Wednesday, November 18, 2009

A Concise Grammar of Hindi (Part 1)

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 here :)

This is part 1 of it. An iPaper of this, if you like, will be found at the end of this article :P


Introduction

  • The article
    1.  A, an, the.
    2.  A, an = एक.
    3.  The is omitted. Sometimes the = यह (this) and वह (that), when a great precision is needed.

  • Nouns
    1.  Every noun is either masculine or feminine.

  • Preposition
    1. In English, `on, to, in’ are prepositions. Sits before a noun/pronoun and governs it.
    2. In Hindi/Urdu, they come after, and called postpositions. e.g. को (to), पर (on), से (from), में (in).

  •  Verbs
    1. The position of the verb is at the extreme end of a sentence. e.g. यह चिट्ठी दफ़तर को ले जाओ।

  • Interrogatives
    1. कौन (who), किसका (whose), कौन सा (which), कितनी दूर (how far), केयों (why), क्या (what), कहां (where), कब (when) etc.
    2. Never start an Urdu/Hindi sentence with an interrogative. e.g. मेज़ पर क्या है?- मेज़ पर किताब है।

  • Possessive pronouns
    1. मेरा (my), हमारा (our), तुमहारा (your), उसका (his/her/its) etc.
    2. Have the same position in Urdu sentences as they have in English sentences i.e. they must precede the nouns they govern e.g. मेरी किताब।

  • Adverbs
    1. यहां (here), वहां (there), बजे (o’clock), और (and), जी हाँ (yes), जी नहीं (no), मत (do not), अब (now) etc.
    2. Must be just before the verb e.g. वह मेज़ यहां लाओ।

  • Pronouns
    1. मैं (I), तू (thou), वह (he/she/it), हम (we), तुम (you), वह (they) etc.
    2. 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).
    3. 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 (हैं etc.).


The Noun

  • Gender
    1. Only 2 genders - masculine and feminine. No neuter gender.
    2. Males are masculine, females are feminine.
    3. 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. लड़की (a girl), गाड़ी (a carriage) etc.
      • The gender of inanimate nouns that do not end in -आ or -ई, must be learnt by practice.
  • Number
    1. 2 numbers - singular and plural.
    2. The rules of forming plurals from singulars are quite simple.

  • Case
    1. Nominative
      • does something.
      • not governed by any postposition.
      • the stem form is almost always the nominative form.
    2. Objective
      • something is done on it.
      • governed by a postposition/a transitive verb.
    3. All the cases except the nominative are called oblique cases, which have different names according to postpositions following them.
    4. A noun is said to be in the –
      Caseif followed bye.g.
      Genetiveका/के/की (of)औरत का बेटा/-की बेटी
      Dativeको (to)लड़के को
      Locativeपर/में (at)घरों में/घोड़ी पर
      Ablativeसे (from)घोड़े से
      Agentने (by)लड़के ने
      Vocativeऎ/ओ (Oh!)ऎ ख़ोदा!/(ओ लड़कों!)
    5. In the accusative case-the noun is not governed by any postposition, because it is governed by a transitive verb, as एक कुत्ता मारो। (Kill a dog.)
    6. A noun in the accusative case-
      • has either the form as a nominative (as in English).
      • or is expressed by को, like the dative.
  • Declension of Nouns
    1. Masculine
      • –आ stems
        CaseSingularPlural
        Nominative-आ-ए
        Oblique-ए-ओं

        e.g. घोड़ा (a horse)-
        CaseSingularPlural
        Nominativeघोड़ाघोड़े
        Obliqueघोड़ेघोड़ों
      • Stems ending in sounds other than–आ
        CaseSingularPlural
        Nominative--
        Oblique--ओं
        e.g. आदमी (a man)-
        CaseSingularPlural
        Nominativeआदमीआदमी
        Obliqueआदमीआदमियों
    2. Feminine
      • -ई stems (-इ sometimes)
        CaseSingularPlural
        Nominative-ई(-इ sometimes)-इयां
        Oblique-ई(-इ sometimes)-इयों
        e.g. लड़की (a girl)-
        CaseSingularPlural
        Nominativeलड़कीलडकियां
        Obliqueलड़कीलड़कियों
      • Stems ending in sounds other than–ई/-इ
        CaseSingularPlural
        Nominative--एं
        Oblique--ओं
        e.g. किताब (a book)-
        CaseSingularPlural
        Nominativeकिताबकिताबें
        Obliqueकिताबकिताबों
    3. Notes-
      • Oblique plural nouns always end in –ओं.
      • Oblique feminine singular nouns never change.
      • Nominative masculine plural and oblique singular nouns are always same.


The Pronouns
  • Introduction
    1. words in place of a noun.
    2. वह = he/she/it, they, that, those.
    3. यह = this, these.
  • Declension of Pronouns
  • NominativeOblique
    AccusativeGenitiveOther cases
    मैं(I)मुझे (मुझ+ए)(me)मेरा (सुझ+का) (my)मुझ को/पर/में/से (to/on/in/from me)
    हम (We)हमें (हम+एं) (us)हमारा (हम+का) (our)हम को/पर/में/से (to/on/in/from us)
    तू (Thou)तुझे (तुझ+ए) (thee)तेरा (तू+का) (thy)तुझ को/पर/में/से (to/on/in/from thee)
    तुम/आप (You)तुमहें (तुम+ (ह+) एं)/आप को (you)तुमहारा (तुम+(ह +) का)/आप का (your)तुम/आप को/पर/में/से (to/on/in/from you)
    वह (He/She/It)उसे (उस+ए) (him/her/it)उस का (his/her/its) उस को/पर/में/से (to/ on/in/from him/her/it)
    वह (They)उनहें (उन+(+ह) एं) (them)उन का (their)उन को/पर/में/से (to/on/in/from them)
    यह (This)इसे (इस+ए) (this)इस का (of this)इस को/पर/में/से (to/on/in/from this)
    यह (These)इनहें (इन+(+ह) एं) (these)इन का (of these) इन को/पर/में/से (to/on/in/from these)
    वह (That)उसे (उस+ए) (that)उस का (of that)उस को/पर/में/से (to/on/in/from these)
    वह (Those)उनहें (उन+(+ह) एं) (those)उन का (of those)उन को/पर/में/से (to/on/in/from these)


The Verb

  • Conjugation of the verb होना (to be)
  • PersonPresentPastFuture
    मैं (I)हूँ (am)था (was)हूंगा (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)हैं (are)थे (were)होंगे (will be)
    तुम (You)हो (are)थे (were)होगे (will be)
    वह (They)हैं (are)थे/थीं (were)होंगे/होंगी (will be)
  • e.g. मैं कमरे में हूँ। (I am in the room.)
    वह मेरा बेटा था। (He was my son.)
    वह घोड़े पर होंगे। (They will be on the horses.)

[End of Part 1]


A Concise Grammar of Hindi (Part 1)

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