Hindi grammar

The main rules of Hindi, each on one short page with tables and examples you can listen to. Use it to look something up, or read it alongside the course: every chapter links to the pages it uses.

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Start here: the Hindi script

The Devanagari script: the Hindi alphabetHow Hindi writing works: letters hang from a top line, every consonant has a built-in “a”, and vowels have two shapes.
Devanagari consonantsEvery Hindi consonant in the traditional order, with its sound and an example word: breathy pairs, curled-tongue letters and dotted letters.

Beginner (A1)

Adjectives: changing and unchangingAdjectives ending in -आ change for gender and number, like अच्छा, अच्छी, अच्छे. Other adjectives never change.
Asking questionsYes/no questions with क्या, and the question words कौन, क्या, कहाँ, कब, क्यों, कैसे and कितना.
Gender of nouns: masculine and feminineEvery Hindi noun is masculine or feminine. Learn the endings that help you guess, how plurals are made, and how gender shows in a sentence.
Hindi numbers: from 0 to a millionEvery number from 1 to 100, hundreds, thousands, lakhs and crores, ordinals like पहला and दूसरा, and how to say prices, times and years.
Negation: not, no and don'tHow to say “not” in Hindi: नहीं in most sentences, मत in commands, and न in polite requests, signs and a few fixed patterns.
Possession: my, your and “to have”Say my, your, his and her with मेरा, तुम्हारा, आपका, उसका, and say “I have” with मेरे पास … है.
Postpositions and the oblique caseHindi puts small words like में (in) and से (from) after the noun. Learn the main ones and how nouns and pronouns change before them.
Pronouns and politenessThe Hindi words for I, you, he, she, we and they, and how to choose between the three words for “you”: तू, तुम and आप.
The present habitual: I do, I usually doTalk about habits, routines and facts with the -ता, -ती, -ते form of the verb plus हूँ, है, हो or हैं.
To be: am, is, are, was, wereThe present forms हूँ, है, हो, हैं and the past forms था, थी, थे, थीं of होना, the most useful verb in Hindi.
Word order: the verb goes lastHindi puts the verb at the end: subject, object, verb. Learn the basic order and where time, place and question words go.

Elementary (A2)

Commands and requests: आ, आओ, आइएTell someone to do something in the right register with the तू, तुम and आप forms, say “don't” with मत, and recognise formal requests.
Compound verbs: ले लेना, दे देना, हो जानाWhy Hindi adds लेना, देना and जाना to other verbs, and how to use the most common compound verbs in everyday speech.
Should and have to: चाहिए, है, पड़नाGive advice with चाहिए and say what you have to do with है and पड़ना. The person takes को, and the verb can agree with the object.
The continuous tenses: रहा है and रहा थाSay what is happening now with रहा है, what was happening with रहा था, and how long something has been going on with से.
The future and suggestions: करूँगा, चलेंSay what will happen with the future endings -ऊँगा, -एगा, -एँगे, and make suggestions and offers with the subjunctive: चलें? मैं करूँ?
The past habitual: करता था (used to)Talk about past habits and describe how things used to be with करता था, करती थी, and the past of “to be”.
The simple past and the ने constructionTalk about finished actions: गया, आया, बैठा, and the ने construction, where the verb agrees with the object instead of the subject.

Intermediate (B1)

If and if only: अगर … तो, काशReal and unreal “if” sentences in Hindi: अगर … तो with normal tenses, the -ता form for “would”, and wishes with काश.
Joining actions: -कर, -आ हुआ, -ते हीHow to say “having done”, “broken” and “as soon as” in Hindi with the -कर, -आ हुआ and -ते ही forms.
Relative clauses: जो … वह, जब … तब, जहाँ … वहाँHow Hindi joins sentences with pairs of words: जो … वह (who, which), जब … तब (when), जहाँ … वहाँ (where), जैसे … वैसे (as).
The passive: किया जाता हैHow to form the Hindi passive with जाना in every tense, when it's used, and how to say who did the action.
The subjunctive: करूँ, करे, करेंThe Hindi subjunctive for suggestions, “maybe”, wishes, advice and reported requests, and how Hindi reports what someone said with कि.
Verb families: खुलना, खोलना, खुलवानाHow many Hindi verbs come in families: something happens, someone does it, someone has it done. Causatives like करवाना and खुलवाना.

Upper intermediate (B2)

Emphasis: ही, भी, तोHow the small words ही (only, exactly), भी (also, even) and तो (as for, though) add emphasis in Hindi, and why their position matters.
Idioms and set phrases (मुहावरे)Common Hindi idioms such as दाल में कुछ काला है and ऊँट के मुँह में ज़ीरा, set phrases for everyday situations, fillers and widely used slang.
Linking ideas: although, because of, thereforeHindi words for conceding, cause and effect and structuring an argument, from spoken हालाँकि and की वजह से to written अतः and किंतु.
Probably: the presumptive (होगा)How to say what is probably true in Hindi with होगा: वह घर पर होगा, वे आ रहे होंगे, उन्होंने देख लिया होगा.
Register: everyday and formal HindiWhen to use everyday words like मदद and इस्तेमाल, and when formal ones like सहायता and प्रयोग; तू, तुम, आप and the language of letters and the news.