Miscellaneous Hindi Queries

[carla]

Wahan = there
wahan par = over there
wahan jaao = go there

Also udhar = in that direction, there, thither.  The distinction in meaning is that vahaan is more "that place" while udhar is more "that direction." 

cf. yahaan - here, this place;  idhar - this direction, this way, here

[Aishwarya4eva]

Is 'avaaz' feminine or masculine? And what's 'duniya' for that matter?

[James]

They're both feminine.  'Duniya' means world.

Maybe you're already familiar with the (masc.) noun 'jahan'/जहाँ for 'world'?  Shahjahan (builder of the Taj Mahal) = King of the world.

You can find a good online Hindi dictionary here.  You can even type in 'duniya' in Roman script and get the correct response.  Needless to say, I rarely use my own dictionary in book form these days!!!!

[royalibrahim]

What does it mean "Misaaal ki taur pey" ?? 'Misaal' is example right?
For example.
HTH

Thanks Vinita, what does "taur pey" mean exactly?

[Vinita]

What does it mean "Misaaal ki taur pey" ?? 'Misaal' is example right?

Thanks Vinita, what does "taur pey" mean exactly?

Misaal = example
ki = of
taur =way
pe =by, on

By way of example, or less formally, For example.

HTH

[Aishwarya4eva]

They're both feminine.  'Duniya' means world.

Maybe you're already familiar with the (masc.) noun 'jahan'/जहाँ for 'world'?  Shahjahan (builder of the Taj Mahal) = King of the world.

You can find a good online Hindi dictionary here.  You can even type in 'duniya' in Roman script and get the correct response.  Needless to say, I rarely use my own dictionary in book form these days!!!!

Thanks, James! I know that avaaz and duniya are far from synonyms, I just have such a bad memory for gender in nouns.

[James]

Thanks, James! I know that avaaz and duniya are far from synonyms, I just have such a bad memory for gender in nouns.

A trick that one of my French profs mentioned is to always learn a noun with an adjective.  So if you're learning 'awaaz', memorize 'meri awaaz', as an example.  That helped me quite a bit, maybe it'll help you, too.  

And don't worry about it.  Our mother tongue is genderless for the most part, so we all face that challenge. 

[royalibrahim]

Please help me in understanding the the differences between the following. Are they just Hindi/Urdu difference?

"naseeb"  and  "Taqdeer / Taqdir"?  ---> "fate/destiny"
"Beqaraar" and "Taqarar"
"Faltu"  and  "Beqaar"  --> Useless

[Vinita]

Please help me in understanding the the differences between the following. Are they just Hindi/Urdu difference?

"naseeb"  and  "Taqdeer / Taqdir"?  ---> "fate/destiny"
"Beqaraar" and "Taqarar"
"Faltu"  and  "Beqaar"  --> Useless

You may be right. But I don't know which ones are Hindi and which are Urdu.

naseeb and taqdeer both mean "destiny", according to the Hindi Urdu dictionary.  

Be-qaraar means " Restless, uneasy, discomposed, disturbed in mind, disquieted, anxious, distracted; unsettled, variable, vacillating, inconstant;" according to the Hindi Urdu Dictionary.

Haven't found Taqarar yet.

Faltu and Be-kar both mean "unemployed", according to the Hindi Urdu Dictionary

Maybe someone else can chime in with the Hindi Urdu differences of these words.

HTH

[James]

Most of these words would tend more toward the Urdu side, but they're all more or less commonly known.  They're commonly used in Hindi songs or Hindi movies.

naseeb and taqdeer both mean "destiny", according to the Hindi Urdu dictionary.

Naseeb and taqdeer would both be more towards the Urdu side, I'd wager, though they're really commonly used words.  Naseeb and taqdeer derive from Arabic.  Another common word of the same meaning, derived from Persian, is kismat.  The only 'shudhh hindi' equivalent I can think of is 'daiv', but that's not used much as far as I know.

Be-qaraar means " Restless, uneasy, discomposed, disturbed in mind, disquieted, anxious, distracted; unsettled, variable, vacillating, inconstant;" according to the Hindi Urdu Dictionary.

This word is commonly used in the context of Hindi songs where it means being restless when separated from your lover.  Generally restless is the way I heard it used most often, though it does mean all of those things.

Haven't found Taqarar yet.

तकरार derived from Arabic.  Means 'dispute, quarrel'.  takaraar karnaa = to dispute, to quarrel.

Faltu and Be-kar both mean "unemployed", according to the Hindi Urdu Dictionary

'faltu' is usually used to mean a useless person.  be-kar literally means useless, could refer to things, too.  I've never heard them used to mean strictly 'unemployed', but I suppose they could mean that as well.  These words are usually used as insults and don't seem to be technical terms to me, but perhaps I'm wrong.

