A1
Beginner
At this level the language covers everything the first few days ask for: your name, where you are from, what you do, your family, numbers, the time, food and drink.
Sentences are short and stand on their own. Anyone who gets this far can say what is, what they have and what they want — not yet what happened yesterday.
Script, basic sentences and numbers16
Devanagari and the sounds of Hindi
8A1Vowels and vowel signsEvery vowel has two shapes: a full letter at the start of a word and a small sign after a consonant.A1The consonants, row by rowFive rows of five, ordered from the back of the mouth to the lips, and eight more that stand outside the grid.A1The hidden a, and when it falls silentEvery consonant carries a written a, but at the end of a word and often in the middle it is not said.A1Consonant clusters and the halantWhen two consonants meet with no vowel between them, the first loses its stroke and leans on the second.A1Nasal vowels: the dot and the moonA dot above the line is a nasal before a consonant or a nasal vowel; the moon with a dot is a nasal vowel.A1The dot below: z, f, q and the flapped ṛA dot under a letter marks a sound from Persian, Arabic or English, or the flapped r of लड़का.A1Two t’s and two d’sHindi has a t and a d with the tongue on the teeth and another pair with the tongue curled back.A1With and without a breath: aspirated soundsA puff of breath after a consonant turns one Hindi word into another: पल is a moment, फल a fruit.
The basic sentence
5A1The verb comes lastSubject, then object, then the verb — and whatever else moves, the verb stays at the end.A1हूँ, है, हैं: “to be” in the presentहूँ for I, हो for तुम, है for one person or thing, हैं for several and for anyone you respect.A1था, थी, थे, थीं: “was” and “were”The past of “to be” changes with gender and number, not with the person: था, थी, थे, थीं.A1Yes–no questions with क्याPut क्या in front of a statement, keep the order, and let your voice rise.A1Who, what, where, when, why, how, how muchAlmost every question word starts with क, and it stands where the answer will stand.
Numbers, time and dates
3A1Numbers to 100, learnt one by oneEvery number from 11 to 99 is a word of its own, and the ones ending in nine look ahead to the next ten.A1Telling the time: बजे, सवा, साढ़े, पौने, डेढ़, ढाईबजे gives the hour; सवा adds a quarter, साढ़े a half, पौने takes a quarter away, and 1.30 and 2.30 have words of their own.A1Days, months, dates, and first, second, thirdDays and dates take को, months take में, and only the first few ordinal numbers are irregular.
Nouns, pronouns and adjectives7
Nouns
3A1Every noun is masculine or feminineHindi has two genders and no neuter: a book is feminine, a house masculine, and the words around them follow.A1Plurals: लड़के, लड़कियाँ, किताबेंFour kinds of plural, decided by gender and ending — and one kind that does not change at all.A1The oblique: the form before a postpositionBefore any postposition a noun takes its oblique form: कमरा becomes कमरे में, and every plural ends in -ों.
Pronouns
3A1I, we, you, he, she, it: मैं, हम, तुम, आप, यह, वहHindi pronouns say near or far, not he or she; the verb shows the gender.A1तू, तुम or आप: choosing your “you”आप for strangers and elders, तुम for friends, तू for almost no one — and each with its own verb forms.A1मेरा, तुम्हारा, आपका: possessives that agreeMy, your, his and her agree with the thing owned, not with the owner — like an adjective in -ā.
Adjectives
1Postpositions5
Postpositions
5A1In and on: में and परHindi says “room in” and “table on”, and the noun before the postposition changes its form.A1का, की, के: “of”, agreeing with what followsThe owner comes first, then का, की or के, then the thing owned — and का agrees with the thing owned.A1को: to, for, and the definite objectको marks the person who receives, the person you see or call, and the day something happens.A1से: from, with, by, sinceसे is from, with a tool, by a means of transport, since a time, and the partner of ask, talk and meet.A1Having things: मेरे पास … हैHindi has no verb “to have”: things are “near” you, relatives are “yours”, and illnesses are “to” you.