "Pepsi, Battle of the Bands". [Youtube: kmqQZetm_iE] There is a stanza that goes: [1:56] raaz saare maiN sunaauN tujhe qaus-e-kuzeh dikhaauuN, mujhe na chhoR tanhaa jaauuN kahaaN maiN I...

Hi, The Urdu word for "mine" is کان कान (feminine). However, today I discovered that in Hindi they say کھان खान (feminine) instead. Is کان कान ever used in Hindi? Thanks!

Friends, The following stanza belongs to the song "Mein" (as in "I") by Meesha Shafi. It was played in 2018 at the show "Battle of the Bands" [Youtube: kmqQZetm_iE at 1:45] guNR laakhoN laakhoN gaaoN tere sadqe maiN jaauuN jaauuN tere saNbhaale dil to bataauuN tujhe maiN What does the "guNR...

Dear Foreros, Whilst I understand entirely that sukaRnaa is the term we use for the act of shrinking, what about when we actively willfully or accidentally shrink something? Would the term then be sukaaRnaa or remain as sukaRnaa? For instance if you accidentally shrunk your sweater in the...

Friends, I read the related postings on this thread, several times, but I am still confused. These 2 verbs are driving me crazy. Could someone, authoritatively confirm that in the sheet below: 1گَڑْنا 3गड़ना5gaRnaa7 to make, to form, to fashion, to solidify 2گَڑْهنا4गढना6gaDhnaa8 to...

Hi, I was struggling with what would be an idiomatic way to say: make someone feel better The teacher tried to make the child feel better by giving her a book. Teacher ne bachche ko kitaab dene se usse behtar mehsoos karvaane ki koshish kar lii. Is that at all idiomatic? Anything else comes...

Friends, What does "kar baiThe" mean? It is not "baiTh karnaa", and it appears always in that specific order and form, so it has to be something idiomatic. But I can neither find it in dictionaries as such, nor deduct it from the context. Examples: from a romantic song: Dartaa hai dil...

What would be the precise use of "kaun" in the stanza below? Does it have a semi-relative value as discussed in this thread? It is from the song "aaj mere man meN sakhii" and it is talking about Sawan and the rainy season [Youtube: JwPw5RRgy2Y at 2:42] kehtaa hai ishaaroN meN koii re aa mohe...

Friends, I am assuming those words are all related to cchail, a handsome young man, a dandy, with dashing looks So, "chhailvaa" or "chhailavaa" is a playful alliteration of "chhail", and "alvelvaa" is (perhaps) an echo-word for "chhailvaa"? Or is cchail-alvelvaa is a common pair, as...

،صاحبان کسی کا سوپڑا صاف کرنا روزمرہ کی فقرہ ہے لیکن سوپڑا ہوتا ہے کیا؟ مجھے معلوم لگتا ہے کہ یہ لفظ ہندی سے ماخوذ ہے اور ظاہر ہے کہ مذکر اسم ہے جو و معروف سے بولا جاتا ہے لیکن اس کے معنی مچھی سے چھپے ہوئے ہیں۔ کچھ مدد کیجئے۔ شکریہ۔ اسکندر

Hello, fellow Foreros, I was wondering what the terms for Heroes (by extension also Heroines) and villains would be in the languages above given that I for one am at a loss. Platts offers the term Yal which sounds like a true match: P يل yal [by aphæresis, fr. Zend vīra; S. वीर], s.m. A hero, a...

Friends, In an old session of Coke Studio, they featured this song called "Ishq KInaara" [Youtube: Pxds9ELol1A] The lyrics and music are inspired in a Turkish folk song, Kâtibim - Wikipedia, which is very well-known to most Turkish-speaking people. It is sung from the point of view of a woman...

Hello friends, I have a question. Does बाइबल के रहस्य mean "Bible secrets" or "Mysteries of the Bible"? Hope you can help me, thanks.

Friends, This Wikipedia article on Hindustani Phonology briefly discusses the transformation of "inherent schwas" into "ɛ" in the vicinity of "h". For the remainder of this question, I will represent the schwas as "a" and the "ɛ" sounds as "e", for simplicity. The rule the article gives is...

Hello Foreros, I wanted to know how the various onomatopoeia sounds for a dog's bark are spelt in Urdu (was also interested in whether Persian had a few of its own, please include tranliterations). The ones that I am familar with are bha'oo-bha'oo and ba'oo-ba'oo. Baba Platts also mentions...

Friends, I am a little confused by a a verse in the following song verses. It belongs to the very start of the song "Tum Kaun Piyaa", used as title song for a namesake 2016 Pakistani soap opera. viich bhaNvar meN Dole na aar rahii na paar gaii kuchh ishq kii maujeN le DuubiiN kuchh hijar kii...

Could you tell me can I use this word बच्चा to refer to a young girl?

Could you tell me the differences between these two words, in usage? Thank you very much.

Friends, The Lughat says, in its typically cryptic way: pate kii baat: raaz kii baat, mo'aamle kii yaa tah kii haqiiqat, duur/daur kii kauRii, kaam kii baat Platts mentions passingly, pataa: ... pate ki kahnaa: "to expose (one)" .... (?!) And finally, the Oxford Urdu-English...

Friends, Also in the song, "Yeh Mard Bade Dil Sard", the singer keeps warning about the wickedness of men. jhuuṭhii inkii jaaT baRii yah hai dastuur puraanaa mīThii mīThii beṭiyoN meiN bhuul ke na aanaa My question: Is jaaT being used as some sort of (feminine) noun meaning "ilk, caste"...

Friends, Is the phrase above a known proverb? What would be the proper translation? The context is: a playful cautionary tale about the wickedness of men in general, sung by a woman, in the 1957 Hindi movie "Miss Mary". Previous verses for context: ye mard baRe dil sard baRe bedard na dhokaa...

There are some situations where you want to describe an action that takes something to its limit and then continues beyond that limit. For example, "He poured until the cup was full, and then continued pouring" or "He poured the cup full, and then kept on pouring" Or "He worked until breaking...

Hi, Is there a word for "link (of a chain)" other than کڑی कड़ी in Urdu/Hindi? Thanks!

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.