Hindi for the family

Grandparents, aunts, brothers and sisters: who is called what, and how to talk to them with respect.

33 sentences · 3 dialogues · 20 words

Why this field

Many learners come to Hindi through family: a partner’s parents, grandparents who speak little English, relatives at a wedding. Here, a few words of Hindi mean more than in almost any other situation.

Hindi has a separate word for nearly every relative — the father’s mother is not the mother’s mother — and the right form of "you" matters as much as the right word.

What you will be able to do

Goals by level. Tick what you can already do — the tick stays in this browser only.

A1I can introduce my family and say who is who.
A1I can greet older relatives respectfully.
A2I can talk about relatives on my father’s and my mother’s side.
A2I can talk about family visits and festivals, past and future.
B1I can talk about engagements, weddings and life in a joint family.

Core vocabulary

20 words from the word lists, ordered by level. A coloured edge shows what you have already practised.

परिवारfamilyA1
माँmotherA1
पिताfatherA1
भाईbrotherA1
बहनsisterA1
दादाgrandfather (father's father)A1
दादीgrandmother (father's mother)A1
नानाgrandfather (mother's father)A1
नानीgrandmother (mother's mother)A1
चाचाuncle (father's younger brother)A1
मौसीaunt (mother's sister)A1
भैयाelder brotherA1
दीदीelder sisterA1
शादीwedding; marriageA1
मेहमानguestA1
रिश्तेदारrelativeA2
बचपनchildhoodA2
सगाईengagement (to marry)B1
ससुरालone’s in-laws’ homeB1
पीढ़ीgenerationB1

Practise as flashcards Card box Mixed round

Typical situations

Short dialogues to read along and repeat. Say one part first, then the other.

Visiting a friend’s family

You visit a friend’s home for the first time.

Guest
नमस्ते आंटी जी।Hello, auntie.
Friend’s mother
नमस्ते बेटा, आओ, अंदर आओ।Hello, dear — come in, come in.
Guest
यह आपके लिए मिठाई है।These sweets are for you.
Friend’s mother
अरे, इसकी क्या ज़रूरत थी! बैठो, चाय पियोगे?Oh, there was no need! Sit down — will you have some tea?
Guest
जी, ज़रूर। धन्यवाद।Yes, please. Thank you.
Friend’s mother
तुम्हारे घर में सब कैसे हैं?How is everyone at home?
Guest
सब ठीक हैं। मम्मी ने आपको नमस्ते कहा है।Everyone’s fine. Mum sends her regards.

Looking at family photos

A friend shows you photos on her phone.

Tom
यह तस्वीर किसकी है?Whose photo is this?
Priya
ये मेरे दादा-दादी हैं, और ये मेरे चाचा जी।These are my grandparents, and this is my uncle.
Tom
और यह छोटी लड़की कौन है?And who is this little girl?
Priya
यह मेरी बुआ की बेटी है। वह अब कॉलेज में पढ़ती है।That’s my aunt’s daughter. She’s at college now.
Tom
तुम्हारा परिवार बहुत बड़ा है!You have a really big family!
Priya
हाँ, शादी में सब एक साथ आएँगे।Yes — they’ll all come together for the wedding.

News of an engagement

You phone your aunt with some good news.

Neha
मौसी, एक ख़ुशख़बरी है! मेरी सगाई तय हो गई है।Auntie, I have good news! My engagement has been arranged.
Aunt
अरे वाह, बहुत-बहुत बधाई हो! लड़का क्या करता है?How wonderful, congratulations! What does he do?
Neha
वह इंजीनियर है।He’s an engineer.
Aunt
शादी कब है?When is the wedding?
Neha
अगले साल सर्दियों में। आप ज़रूर आइएगा।Next winter. You must come.
Aunt
ज़रूर आऊँगी, बेटा। भगवान तुम्हें ख़ुश रखे।Of course I’ll come, dear. May God keep you happy.

Sentences to say aloud

The label says where a sentence belongs. The speaker next to it reads it aloud.

