Language learning can be a challenging process – especially in the beginning when you do not have an idea of where to start. This is true for Hindi as well, more so because of its sentence structure which is quite different from that of other languages. Plus, it is easy to get overwhelmed by the sheer amount of vocabulary that comes with the language. It is not very surprising then, that you might spend a lot of time in the beginning learning grammar rules and vocabulary than actually communicating in Hindi. What you should be doing, however, is speaking as much Hindi as you can right from the beginning.
A very basic definition of productivity is the ratio of output to input. When your productivity is 100 percent, you are producing as much as you are consuming. In terms of language learning, this means that you create as much as you learn. If you keep learning grammar for months without trying to apply the language, then you are negatively affecting your language learning productivity. Therefore, my learning strategy is to create a habit from the beginning of using the target language as much as possible. It does not matter if what you’re saying makes perfect sense grammatically, but what’s important is that you use the language as well as play around and experiment with it.
Naturally, the main question is: in this vast landscape of vocabulary, where do you start? And the answer is simple: start from the basics. Start by talking about small, day-to-day happenings. Start by commenting on what you see and observe. For communicating in a language, you don’t have to know each and every word that there is to know. On the contrary, all you need is enough to start speaking. Once you start this process of simple communication, you will learn new words and expressions along the way, which is even better because that way, you will gain new vocabulary in the actual context in which it is used.
In this article, I have provided you with 42 starter words – 10 nouns, 10 verbs, 10 adjectives, 10 adverbs, and 2 bonus words; so in total, all of these words will help you make thousands of new sentences in Hindi. This will help you to not only start speaking Hindi from the first day, but will also help you understand and retain Hindi sentence structure. Plus, you will start gaining confidence in the language right away. So, let’s have a look!
Nouns
Every noun in Hindi has a gender, so each noun is mentioned with its gender.
- Kitaab/किताब (feminine) – book
- Aadmi/आदमी (masculine) – man
- Aurat/औरत (feminine) – woman
- Baccha/बच्चा (masculine) – male child (a female child is called Bacchi/बच्ची)
- Gaadi/गाड़ी (feminine) – car
- Paani/पानी (masculine) – water
- Desh/देश (masculine) – country
- Naam/नाम (masculine) – name
- Shahar/शहर (masculine) – city
- Ghar/घर (masculine) – house
Verbs
Here, the verbs are mentioned in the infinitive form, followed by their conjugations in the simple present tense for all pronouns.
1. Hona/होना – to be
- Mai hoon (मैं हूँ)
- Aap hain (आप हैं)
- Tum ho (तुम हो)
- Tu hai (तू है)
- Yah/Vah hai (यह/वह है)
- Ham hain (हम हैं)
- Aap hain (आप हैं)
- Ye/Ve hain (ये/वे हैं)
2. Dekhna/देखना – to see
- Mai dekhta/dekhti hoon (मैं देखता/देखती हूँ)
- Aap dekhte/dekhti hain (आप देखते/देखती हैं)
- Tum dekhte/dekhti ho (तुम देखते/देखती हो)
- Tu dekhta/dekhti hai (तू देखता/देखती है)
- Yah/Vah dekhta/dekhti hai (यह/वह देखता/देखती है)
- Ham dekhte/dekhti hain (हम देखते/देखती हैं)
- Aap dekhte/dekhti hain (आप देखते/देखती हैं)
- Ye/Ve dekhte/dekhti hain (ये/वे देखते/देखती हैं)
3. Likhna/लिखना – to write
- Mai likhta/likhti hoon (मैं लिखता/लिखती हूँ)
- Aap likhte/likhti hain (आप लिखते/लिखती हैं)
- Tum likhte/likhti ho (तुम लिखते/लिखती हो)
- Tu likhta/likhti hai (तू लिखता/ लिखती है)
- Yah/Vah likhta/likhti hai (यह/वह लिखता/लिखती है)
- Ham likhte/likhti hain (हम लिखते/लिखती हैं)
- Aap likhte/likhti hain (आप लिखते/लिखती हैं)
- Ye/Ve likhte/likhti hain (ये/वे लिखते/लिखती हैं)
4. Khaana/खाना – to eat
- Mai khaata/khaati hoon (मैं खाता/खाती हूँ)
- Aap khaate/khaati hain (आप खाते/खाती हैं)
- Tum khaate/khaati ho (तुम खाते/खाती हो)
- Tu khaata/khaati hai (तू खाता/खाती है)
- Yah/Vah khaata/khaati hai (यह/वह खाता/खाती है)
- Ham khaate/khaati hain (हम खाते/खाती हैं)
- Aap khaate/khaati hain (आप खाते/खाती हैं)
- Ye/Ve khaate/khaati hain (ये/वे खाते/खाती हैं)
5. Peena/पीना – to drink
- Mai peeta/peeti hoon (मैं पीता/पीती हूँ)
- Aap peete/peeti hain (आप पीते/पीती हैं)
- Tum peete/peeti ho (तुम पीते/पीती हो)
- Tu peeta/peeti hai (तू पीता/पीती है)
- Yah/Vah peeta/peeti hai (यह/वह पीता/पीती है)
- Ham peete/peeti hain (हम पीते/पीती हैं)
