Learn about making and responding to requests
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| INTRODUCTION | |
| Maya: "Namaste," I'm Maya. Welcome back to HindiPod101.com. This is Lower Beginner, Season 1, Lesson 4 - Making Requests in Hindi. | |
| Udita "Namaste," I'm Udita. In this lesson you'll learn how to how to make a request in Hindi. | |
| Maya: The conversation takes place in a temple. | |
| Udita: It’s between Kate and the female guard. | |
| Maya: They are strangers, so they will be using formal Hindi. | |
| Udita: Let's listen to the conversation. | |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER | |
| Maya: No matter whether you’re a tourist or a devotee, or whatever the reason for your visit, it’s important to know how to conduct yourself at a holy place in India. | |
| Udita: Indians are generally forgiving of any mistakes made by foreigners, because they know that foreigners might not know the etiquette of Indian culture, but it’s still good to learn about it to avoid any embarrassment. | |
| Maya: To begin with, please note that it’s important to take off your shoes when you’re trying to enter holy places like temples. | |
| Udita: Also, it’s important to wear modest clothes that provide some coverage, and clothes that are not too tight. | |
| Maya: Some temples allow photography, but you should still watch out for signs that indicate if it`s prohibited. | |
| Udita: Yes, some are alright about it, and some follow the “No photography” rule. | |
| Maya: So it’s important to be a little careful! | |
| Udita: Yes, these points should definitely help you to show respect for the decorum of the temple, and will allow you to enjoy the positive atmosphere and peace. | |
| Maya: Okay, now let’s move onto the vocab! | |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES | |
| Maya: Let's have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. | |
| Udita: First we have उतारिये . It is a request that means “take off.” It comes from the verb उतारना meaning “to take off”. We simply add iye to the root of the verb to make it a request. | |
| Maya: We saw it in the dialogue- कृपया चप्पल बाहर उतारिये| | |
| Udita: Please take off your shoes. Okay, what’s next? | |
| Maya: Next is माफ़ कीजिये , which is a very useful phrase which you must know by now. | |
| Udita: It means “Sorry” or “please excuse me.” | |
| Maya: Another phrase we have learned that is used to ask for forgiveness is क्षमा कीजिये. | |
| Udita: Moving on, we have “बताने के लिए” which is a phrase literally meaning “for telling” as in “Thank you for telling (me).” | |
| Maya: This can be used to explain the reason for an action. | |
| Udita: It can be used for various verbs following the rule root verb + ne + ke liye. Like we could say, खेलने के लिए which means “for playing.” | |
| Maya: Khel is the root of the verb khelna. So khelna becomes khelne. Altogether it becomes खेलने के लिए which is “for playing”. | |
| Udita: Can you guess the phrase for “for eating”? | |
| Maya: खाने के लिए | |
| Udita: Bingo. And if I wanted to say “Thank you for eating” what would the phrase be? | |
| Maya: खाने के लिए धन्यवाद. | |
| Udita: के लिए is an adverb of purpose. How do you say “This table is good for studying”? | |
| Maya: यह मेज़ पढने के लिए अच्छी है. | |
| Udita: Okay, now let’s move onto the grammar! | |
Lesson focus |
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|---|---|
| Maya: In this lesson, you’re going to learn how to make a request to someone in Hindi. | |
| Udita: Polite imperatives are used for making requests to those who are normally addressed by the second person pronoun आप “you.” | |
| Maya: As we have learned, आप is the polite and respectful form of address that can be used for both singular and plural subjects. | |
| Udita: To make a request, we add iye to the root of the verb. For example, आप बैठिये means “ please sit”. We can also simply say बैठिये to mean the same thing. | |
| Maya: That’s because in such sentences, the subject is omitted, and can be guessed from both the context and form of the verb. What will the word for “please write” be? | |
| Udita: लिखिए . “to write” in Hindi is likhna. The root of the verb is likh. To make a request to write, we simply add the suffix iye to the verb root. So it becomes likhiye. | |
| Udita: “Please eat” would be? | |
| Maya: खाइए | |
| Udita: “to eat” in Hindi is खाना. The root of the verb is khaa. To make a request to eat, we simply add the suffix iye to the verb root. So it becomes khaaiye | |
| Maya: But there are a few exceptions to this rule. A few verbs have irregular forms. | |
| Udita: Four common verbs in their irregular form are करना, लेना, देना, पीना. For these verbs, we add the suffix ijiye. For example karna becomes kiijiye. | |
| Maya: Let’s practice how to make a request to someone. Please repeat after Maya. | |
| Udita: “Please come” would be? | |
| Maya: आइये [pause] | |
| Udita: “Please go” would be? | |
| Maya: जाईये [pause] | |
| Udita: “Please write” in Hindi would be? | |
| Maya: लिखिए [pause] | |
| Udita: Here are some more examples. Repeat after me! | |
| Maya: “Please take” in Hindi would be? | |
| Udita: लीजिये [pause] | |
| Maya: “Please drink” in Hindi would be? | |
| Udita: पीजिये [pause] | |
| Maya: Let's see how this grammar point was used in the dialogue. | |
| Udita: The watchman requests Kate to take off her shoes. So he says - कृपया चप्पल बाहर उतारिये| kripya chappal baahar uTaariye which means “ Please take off your shoes outside.” | |
| Maya: And to this, Kate replies politely माफ़ कीजिये, मुझे पता नहीं था| maaf kiijiye mujhe paTa nahiin tha which means “Please forgive me, I didn’t know” | |
Outro |
|
| Udita: Well, that's all we have time for for this lesson. Thank you for listening. Until next time! | |
| Maya: Make sure you read the lesson notes for more examples and explanations on this topic. | |
| Udita: "Shukriyaa aur fir milenge!" |
15 Comments
HideHi everyone!
How would you say "Please study" in Hindi?
Hi Abigail,
Thanks for your post!
If you have any questions, do let us know.
All the best!
Roohi
Team HindiPod101.com
Shukriyaa👍
Dear Subbiah,
Thank you for your interest!
There are lots of resources here on this site for learning Hindi - videos, audio lessons, vocabulary lists and easy conversation tips. Please go through them to work on your Hindi learning at your own pace.
All the best! Let us know if you have any questions!
Best,
Udita
Team HindiPod101.com
Respected Sir, I wish to learn Hindi.
Hello SC,
maaf means sorry. Not sure what you mean to say by 'kamak'?
Could you please write it in English once?
Cheers,
Neha
Team HindiPod101.com
Hello Takane,
Good job:thumbsup:
Cheers,
Neha
Team HindiPod101.com
what is the difference between maf and kamak (sorry)? Is maf more formal than kamak?
Hello,
Kripya dekhlie.
Please read.
muJHe "muJHe paTa nahiin tha" paTa nahiin tha.
I didn't know "I didn't know".
baTane ke liye bahut DHanyavaaD.
Thanks a lot for telling.
Hello Elena,
It would be 'mujhe pata nahii tha' irrespective of the gender.
Cheers,
Neha
Team HindiPod101.com
namaskar hindipod101.com,
shouldn't kate say "mujhe pata nahin THEE? (and not THAA) since she is a woman? :flushed: