PRACTICE M A K E S PERFECT™ Basic Hindi Sonia Taneja New York Chicago San Francisco Lisbon London Madrid Mexico City Milan New Delhi San Juan Seoul Singapore Sydney Toronto (cid:152)(cid:559)(cid:154)(cid:559)(cid:3)(cid:147)(cid:545)(cid:147)(cid:545)(cid:3)(cid:135)(cid:546)(cid:3)(cid:102)(cid:157)(cid:562)(cid:3)(cid:147)(cid:545)(cid:147)(cid:546)(cid:3)(cid:135)(cid:546)(cid:3)(cid:128)(cid:559)(cid:3)(cid:467)(cid:155)(cid:102) For Gaurav, Katherine, and her generation Copyright © 2012 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher. ISBN: 978-0-07-178425-2 MHID: 0-07-178425-X The material in this eBook also appears in the print version of this title: ISBN: 978-0-07-178424-5, MHID: 0-07-178424-1. 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Contents Preface vii I THE HINDI ALPHABET 1 1 Vowels 3 Hindi vowels at a glance 3 Pronunciation 3 Script writing practice 5 2 Consonants 9 Hindi consonants at a glance 9 Pronunciation 10 3 Writing consonants 13 Script writing practice 13 4 Writing more consonants 20 Script writing practice 20 Reading practice 28 II HINDI WorDs 29 5 Diacritic marks 31 Reading and writing with diacritic marks 31 Using diacritic marks with consonants 32 Exceptions 34 6 Conjunct characters I 37 Reading and writing with conjunct characters 37 Category I: Conjuncts of consonants with a vertical line in the middle 38 iii 7 Conjunct characters II and III 44 Category II: Roundish consonants with no vertical line in the middle 44 Category III: Special cases 46 Useful words and phrases 48 Reading practice 50 III HINDI sENTENCEs 53 8 sentence structure 55 Sentence structure 55 Subject pronouns 57 The verb to be 58 9 Questions and answers 62 The suffix vala 62 Asking and answering yes/no questions 63 Use of and, but, and both 65 Reading practice 66 IV THE PrEsENT TENsE 67 10 The present indefinite 69 The infinitive verb 69 Some useful verbs 69 Present indefinite tense 70 Your daily routine 73 11 Numbers 74 Numbers 1–100 74 Exchanging contact information 76 Today’s date 77 Age 77 12 Possessives 79 Possessives 79 Use of possessives in sentences 81 Mixed sentences 82 Reading practice 84 iv Contents V NoUNs 85 13 People 87 Gender of nouns: Persons 87 Relatives in an Indian family (kinship terms) 87 Postposition को with days of the week 90 Postposition में with months of the year 91 14 Places 92 Gender of nouns: Places 92 Postposition से: Countries and verbs 95 Postposition तक with parts of the day 97 15 Around the house 99 Number and gender of nouns 99 Number and gender of nouns: Things in the house 101 What is in your room? 104 16 More verbs and possessives 106 Verbs used with household objects 106 Postposition का with possessives and more 108 Reading practice 109 VI ADJECTIVEs 113 17 Describing things 115 Colors 115 Interrogative word (प्रश्ारक्थ शब्द) ककस 117 Qualities 118 18 Comparisons 120 Interrogative word (प्रश्ारक्थ शब्द) कैसा 120 Comparisons using adjectives 121 Pronouns in the oblique case (with all postpositions) 122 Preferences, wants, and needs 123 19 Food and drink 125 Food and drink 125 Hunger, thirst, and taste 131 Hobbies 132 Reading practice 134 Contents v VII PosTPosITIoNs AND THE PAsT TENsE 137 20 Postpositions 139 Postpositions: Adjectives in the oblique case 139 Postpositions: Nouns in the oblique case 141 Postpositions: Possessives in the oblique case 144 Ways of saying to have 144 Interrogative word (प्रश्ारक्थ शब्द) ककतना 145 21 Animals and the senses 147 Wild and domestic animals of India and Hindi fables 147 Parts of the body and the senses 150 Verbs with postposition को: Bodily ailments 153 Compound postpositions 154 22 The past tense 156 The imperative 156 Use of मत, लसर््थ, और भी for negatives and emphasis 158 Past indefinite tense 161 Reading practice 163 VIII THE CoNTINUoUs AND FUTUrE TENsEs 165 23 Time 167 Telling time 167 Time-related phrases and adverbs 170 Interrogative word (प्रश्ारक्थ शब्द) कब 172 Ordinal numbers 172 24 The continuous tense 174 Interrogative word (प्रश्ारक्थ शब्द) कौन 174 Seasons, environment, and the weather 174 Present and past continuous tense 177 25 Future tense 180 Clothes and accessories 180 The future tense 183 Reading practice 185 Answer key 187 Hindi alphabet 200 vi Contents Preface Practice Makes Perfect: Basic Hindi is the ideal resource for starting your study of the Hindi language. This book is well suited for anyone interested in beginning to learn Hindi. Whether you are in high school, college, or graduate school or simply want to explore Hindi, this book is the perfect place to start. It can be used either as a primary practice text to accompany a Hindi course or as a supplement to bridge the gap between other Hindi resources. With eight parts, twenty-five chapters, and more than sixty individual sections, this is a user-friendly workbook that has a variety of features—script practice, accessible grammar, sufficient explanations, practice exercises, cate- gorical vocabulary sets, and cultural information—all in one place. The content is presented in an easy-to-follow sequence that develops from elementary infor- mation to complex grammar over the course of eight chapters. In the first part, a step-by-step approach and specially tailored practice spaces are provided for an easy grasp of the Hindi script. In the second part, user-friendly explanations demystify the complexities of diacritic marks and conjunct characters and enable you to begin reading, writing, and understand- ing Hindi words. In the next six parts, functional and organized vocabulary sets and tables build a practical vocabulary for day-to-day use. Interwoven with the vocabulary are basic Hindi grammatical tenses and concepts that are explained in an easy-to-understand manner and applied in a variety of exercises. At various points throughout the text, the Hindi language learning experience is also enhanced by useful cultural notes and insights. Also, for leisure reading, an optional reading and writing practice is given at the end of each part, along with a glossary of new words and relevant cultural information. You can read these at your own pace. Answers to all exercises can be found in the answer key at the back of the book. Happy Hindi learning! vii This page intentionally left blank