- Aap peete/peeti hain (आप पीते/पीती हैं)
- Ye/Ve peete/peeti hain (ये/वे पीते/पीती हैं)
6. Jaana/जाना – to go
- Mai jaata/jaati hoon (मैं जाता/जाती हूँ)
- Aap jaate/jaati hain (आप जाते/जाती हैं)
- Tum jaate/jaati ho (तुम जाते/जाती हो)
- Tu jaata/jaati hai (तू जाता/जाती है)
- Yah/Vah jaata/jaati hai (यह/वह जाता/जाती है)
- Ham jaate/jaati hain (हम जाते/जाती हैं)
- Aap jaate/jaati hain (आप जाते/जाती हैं)
- Ye/Ve jaate/jaati hain (ये/वे जाते/जाती हैं)
7. Aana/आना – to come
- Mai aata/aati hoon (मैं आता/आती हूँ)
- Aap aate/aati hain (आप आते/आती हैं)
- Tum aate/aati ho (तुम आते/आती हो)
- Tu aata/aati hai (तू आता/आती है)
- Yah/Vah aata/aati hai (यह/वह आता/आती है)
- Ham aate/aati hain (हम आते/आती हैं)
- Aap aate/aati hain (आप आते/आती हैं)
- Ye/Ve aate/aati hain (ये/वे आते/आती हैं)
8. Lena/लेना – to take
- Mai leta/leti hoon (मैं लेता/लेती हूँ)
- Aap lete/leti hain (आप लेते/लेती हैं)
- Tum lete/leti ho (तुम लेते/लेती हो)
- Tu leta/leti hai (तू लेता/लेती है)
- Yah/Vah leta/leti hai (यह/वह लेता/लेती है)
- Ham lete/leti hain (हम लेते/लेती हैं)
- Aap lete/leti hain (आप लेते/लेती हैं)
- Ye/Ve lete/leti hain (ये/वे लेते/लेती हैं)
9. Dena/देना – to give
- Mai deta/deti hoon (मैं देता/देती हूँ)
- Aap dete/deti hain (आप देते/देती हैं)
- Tum dete/deti ho (तुम देते/देती हो)
- Tu deta/deti hai (तू देता/देती है)
- Yah/Vah deta/deti hai (यह/वह देता/देती है)
- Ham dete/deti hain (हम देते/देती हैं)
- Aap dete/deti hain (आप देते/देती हैं)
- Ye/Ve dete hain (ये/वे देते/देती हैं)
10. Padhna/पढ़ना – to study/to read
- Mai padhta/padhti hoon (मैं पढ़ता/पढ़ती हूँ)
- Aap padhte/padhti hain (आप पढ़ते/पढ़ती हैं)
- Tum padhte/padhti ho (तुम पढ़ते/पढ़ती हो)
- Tu padhta/padhti hai (तू पढ़ता/पढ़ती है)
- Yah/Vah padhta/padhti hai (यह/वह पढ़ता/पढ़ती है)
- Ham padhte/padhti hain (हम पढ़ते/पढ़ती हैं)
- Aap padhte/padhti hain (आप पढ़ते/पढ़ती हैं)
- Ye/Ve padhte/padhti hain (ये/वे पढ़ते/पढ़ती हैं)
Adjectives
In Hindi, adjectives that end in a vowel sound decline according to the gender and number of the noun, while those which don’t end in a vowel sound do not decline. I have mentioned all three forms of an adjective when applicable.
- Bada/Badi/Bade (बड़ा/बड़ी/बड़े) – big
- Chhota/Chhoti/Chhote (छोटा/छोटी/छोटे) – small
- Accha/Acchi/Acche (अच्छा/अच्छी/अच्छे) – good
- Khoobsoorat or Sundar (ख़ूबसूरत/सुंदर) – beautiful
- Bura/Buri/Bure (बुरा/बुरी/बुरे) – bad
- Garm (गर्म) – hot
- Thanda/Thandi/Thande (ठंडा/ठंडी/ठंडे) – cold
- Theek (ठीक) – okay
- Mota/Moti/Mote (मोटा/मोटी/मोटे) – thick/fat
- Patla/Patli/Patle (पतला/पतली/पतले) – thin/slim
Adverbs
- Bahut (बहुत) – very
- Kaafi (काफ़ी) – quite/enough
- Tez (तेज़) – quickly
- Dheere (धीरे) – slowly
- Andar (अंदर) – inside
- Baahar (बाहर) – outside
- Aaj (आज) – today
- Sirf or Kewal (सिर्फ़/केवल) – only
- Aam taur par (आम तौर पर) – generally
- Zaroor or Avashya (ज़रूर/अवश्य) – certainly
Bonus words
- Yah (यह) – this
- Vah (वह) – that
As you would have noticed, this list also contains personal pronouns and verb conjugations, so in the process of learning these 42 words and making sentences, you will also learn pronouns and verb conjugations by default. Now, let’s see how to combine the words in this list together to make some simple sentences:
- Yah kitaab moti hai (यह किताब मोटी है) – This book is thick.
- Vah naam bahut sundar hai (वह नाम बहुत सुंदर है) – That name is very beautiful.
- Aadmi ghar jaata hai (आदमी घर जाता है) – Man goes home.
- Baccha andar khelta hai (बच्चा अंदर खेलता है) – Child plays inside.
- Vah shahar kaafi bada hai (वह शहर काफ़ी बड़ा है) – That city is quite big.
What you will also see is how many interesting sentences you can already make just with these 42 words. As I said in the beginning, you can take these words and start commenting on what you observe around you. You can also describe the activities you perform everyday. By making many different kinds of sentences with different word combinations, you will quickly become familiar with the Hindi sentence structure, and will also be able to develop an intuition for the language right from the start.
So, get a pen and paper, and start making sentences! Every time you make a sentence, commend yourself by saying, “Bahut accha!” The end goal of any language learner is to be able to communicate in the language. Then why not start from day one? Remember to create as much as you learn. So, while you learn grammar, don’t hold back on using the language as you go. If you start speaking early, you’ll get familiar with the language much sooner. So, go ahead and start using Hindi right away. It’s the best way you can do to truly learn this language.
