Basic Hindi for Travelers

This is a brief introduction to Hindi, one of the official languages of India. This introduction
contains basic instruction about pronunciation and important words and phrases. Anywhere
you travel in India, the ability to communicate in Hindi will greatly enhance your experience.
Even if you do not plan on studying the language in-depth, we strongly suggest learning and
using basic greetings and phrases. The locals will greatly appreciate your efforts and will be all
the more welcoming to you during your stay. If you would like to complete a beginning course
in Hindi, there are a number of self-study books and tapes. Lonely Planet‟s Hindi, Urdu &
Bengali Phrasebook (2005) and Berlitz‟s Hindi Phrase Book and Dictionary (2006) are two very
helpful books.

Pronunciation

Hindi is written in the Devanagari script, which is also the script used for Sanskrit, Nepali, and
many other languages. There are 67 characters, each with only one pronunciation. The
Devanagari script is not used in this guide; however, a list of the Devanagari characters can
be found at the end of this document.

Hindi has eleven vowel sounds.

a „u‟ as in run aa „a‟ ee „ee‟ as in bee i

as in father ai „ai‟ as „i‟ as in bit
in aisle ay „ay‟ as in o „o‟ as in go oo
day au „ow‟ as in „oo‟ as in fool u „u‟
cow e „e‟ as in bed as in put

Generally, Hindi consonants are pronounced the same as in English.

b as in bat ng as in finger
ch as in chew ny as in canyon
d as in dog p as in pin
f as in frog r as in rabbit, but slightly trilled
g as in go s as in sit
h as in hit sh as in ship
j as in jaw t as in stop
k as in kennel v as in van
l as in last y as in yolk
m as in mill z as in zero
n as in neat

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There are two special types of consonants: aspirated consonants and retroflex consonants.
Aspirated consonants are pronounced much more forcefully and with a puff of air. Below
are the proper pronunciations of the aspirated consonants.

bh „b‟ as in bus
chh „ch‟ + „h‟ as in punch hard
dh „d‟ in duck gh „g‟ in go
jh „j‟ in jump kh „k‟ in kill
ph „p‟ in pit, or like an „f‟
th „t‟ in time

Retroflex consonants are pronounced by touching the tongue to the roof of the mouth while
pronouncing the consonants. Only four consonants can be pronounced this way (d, t, n, dh). In
this guide, we have not distinguished between regular consonants, and the aspirated and
retroflex consonants. You will still be understood if you do not use them.

In Hindi, word stress is very light, and is determined by a complex set of rules. In this
guide, however, the stressed syllable will be in italics.

Greetings

Hello na-ma-ste Goodbye na-ma-ste

See you later. pir mi-leng-ge
How are you? aap kay-se/kay-see hayng (m/f)
I‟m fine, and you? mayng theek hoong aap su-naa-i-ye
Okay theek

Introductions

My name is… me-raa naam … hay.

What is your name? aap kaa naam kyaa hay?
Pleased to meet you. aap se mil-kar ba-hut ku-shee he-ee
I am from America. mayng am-ree-kaa kaa/kee hoong (m/f)
Where are you from? aap ha-haang ke/kee hayng? (m/f)
I am a student. mayng chaa-tra hoong
I work in… mayng … meng kaam kar-taa/kar-tee hoong (m/f)

Etiquette

Thank you thayn-kyoo; dhan-ya-

waad You‟re welcome ko-ee baat na-heeng
Please kri-pa-yaa
Sorry maaf kee-ji-ye
Excuse me (to get attention) su-ni-ye
Excuse me (to pass) raas-taa de dee-ji-ye

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 Relationships/Titles

I/me mayng
You (formal) aap
You (informal) tum
Friend dost
Family pa-ri-vaar
Daughter be-tee
Son be-taa
Brother baa-ee
Sister be-han
Father pi-taa
Mother maang
Husband pa-ti
Wife pat-nee
Doctor daak-tar
Teacher tee-char
Man aad-mee
Mister/Sir shree-man/sar
Woman stree
Mrs./Madam shree-ma-tee/may-dam
Ms./Miss mis/ku-maa-ree

