Greetings & Formality
अभिवादन और औपचारिकता
Hindi marks respect with a layered 'you' system — तू, तुम, and आप. English collapses all of that into a single word, 'you', and that flattening is itself the thing to learn.
Grammar Comparison
व्याकरण तुलना
One 'you' for everyone
you (used for a child, a friend, a stranger, or the Prime Minister — identically)
तू (intimate) / तुम (informal) / आप (formal) — three separate words
Hindi gives you dedicated pronouns (तुम and especially आप) that signal respect automatically, on top of an even more intimate तू for very close relationships or addressing children and God. English took all three words away, so you have to rebuild formality through other means: titles (Sir, Madam), phrasing ('Would you mind...' instead of 'Give me...'), and tone. The common mistake is translating आप literally into an overly stiff English sentence — English marks respect through word choice, not through a different pronoun.
Spelling doesn't match pronunciation
though, through, tough, thorough — four different vowel sounds for the same four letters
देवनागरी लिपि — जो लिखा जाता है, वही लगभग हमेशा बोला भी जाता है
Devanagari is close to fully phonetic: what's written is what's said, letter by letter. English spelling is not — it preserves centuries of borrowed spelling from French, Latin, and Old English without updating the sounds. Expect to learn the pronunciation of each new word separately from its spelling, rather than sounding it out reliably the way you would in Hindi.
Vocabulary
शब्दावली
| English | Pronunciation | Hindi |
|---|---|---|
| Hello | heh-LOH | नमस्तेnamaste |
| Good morning | good MOR-ning | सुप्रभातsuprabhāt |
| Good evening | good EE-vning | शुभ संध्याśubh sandhyā |
| Goodbye | good-BYE | फिर मिलेंगेphir mileñge |
| Bye | bye | बाय बायbāy bāy |
| Thank you | thank yoo | धन्यवादdhanyavād |
| Please | pleez | कृपयाkṛpayā |
| Yes | yes | हाँhāñ |
| No | noh | नहींnahīñ |
| How are you? | how ar yoo | कैसे हो? / आप कैसे हैं?kaise ho? / āp kaise haiñ? |
| I'm fine | eyem fyn | मैं ठीक हूँmaiñ ṭhīk hūñ |