Yes, no and the essentials in Hindi
The small words that carry half of every conversation, and the ones that rescue it. Play the ten Hindi words against the clock, with a note on how locals really use each one after every answer. All ten are written out below.
All 10 Hindi phrases in this lesson
- हाँhaan
- Yes
- नहींna-HEE
- No
- ठीक हैtheek HAI
- Okay
- मुझे समझ नहीं आयाmu-JHAY sa-MAJH na-hee AA-ya
- I don't understand
- क्या आप अंग्रेज़ी बोलते हैं?kya aap an-GRAY-zee BOL-tay hain
- Do you speak English?
- फिर से बोलिएphir say BO-li-yeh
- Can you repeat that?
- धीरे बोलिएDHEE-ray BO-li-yeh
- Slowly, please
- यह क्या है?yeh kya HAI
- What is this?
- मुझे ... की ज़रूरत हैmu-JHAY ... kee za-ROO-rat hai
- I need...
- क्या आप मेरी मदद करेंगे?kya aap MAY-ree ma-DAD ka-REN-gay
- Can you help me?
The polite version is जी हाँ (jee haan), and jee alone works as respectful agreement. The famous Indian head wobble, a side-to-side tilt, also means yes, or okay, or I hear you: context is everything.
Jee nahin is the polite no. A single sharp nahin with a hand wave declines street offers firmly and without offense; you will need this outside tourist sites.
THE all-purpose phrase of India: okay, fine, deal, understood, whatever you say. You will hear theek hai a thousand times a day and be fluent in it by lunch.
Your escape hatch, and your first meeting with Hindi gender agreement: aaya is what a man says, aayi (AA-yee) what a woman says. The same swap runs through every verb in this curriculum that describes you: bolta hoon becomes bolti hoon, samajh gaya becomes samajh gayi. Change the final -a to -i and you are speaking correctly.
English is an official language of India and city dwellers often speak it fluently, seasoned with Hindi mid-sentence. The real answer to this question is usually "yes, better than your Hindi", delivered kindly.
Literally "say it again".
Literally "speak slowly".
Literally "I have need of ...".