The Syntax

In Hindi a verb comes at the end of a sentence; and an auxiliary verb is always placed at the very end. For example: This is a book in Hindi becomes "yah (this) pusttak (book) hai (is)". And I am reading a book in Hindi becomes "mai.n (I) pusttak (book) pa.rdh-rahaa (reading) hoo.n (am)".

Like English, Hindi has singular and plural forms for auxiliary verbs. A pluralizing suffix can be addedd to most nouns and pronouns too. For example: This is a dog in Hindi becomes "yeh (this) kuttaa (dog) hai (is)", and These are dogs in Hindi becomes "ye (these) kutte; (dogs) hai.n (are)".

Often interrogative words like "where" (kahaa.n), "what" (kyaa), "how" (kaise), "why" (kyo.n) are placed just before the verb. For example: Where is Peter? in Hindi becomes ”Peetar kahaa.n (where) hai (is)?”. Answers could be Peter is here, in Hindi "Peetar yahaa.n (here) hai (is)" or just He is there, "vo vahaa.n (there) hai".

The next three examples pages are interactive. You can form a variety of simple affirmative or interogative sentences by selecting correct radial button within each section. Press "Translate" button to see their translation in Hindi instantly. (Note: We have deliberately hidden the Hindi translation to give you a chance to translate each sentence yourself before looking at your teacher's version.)