[Vinita]

^Thank you, James.    I was really struggling with those.

And thank you, royalibrahim, your questions always help me learn new things.

[royalibrahim]

Thanks to you Vinita & James and this forum, being very helpful to millions of language-lovers like me in getting us better understanding of this language.

Not to waste this comment section without a question.

What does it mean "naari pet"?? (is that 'empty stomach'??)

[GabberSingh]

What does it mean "naari pet"?? (is that 'empty stomach'??)

Naari = Woman
Pet = Stomach

Naari Pet probably means a pregnant woman though I have never heard it said that way. Usually you have to say "naari pet se hai" ie "woman is with stomach"

Khaali Pet = Empty stomach

[purplecowmoo]

Hookay. If you are referring to yourself as 'hum', what does 'mujhe' change to? 'Humse' sounded right, but wouldn't that be the equivilant for 'mujhse'?

Any light anyone could shed on this matter MUCH appreciated

[James]

If you are referring to yourself as 'hum', what does 'mujhe' change to? 'Humse' sounded right, but wouldn't that be the equivilant for 'mujhse'?

humein

हमें

mujhe is actually a contraction of 'mujhko'.  You can sometimes contract and sometimes not, depending on the oblique form of the subject pronoun in question.

main     mujhko      mujhe
hum     humko       hamein
aap       aapko        (no contraction)
tum       tumko       tumhein
tu        tujhko         tujhe
yeh      isko            ise
vah       usko          use
ye         inko          inhen
ve        unko          unhein

kya/kaun (sg)  kisko     kise
kya/kaun (pl)   kin       kinhein

^Thank you, James.    I was really struggling with those.

My pleasure!    It helps that the paper copy of Oxford's Hindi-English dictionary lists all derivations, etc.  I notice that some of these otherwise excellent online dictionaries don't.  I guess nothing's perfect.  

Thanks to you Vinita & James and this forum, being very helpful to millions of language-lovers like me in getting us better understanding of this language.

Happy to help when I can Ibrahim.  You're welcome.  

[royalibrahim]

You are right to think that Anjaana Anjaani means 'male and female stranger'. You can also say 'Anjaan' but then you have to clarify the object that is strange so for example 'Ek anjaan ladki mere saamne khadi hai' A strange girl is standing in front of me.
'Kal meri mulaquat ek anjaan aadmi se hua' Yesterday I had a meeting with a strange man.
Ajnabi/Ajnabee also means 'stranger' but you can't change the word ending to mean a masculine or feminine stranger unlike with the word 'Anjaana' and 'Anjaani'.

Ok, so the difference between "Ajnabi/Ajnabee" and "Anjaana / Anjaani" is the former does not have gender where the latter has. Am I right?
So meaningfully both are same?

Also, which one of the below is the correct way of saying "I was not able to come"?
Aa nahi saka  (or)  Nahi Aa saka-->


To say, I am lost we are using "kho gaya hoon", but when something is lost, we use "gum gaya". Question is why can't we say "Mai.n gum gaya hoon" to mention "I am lost"?

[James]

Ok, so the difference between "Ajnabi/Ajnabee" and "Anjaana / Anjaani" is the former does not have gender where the latter has. Am I right?
So meaningfully both are same?

Yes, they can be used interchangeable.  Ajnabii is a masculine noun that can apply to both a man and a woman as far as I know, and anjaanaa/anjaanii inflect according to the gender of the person.

Also, which one of the below is the correct way of saying "I was not able to come"?
Aa nahi saka  (or)  Nahi Aa saka-->

They're both correct, but there's a difference in emphasis.  The first is just a simple statement, "I couldn't come", no real emphasis, whereas the second emphasises the fact that you couldn't come.  You would need the pronoun 'main' unless you've already been speaking and the referent is clear.

To say, I am lost we are using "kho gaya hoon", but when something is lost, we use "gum gaya". Question is why can't we say "Mai.n gum gaya hoon" to mention "I am lost"?

I think it's a matter of an intransitive verb vs. a transitive verb, i.e., one verb does not have to take an object whereas the other must.

Intransitive verbs are mainly state of mind type of verbs.  Grammatically speaking, 'I am lost', has no 'object', no thing on which the verb is acting.  It's a reflection of the state of the subject.  Compare and contrast with the transitive verb 'hit' - 'Sally hit Jimmy'- where the verb is acting on an object.

'main khoya hoon' = I am lost.  This is a change of your personal state.  The verb can take an object optionally.

gum is a transitive verb, so it must take an object.  
'gum hona' = to lose X  
'kaagaz gum gayee'  = the paper is lost.

If you yourself are lost, you can say, "main gumshudaa hoon".  The verb becomes an adjective.