नमस्ते आंटी, आप कैसी हैं?Hello, auntie — how are you?
A1polite आंटी and अंकल are used for friends’ parents and for older people in general.
ये मेरी दादी हैं।This is my grandmother (my father’s mother).
A1polite The plural ये … हैं shows respect, even for one person.
मेरे नाना जी गाँव में रहते हैं।My grandfather (my mother’s father) lives in the village.
A1polite
पापा जी, आप बैठिए।Dad, please sit down.
A1polite बैठिए is the polite imperative that goes with आप.
हम सब रविवार को साथ में खाना खाते हैं।We all eat together on Sundays.
A1neutral
मेरी शादी अगले साल है।I’m getting married next year.
A1neutral
यह मेरा परिवार है।This is my family.
A1neutral
मेरे दो भाई और एक बहन हैं।I have two brothers and a sister.
A1neutral
मेरी माँ डॉक्टर हैं।My mother is a doctor.
A1polite The plural हैं for a parent shows respect.
आपके कितने बच्चे हैं?How many children do you have?
A1polite
नानी जी, आप कैसी हैं?Grandma, how are you?
A1polite
बेटा, इधर आओ।Come here, dear.
A1close friends only बेटा, "son", is how elders call any child or young person warmly — girls included.
मेरे चाचा जी दिल्ली में रहते हैं।My uncle (my father’s younger brother) lives in Delhi.
A1polite
माँ, खाना बहुत स्वादिष्ट है।Mum, the food is delicious.
A2close friends only
भैया, ज़रा पानी देना।Could you pass the water, brother?
A2close friends only भैया is an older brother — and a friendly way to address a man you don’t know.
दीदी, तुम कब आओगी?When are you coming, sis?
A2close friends only
मेरा भाई मुझसे दो साल बड़ा है।My brother is two years older than me.
A2neutral
हमारे घर मेहमान आए हैं।We have guests at home.
A2neutral
मेरी मौसी हर साल हमारे पास आती हैं।My aunt (my mother’s sister) visits us every year.
A2neutral
कल मैं अपनी दादी से मिलने गया।Yesterday I went to see my grandmother.
A2neutral
बचपन में मैं गर्मियों की छुट्टियाँ नानी के घर बिताता था।As a child I spent the summer holidays at my grandmother’s.
A2neutral
शादी में सारे रिश्तेदार आएँगे।All the relatives will come to the wedding.
A2neutral
दिवाली पर पूरा परिवार इकट्ठा होता है।The whole family gets together at Diwali.
A2neutral
आप अपना ख़याल रखिए।Please take care of yourself.
A2polite
राखी पर बहन भाई की कलाई पर राखी बाँधती है।At Raksha Bandhan a sister ties a rakhi on her brother’s wrist.
A2neutral
बड़ों के पैर छूना आदर दिखाने का तरीक़ा है।Touching elders’ feet is a way of showing respect.
B1neutral A common gesture of respect, for example when greeting grandparents or receiving a blessing.
माँ, मैं ठीक से पहुँच गया।Mum, I got there safely.
B1close friends only
भैया, मेरे लिए भी चाय बना दो।Make some tea for me too, brother.
B1close friends only
शादी के बाद वह ससुराल चली गई।After the wedding she moved to her in-laws’ home.
B1neutral
हमारी सगाई अगले महीने है।Our engagement is next month.
B1neutral
संयुक्त परिवार में तीन पीढ़ियाँ साथ रहती हैं।In a joint family three generations live together.
B1neutral
बच्चों की परवरिश में दादा-दादी का बड़ा हाथ होता है।Grandparents play a big part in bringing up the children.
B1neutral
अगर आप बुरा न मानें, तो क्या मैं आपको आंटी कह सकती हूँ?If you don’t mind, may I call you auntie?
B1polite

What matters here

Elders get आप, the plural verb and often जी: दादी जी, आप बैठिए। Even when talking about them, the verb stays plural: ये मेरी दादी हैं।
The father’s side and the mother’s side have different words: दादा, दादी (father’s parents), नाना, नानी (mother’s parents).
भैया and दीदी are used for older siblings and, politely, for strangers too — shopkeepers, drivers, staff.
Aunts and uncles have their own words as well: चाचा is the father’s younger brother, मामा the mother’s brother, बुआ the father’s sister and मौसी the mother’s sister.

Quick quiz

6 questions on the words and sentences of this field. The word questions count in your progress like any other exercise.

Try it yourself

Read the meaning, say the sentence aloud in Hindi, then open it to compare.

Hello, auntie — how are you?
नमस्ते आंटी, आप कैसी हैं?
My mother is a doctor.
मेरी माँ डॉक्टर हैं।
My brother is two years older than me.
मेरा भाई मुझसे दो साल बड़ा है।
At Raksha Bandhan a sister ties a rakhi on her brother’s wrist.
राखी पर बहन भाई की कलाई पर राखी बाँधती है।

Keep learning

The grammar behind it

Word lists that go with it

Reading texts

Reading texts on this topic (6)

Practise

More fields

Hindi through films and film songs34 sentences · 16 words Hindi for travelling34 sentences · 17 words Everyday Hindi: greetings, friends and the three yous34 sentences · 18 words Hindi for food and eating31 sentences · 20 words Hindi for work30 sentences · 17 words

Every sentence on this page was written for EveryLingua. There are no quotations from films, series, books or songs here, and no titles or names of artists — the page shows how people talk in this field, not what somebody once said.