Introducing Yourself
अपना परिचय देना
Introducing yourself uses heißen (to be called), sein (to be), and kommen aus (to come from) — together these build the handful of sentences you'll use in almost every first conversation.
Grammar Comparison
व्याकरण तुलना
heißen: 'to be called', a different structure from Hindi's 'मेरा नाम है'
Ich heiße Anna. (literally: I am called Anna / My name is Anna.)
मेरा नाम अन्ना है।
Hindi's "मेरा नाम ... है" states a name through a possessive structure — just like English "my name is". German doesn't mirror this word for word; instead it uses the verb heißen ("to be called"): Ich heiße Anna, literally "I am called Anna." You can also say Mein Name ist Anna (closer to Hindi/English), but Ich heiße... is far more common in everyday conversation — start with this pattern rather than translating "मेरा नाम है" directly.
kommen aus + country/city (dative)
Ich komme aus Deutschland. (I come from Germany.)
मैं जर्मनी से आता हूँ।
This maps directly onto Hindi's "...से आता हूँ" — aus ("from") always takes the dative case, but most country and city names don't visibly change in the dative, so in practice you rarely have to think about it.
Vocabulary
शब्दावली
| German | Pronunciation | Hindi | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ich heiße... | ikh HY-seh | मेरा नाम है...merā nām hai... | My name is... |
| Wie heißt du? | vee hyst doo | तुम्हारा नाम क्या है? (अनौपचारिक)tumhārā nām kyā hai? | What's your name? (informal) |
| Ich komme aus... | ikh KOM-meh ows | मैं ... से आता हूँmaiñ ... se ātā hūñ | I come from... |
| Ich bin ... Jahre alt. | ikh bin ... YAH-reh ahlt | मेरी उम्र ... साल है।merī umr ... sāl hai | I am ... years old. |
| Ich wohne in... | ikh VOH-neh in | मैं ... में रहता हूँmaiñ ... meñ rahtā hūñ | I live in... |
| Ich spreche... | ikh SHPREKH-eh | मैं ... बोलता हूँmaiñ ... boltā hūñ | I speak... |
| Freut mich! | froyt mikh | आपसे मिलकर खुशी हुई!āpse milkar khuśī huī! | Nice to meet you! |
| Und du? / Und Sie? | oont doo / oont zee | और तुम? / और आप?aur tum? / aur āp? | And you? (informal / formal) |