Order anything by pointing in Hindi
I would like, this one, how much, the bill: survive any counter or menu. 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 11 Hindi phrases in this lesson
- मुझे ... चाहिएmu-JHAY ... CHAA-hi-yeh
- I would like...
- यहyeh
- This one
- कितने का है?KIT-nay ka hai
- How much is it?
- बिल दीजिएbil DEE-ji-yeh
- The bill, please
- कार्ड सेkaard say
- By card
- कैश मेंcash MAY
- In cash
- पानीPAA-nee
- Water
- कॉफ़ीKOF-fee
- Coffee
- चायchaay
- Tea
- बियरBEE-yar
- Beer
- ... के बिनाkay bi-NAA
- Without...
Literally "to me ... is wanted": मुझे एक चाय चाहिए (mu-JHAY ek chai CHAA-hi-yeh), I would like a tea.
Yeh (this) and voh (that). At any counter, yeh plus pointing does the work. Yeh kya hai? (what is this?) is the curious traveler's best friend at street food stalls.
The market question. The reply may come in English numbers. At fixed-price shops the tag rules; everywhere else, see the bargaining note in the supermarket lesson.
Yes, bill is just "bill". Restaurants bring it when asked; a scribbling-in-air gesture works too. Check whether service charge is already added before tipping extra.
UPI phone payments, scanned from a QR code, are even more common.
Or नकद (na-kad), the pure Hindi word nobody uses. Cash still matters for rickshaws and rural anywhere. Guard small notes like treasure: the eternal "change nahin hai" (no change) standoff is real.
Drink bottled or filtered only; check the bottle seal. Restaurants ask "regular ya bisleri?": regular is filtered jug water, Bisleri (a brand turned generic word) is sealed bottled.
Chai is the everyday drink. In the south, filter coffee rules.
Boiled with milk and sugar, often with ginger or cardamom.
Alcohol rules vary by state; Gujarat and Bihar are dry.
चीनी के बिना (CHEE-nee kay bi-NAA), without sugar.