MozhiLingo
via
Learning
← All lessons
Lesson 26.07A2

Describing a Picture

तस्वीर का वर्णन

A common A2 exam task: describe a photo aloud. French anchors this with the impersonal pronoun on ('one'), while Hindi reaches for a passive-leaning verb, दिखता है ('is seen/visible'), that needs no subject pronoun standing in for 'people in general' at all.

Grammar Comparison

व्याकरण तुलना

on voit ≈ ...दिखता है — French needs a pronoun subject, Hindi doesn't

French

Sur la photo, on voit... (In the picture, you can see...)

Hindi

तस्वीर में...दिखता है।

sur la photo/l'image is the standard way to anchor your description, paired with the impersonal on voit ('one sees') rather than je vois — this keeps the description objective, the expected exam register. Hindi reaches the same objective tone from a different direction: तस्वीर में...दिखता है ('in the picture...is visible') puts the thing being seen in the subject slot and uses a passive-leaning verb, दिखना ('to be seen'), so there's no pronoun standing in for 'people in general' at all — where French needs on as a grammatical placeholder subject, Hindi's sentence doesn't need any subject pronoun in that role to begin with.

Vocabulary

शब्दावली

Sur la photo, on voit...sewr lah foh-TOH ohn vwah
Hindi
तस्वीर में...दिखता हैtasvīr meñ...dikhtā hai
English
In the picture, you can see...
au premier planoh pruh-mee-ay PLAHN
Hindi
सामने वाले हिस्से मेंsāmne vāle hisse meñ
English
in the foreground
à l'arrière-planah lah-ree-air PLAHN
Hindi
पीछे वाले हिस्से मेंpīche vāle hisse meñ
English
in the background
à gaucheah gohsh
Hindi
बाईं तरफ़bāīñ taraf
English
on the left
à droiteah drwaht
Hindi
दाईं तरफ़dāīñ taraf
English
on the right
au centreoh SAHN-truh
Hindi
बीच मेंbīc meñ
English
in the center
il semble que...eel sahm-bluh kuh
Hindi
ऐसा लगता है कि...aisā lagtā hai ki...
English
it seems that...
je pense que ça se passe...zhuh pahns kuh sah suh pahs
Hindi
मुझे लगता है यह...हो रहा हैmujhe lagtā hai yah...ho rahā hai
English
I think this is taking place...
on dirait que...ohn dee-reh kuh
Hindi
ऐसा लगता है कि...aisā lagtā hai ki...
English
it looks like...
au fond de l'imageoh fohn duh lee-MAZH
Hindi
तस्वीर के सबसे पीछेtasvīr ke sabse pīche
English
at the back of the picture