[omlick]

Yes, they can be used interchangeable.  Ajnabii is a masculine noun that can apply to both a man and a woman as far as I know, and anjaanaa/anjaanii inflect according to the gender of the person.

They're both correct, but there's a difference in emphasis.  The first is just a simple statement, "I couldn't come", no real emphasis, whereas the second emphasises the fact that you couldn't come.  You would need the pronoun 'main' unless you've already been speaking and the referent is clear.

I think it's a matter of an intransitive verb vs. a transitive verb, i.e., one verb does not have to take an object whereas the other must.

Intransitive verbs are mainly state of mind type of verbs.  Grammatically speaking, 'I am lost', has no 'object', no thing on which the verb is acting.  It's a reflection of the state of the subject.  Compare and contrast with the transitive verb 'hit' - 'Sally hit Jimmy'- where the verb is acting on an object.

'main khoya hoon' = I am lost.  This is a change of your personal state.  The verb can take an object optionally.

gum is a transitive verb, so it must take an object.  
'gum hona' = to lose X  
'kaagaz gum gayee'  = the paper is lost.

If you yourself are lost, you can say, "main gumshudaa hoon".  The verb becomes an adjective.

ٰ
I am not sure about the "standardness" of "gum gayaa."  I don't think there is a verb "gumna"  If it is, then I have to study it more.

But you can use mai.n gum ho gayaa huu.n  I think that is correct grammatically. "I have becomet lost"

or

mai.n gum ho gayaa = "I got lost"

"gum" iteslf is an adjective according to Platts.

[James]

I am not sure about the "standardness" of "gum gayaa."  I don't think there is a verb "gumna"  If it is, then I have to study it more.

Agreed, I've never heard 'gumna', either.  I've heard gum hona.  My dictionary has 'gum karna'- to lose/to lead astray.

[konkanikudi]

I don't think there is a verb "gumna"  

Gum hona: to be lost
Gum hojana: to have become lost

I'm pretty sure 'gumna' is not a word. I'm sure it's not a verb.

[Aishwarya4eva]

In the song/movie Bachna Ae Haseeno, I'm confused about something. I know that 'bachna' is the verb that means 'to save/rescue.' But in the context of the song the subtitles indicate that it means 'beware.' So what does it mean literally and colloquially?

[royalibrahim]

ٰI am not sure about the "standardness" of "gum gayaa."

Agreed, I've never heard 'gumna', either.  I've heard gum hona.  My dictionary has 'gum karna'- to lose/to lead astray.

Thanks all, but google returns lot of results for "gum gaya" though.


How to use the word "Ziddi" (stubborn) in sentences? I guess, I can't say "ziddi karna"  or  "Mai.n ziddi hoon".

[James]

In the song/movie Bachna Ae Haseeno, I'm confused about something. I know that 'bachna' is the verb that means 'to save/rescue.' But in the context of the song the subtitles indicate that it means 'beware.' So what does it mean literally and colloquially?

The verb 'bachna' is shouted out in its infinitive when you want to say, 'look out!'.  So in the song, it can carry a sense similar to 'beware'.  He's announcing he's coming and the ladies should be careful, he's a lady killer, yada yada.

How to use the word "Ziddi" (stubborn) in sentences? I guess, I can't say "ziddi karna"  or  "Mai.n ziddi hoon".

The verb is 'zid karna'.  'voh zid kar raha hai' = He's being stubborn.

Yes, you can say, 'main ziddi hoon'.  That would mean, ''I'm stubborn''.

[omlick]

The verb 'bachna' is shouted out in its infinitive when you want to say, 'look out!'.  So in the song, it can carry a sense similar to 'beware'.  He's announcing he's coming and the ladies should be careful, he's a lady killer, yada yada.

The verb is 'zid karna'.  'voh zid kar raha hai' = He's being stubborn.

Yes, you can say, 'main ziddi hoon'.  That would mean, ''I'm stubborn''.

ziddii I think means "stuborness" while "zidd" means stuborn.  That is usually the pattern with these type of Persian nouns and adjectives.  You add "ii" to the end of the adjective to get the noun. 

[James]

Actually, I think it's the reverse, just judging by the dictionary definitions.

I know the usage I've given above is correct because I have heard it used that way repeatedly in both films and by native speakers who are friends.

ज़िद्दी ziddi: (a) obstinate, stubborn, inflexible; insistent; hence ~पना (nm).

I'm not entirely sure how to interpret the final part of that entry.  Is it saying there is a masc. noun ज़िद्दीपना?

Apparently, 'zid' means stubbornness:

ज़िद zid (nf) obstinacy, stubbornness; insistence; —करना to insist; —पर आना to adopt an inflexible attitude, to strike a stubborn posture.

vo ziddi hai =  S/he is stubborn
vo zid kar rahaa hai = He is insisting/being stubborn.