A Concise Grammar of Hindi

Part 1

Jahid Akon
 Foreword
Actually I compiled this grammar book very concisely for my future reference. But as i
found no good Hindi Grammar in the cyber world, I thought to publish it if somebody get
helped seeing it online. This is part 1 of it.

Jahid Akon, Dhaka

19 November 2009
• Introduction
o The article
ƒ A, an, the.
ƒ A, an = एक.
ƒ The is omitted. Sometimes the = यह (this) and वह (that), when a great precision is
needed.
o Nouns
ƒ Every noun is either masculine or feminine.
o Preposition
ƒ In English, ‘on, to, in’ are prepositions. Sits before a noun/pronoun and governs it.
ƒ In Hindi/Urdu, they come after, and called postpositions.
e.g. को (to), पर (on), से (from), म (in).
o Verbs
ƒ The position of the verb is at the extreme end of a sentence.
e.g. यह िच ठ दफ़तर को ले जाओ।
o Interrogatives
ƒ कौन (who), कसका (whose), कौन सा (which), कतनी दरू (how far), केय (why), या
(what), कहां (where), कब (when) etc.
ƒ Never start an Urdu/Hindi sentence with an interrogative.
e.g. मेज़ पर या है ?- मेज़ पर कताब है ।
o Possessive pronouns
ƒ मेरा (my), हमारा (our), तुमहारा (your), उसका (his/her/its) etc.
ƒ Have the same position in Urdu sentences as they have in English sentences i.e. they
must precede the nouns they govern e.g. मेर कताब।
o Adverbs
ƒ यहां (here), वहां (there), बजे (o’clock), और (and), जी हाँ (yes), जी नह ं (no), मत (do
not), अब (now) etc.
ƒ Must be just before the verb e.g. वह मेज़ यहां लाओ।
o Pronouns
ƒ म (I), तू (thou), वह (he/she/it), हम (we), तुम (you), वह (they) etc.
ƒ तुम is used for ‘you’-singular and plural, just as in English. It is plural in the form
though it may be singular or plural in use. The real second person singular तू is
seldom used (most informal).
ƒ तुम is used only to inferiors. To equals/superiors/strangers always use आप with
third person plural verbs i.e. the form used with वह (ह etc.).
• The Noun
o Gender
ƒ Only 2 gendersÆ masculine and feminine. No neuter gender.
ƒ Males are masculine, females are feminine.
ƒ Gender identification
Nouns that end in -आ, with very few exceptions, are masculine e.g. लड़का (a boy),
कपड़ा (cloth).
Nouns that end in -ई are almost always feminine e.g. लड़क (a girl), गाड़ (a
carriage) etc.
The gender of inanimate nouns that do not end in -आ or -ई, must be learnt by
practice.
o Number
ƒ 2 numbersÆ singular and plural.
ƒ The rules of forming plurals from singulars are quite simple.
o Case
ƒ Nominative
⇒ does something.
⇒ not governed by any postposition.
⇒ the stem form is almost always the nominative form.
ƒ Objective
⇒ something is done on it.
⇒ governed by a postposition/a transitive verb.
⇒ Accusative/dative case.
ƒ All the cases except the nominative are called oblique cases, which have different
names according to postpositions following them-

A noun is said to be in the –

Case if followed by e.g.
Genitive का/के/क (of) औरत का बेटा/-क बेट
Dative को (to) लड़के को
Locative पर/म (at) घर म/घोड़ पर
Ablative से (from) घोड़े से
Agent ने (by) लड़के ने
Vocative ऎ/ओ (Oh!) ऎ ख़ोदा!/(ओ लड़क !)

ƒ In the accusative case-the noun is not governed by any postposition, because it is

governed by a transitive verb, as एक कु ा मारो। (Kill a dog.)
ƒ A noun in the accusative case-
⇒ has either the form as a nominative (as in English).
⇒ or is expressed by को, like the dative.
o Declension of Nouns
ƒ Masculine
1. –आ stems
Case Singular Plural
Nominative -आ -ए
Oblique -ए -ओं

e.g. घोड़ा (a horse)-

Case Singular Plural
Nominative घोड़ा घोड़े
Oblique घोड़े घोड़

2. Stems ending in sounds other than–आ

Case Singular Plural
Nominative - -
Oblique - -ओं
e.g. आदमी (a man)-
Case Singular Plural
Nominative आदमी आदमी
Oblique आदमी आदिमय

ƒ Feminine
1. -ई stems (-इ sometimes)
Case Singular Plural
Nominative -ई(-इ sometimes) -इयां
Oblique -ई(-इ sometimes) -इय
e.g. लड़क (a girl)-
Case Singular Plural
Nominative लड़क लड कयां
Oblique लड़क लड़ कय

2. Stems ending in sounds other than–ई/-इ

Case Singular Plural
Nominative - -एं
Oblique - -ओं
e.g. कताब (a book)-
Case Singular Plural
Nominative कताब कताब
Oblique कताब कताब
ƒ Notes-
1. Oblique plural nouns always end in –ओं.
2. Oblique feminine singular nouns never change.
3. Nominative masculine plural and oblique singular nouns are always same.
• The Pronouns
ƒ words in place of a noun.
ƒ वह = he/she/it, they, that, those.
ƒ यह = this, these.
o Declension of Pronouns

Oblique
Nominative
Accusative Genitive Other cases
म मुझे (मुझ+ए) मेरा (सुझ+का) मुझ को/पर/म/से
(I) (me) (my) (to/on/in/from me)
हम हम (हम+एं) हमारा (हम+का) हम को/पर/म/से
(We) (us) (our) (to/on/in/from us)
तू तुझे (तुझ+ए) तेरा (तू+का) तुझ को/पर/म/से
(Thou) (thee) (thy) (to/on/in/from thee)
तुम/आप तुमह (तुम+ तुमहारा (तुम+(ह तुम/आप को/पर/म/से
(You) (ह+) एं)/आप को +) का)/आप का (to/on/in/from you)
(you) (your)
वह उसे (उस+ए) उस का उस को/पर/म/से (to/
(He/She/It) (him/her/it) (his/her/its) on/in/from him/her/it)
वह उनह (उन+(+ह) एं) उन का उन को/पर/म/से
(They) (them) (their) (to/on/in/from them)
यह इसे (इस+ए) इस का इस को/पर/म/से
(This) (this) (of this) (to/on/in/from this)
यह इनह (इन+(+ह) एं) इन का इन को/पर/म/से
(These) (these) (of these) (to/on/in/from these)
वह उसे (उस+ए) उस का उस को/पर/म/से
(That) (that) (of that) (to/on/in/from these)
वह उनह (उन+(+ह) एं) उन का उन को/पर/म/से
(Those) (those) (of those) (to/on/in/from these)
• The Verb
o Conjugation of the verb होना (to be)
Person Present Past Future
म (I) हँू (am) था (was) हंू गा (shall be)
तू (Thou) है (art) था (wast) होगा (will be)
वह (He/She/It) है (is) था/थी (was) होगा/होगी (will be)
हम (We) ह (are) थे (were) ह गे (will be)
तुम (You) हो (are) थे (were) होगे (will be)
वह (They) ह (are) थे/थीं (were) ह गे/ह गी (will be)

e.g. म कमरे म हँू । (I am in the room.)

वह मेरा बेटा था। (He was my son.)
वह घोड़े पर ह गे। (They will be on the horses.)

[End of Part 1]