Food and Drinks

I am hungry. mu-je book la-gee hay

I am thirsty. mu-je pyaas la-gee hay
I would like… mu-je … chaa-hi-ye
Food kaa-naa
Bread ro-tee naan
Meat gosht
Fish mach-lee
Vegetables sab-zee
Fruit pal
Chicken mur-gee
Rice chaa-val
Lentils daal
Coffee kaa-fee
Tea chaai
Water paa-nee
Milk dood
Beer bi-yar
The meal was delicious. ba-hut ma-ze-daar hu-aa

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 Important Locations

Market baa-zaar
Temple man-dir
Mosque mas-jid
Church gir-jaa
Shop du-kaan
School skool
Hospital as-pa-taal
Home ghar
Bathroom baat-rum
Toilet (flushing) taa-i-let
Shower shaa-var
Kitchen ra-so-ree
Garden ba-gee-cha

Cost

How much is it? kit-ne kaa hay?

Money pay-se
Price daam ma-
Expensive han-gaa
Cheap sas-taa

Time of Day

Today aaj sa-

Morning ve-raa
Afternoon do-pa-har
Evening shaam
Night raat

Useful Words and Phrases

Yes jee haang

No na-heeng
Maybe shaa-yad
Now ab
May I use the… ? kyaa mayng … kaa is-te-maal kar sak-taa/sak-
tee hoong? (m/f)
What is this? voh kyaa hay?
Where is the… ? … ka-haang hay?
I want to go… … jaa-ne kaa man ho ra-haa
I would like to buy… hay mu-je … chaa-hi-ye
I am tired. mu-je ta-kaan hu-ee hay
I am lost. mu-je ko ga-yaa/ga-yee hoong (m/f)
I am ill. mayng bee-maar hoong

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Do you speak English? kyaa aap ko an-gree-zee aa-tee hay?
I don‟t understand. mayng na-heeng sam-jaa/sam-jee (m/f) How
do you say this? yeh kay-se keh-te hayng?
What does … mean? … kaa kyaa mat-lab hay?
Can you repeat that please? kri-pa-yaa pir se ka-hi-ye?
Repeat that slowly. kri-pa-yaa dee-re bo-li-ye
Good night shub raa-tri
Help! ma-dad kee-ji-ye
Who? kaun?
Where? ka-haang?
Why? kyong?
What? kya?
When? kab?
How? kai-se?

Miscellaneous

Love pyaar
Enough kaa-fee
Beautiful sun-dar
Slowly dee-re dee-re
Less kam
More zyaa-daa
Bad bu-raa
Good ach-chaa

Numbers

The Hindi counting system has no discernable patterns. Below are a few helpful numbers.

0 shoon-yaa 16 so-lah
1 ek 17 sat-rah
2 do 18 a-taa-rah
3 teen 19 un-nees
4 chaar 20 bees
5 paanch 30 tees
6 chay 40 chaa-lees
7 saat 50 pa-chaas
8 aat 60 saat
9 nau 70 sat-tar
10 das 80 as-see
11 gyaa-rah 90 nab-be
12 baa-rah 100 sau
13 te-rah 200 do sau
14 chau-dah 1,000 ek ha-zaar
15 pan-drah 100,000 ek laak

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 The Hindi Alphabet (Devanagari script)
Vowels

Nasal vowels are indicated by a dot over the letter (or a half circle and dot = ‫)ٽ‬.

a c e P
â c+ ê P+
ah cf o cf]
âh cf+ ai P]
i O or O{ aî P]+

î O+ or O{+ au cf}
u p or pm aû cf}+

û p+ or pm+ ri C

There are also special forms of some vowels whenever they follow consonants. The letter “a” is
not on this list, because it is assumed that all consonants are followed by “a” unless otherwise
indicated.

ah f
o f]
e ]
i l or L
u [

Consonants

k s kh v
g u gh #
c r ch %
j h jh Of
p k ph km
b a bh e
s if or ; sh z
t t th y
d b dh w
t ^ th &
d * dh (
n g n )f
ng *· ny `
m d l n
y o w j
r / h X

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