Learn about using approximations in India
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Maya: Namaste, I'm Maya. Welcome back to HindiPod101.com. This is Lower Beginner, Season 1, Lesson 6 - I'll be Arriving in India in an Hour! |
| Udita: Namaste, मैं हूं उदिता। (main Udita hoon). I'm Udita. In this lesson, you'll learn the usage of the word lagbhag. |
| Maya: The conversation takes place on board a train. |
| Udita: It's between Kate and Renu, |
| Maya: Since they are strangers, they will be using formal Hindi. |
| Udita: Let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| केट: आगरा कितनी देर में आयेगा? (Kaet: agra kiTnii Daer mein ayega?) |
| रेनू: लगभग १ घंटे में| (Renu: lagbhag 1 ghante mein) |
| केट: स्टेशन से ताज महल कितनी दूर है? (Kaet: steshan se Taj mahal kiTnii Door hai?) |
| रेनू: लगभग दस मिनट| (Renu: lagbhag Das minat) |
| Maya: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| केट: आगरा कितनी देर में आयेगा? (Kaet: agra kiTnii Daer mein ayega?) |
| रेनू: लगभग १ घंटे में| (Renu: lagbhag 1 ghante mein) |
| केट: स्टेशन से ताज महल कितनी दूर है? (Kaet: steshan se Taj mahal kiTnii Door hai?) |
| रेनू: लगभग दस मिनट| (Renu: lagbhag Das minat) |
| Maya: Now let's hear it with the English translation. |
| केट: आगरा कितनी देर में आयेगा? (Kaet: agra kiTnii Daer mein ayega?) |
| Kate: When will Agra come? |
| रेनू: लगभग १ घंटे में| (Renu: lagbhag 1 ghante mein) |
| Renu: In about 1 hour |
| केट: स्टेशन से ताज महल कितनी दूर है? (Kaet: steshan se Taj mahal kiTnii Door hai?) |
| Kate: How far is the Taj Mahal from the station? |
| रेनू: लगभग दस मिनट| (Renu: lagbhag Das minat) |
| Renu: Around ten minutes |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Maya: Okay, let’s talk about long distance trains in India. |
| Udita: Sounds good! |
| Maya: Inside the train, you’ll find a lot of food and drink vendors moving forward and backward. |
| Udita: Right!! The most common of them is the “chai-vaala” - tea vendor. He has a distinct anthem “chai, chai, kauffeee, chai” which he keeps chanting over and over again, almost makes you feel like having a cup every time. |
| Maya: Yes, you can even find them parading up and down the train at 2 in the morning. They carry giant steel kettles of this special sweet Indian chai. |
| Udita: And having this sweet Indian chai is a must for the complete experience. |
| Maya: The spicy-sweet aroma of Chai is irresistible. |
| Udita: You can also find a range of deep fried snacks, chips and soft drinks, with these vendors moving up and down the train in between stations. |
| Maya: However, I advise you to be little wary when it comes to food served there, as not all of it is safe and hygienic. It’s always good to pack some food of your choice like Indians do. |
| Udita: That’s a good tip. Okay, now on to the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Maya: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| The first word we shall see is... |
| Udita: कितनी (kiTnii) [natural native speed] |
| Maya: how much |
| Udita: कितनी (kiTnii) [slowly - broken down by syllable] कितनी (kiTnii) [natural native speed] |
| Maya: Next |
| Udita: देर (Der) [natural native speed] |
| Maya: late |
| Udita: देर (Der) [slowly - broken down by syllable] देर (Der) [natural native speed] |
| Maya: Next |
| Udita: आयेगा (aayega) [natural native speed] |
| Maya: will come |
| Udita: आयेगा (aayega) [slowly - broken down by syllable] आयेगा (aayega) [natural native speed] |
| Maya: Next |
| Udita: लगभग (lagbhag) [natural native speed] |
| Maya: about |
| Udita: लगभग (lagbhag) [slowly - broken down by syllable] लगभग (lagbhag) [natural native speed] |
| Maya: Next |
| Udita: घंटे (ghante) [natural native speed] |
| Maya: hour |
| Udita: घंटे (ghante) [slowly - broken down by syllable] घंटे (ghante) [natural native speed] |
| Maya: Next |
| Udita: स्टेशन (steshan) [natural native speed] |
| Maya: station |
| Udita: स्टेशन (steshan) [slowly - broken down by syllable] स्टेशन (steshan) [natural native speed] |
| Maya: Next |
| Udita: दूर (Door) [natural native speed] |
| Maya: far |
| Udita: दूर (Door) [slowly - broken down by syllable] दूर (Door) [natural native speed] |
| Maya: Next |
| Udita: दस (Das) [natural native speed] |
| Maya: ten |
| Udita: दस (Das) [slowly - broken down by syllable] दस (Das) [natural native speed] |
| 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 देर meaning “late” in English. And कितनी comes from the question word कितना meaning “how much”. |
| Maya: So it becomes “how much late” which implies “how much time.” |
| Udita: Next is आयेगा, which comes from the verb आना which means “to come.” |
| Maya: So आयेगा means “will come”, which refers to the future. To explain an action that will take place in the future, we add a suffix to the root of the verb. |
| Udita: For first person, we simply add oongaa/oongi/enge to the root of the verb depending on the |
| gender and number of the noun. |
| Maya: For second person add aega/aegii/aenge to the root of the verb depending on the |
| gender and number of the noun. |
| Udita: But don't worry too much about it now. We have a separate lesson on this. What’s next? |
| Maya: स्टेशन, which means “station” in English. In Hindi too, there are quite a few words that are directly taken from English words. Some of those borrowed words might sound exactly the same, but there are some that are pronounced a bit differently in Hindi. |
| Udita: We have explained in our previous lessons some of these common and useful words taken from English, and vice versa. |
| Maya: Okay, now onto the grammar. |
| GRAMMAR POINT |
| Maya: In this lesson you’re going to learn how to express approximations in Hindi. |
| Udita: Approximation is expressed by placing lagbhag before the numeral. |
| Maya: It can also be expressed by certain pairs of numerals. Like Do-ek “one or two”, Do-Teen “about two or three”, sau- sava sau “about 125.” |
| Maya: Koi is also a useful word that is sometimes used to express approximation. |
| Udita: Placing koi before a numeral would mean “some” in English. For example, koi 3 din meaning “some three days.” |
| Maya: Similarly, koi 4 ladkiyaan meaning “some four girls.” |
| Udita: Let’s practice using Lagbhag with some examples. |
| Maya: “About 4 days” in Hindi would be? |
| Udita: “4 days” in Hindi is chaar din. We simply place lagbhag before chaar din. So it becomes, |
| लगभग ४ दिन |
| Maya: “About 50 kms” |
| Udita: “50 kms” in Hindi is pachaas kilometer. Simply put lagbhag before it. So it becomes, लगभग पचास किलो मीटर |
| Maya: Similarly, “About 2 hours” in Hindi would be? |
| Udita: लगभग दो घंटे |
| Maya: Ok listeners it’s time for a quiz. What would you say for “About 100 people” |
| Udita: लगभग सौ लोग |
| Maya: What would you say for “About 10 boxes.” |
| Udita: lagbhag 10 dabbe |
| Maya: What would be the Hindi for “About 8 men”? |
| Udita: लगभग आठ आदमी |
| Maya: It’s a very useful word, and can simply be placed before a numeral when you are unsure of the exact number. Let's see how this grammar point was used in the dialogue. |
| Udita: First Kate asks in what time will they reach Agra. Renu says रेनू: लगभग १ घंटे में| lagbhag ek ghante mein which means "In about 1 hour”. |
| Maya: Then Kate asks in what time will they reach Taj Mahal, to which Renu says लगभग दस मिनट| lagbhag Das minute, which means “In about 10 minutes”. |
Outro |
|---|
| Udita: Well, that's all we have for our lesson. Listeners, how would you say “My house is about 5 kms from here” in Hindi? Tell us in a comment at HindiPod101.com. |
| Maya: And please don't forget to look at the lesson notes for more examples and explanations on this topic. |
| Udita: "Shukriyaa aur fir milenge!" |
| Maya: Thank you for listening. Until next time! |
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