India is a land, which takes pride in its culture. Therefore, if you speak to them in their mother tongue, it is considered as you making an effort to live their culture and locals will come forward to make your vacation even better.
Do not worry about grammar or fluency. A few phrases here and there to your butler, waiter or porter can help you a lot. Based on our team of avid travelers’ experiences, here is a consolidated list of Hindi phrases and meanings to use.
- Namaste – It is a respectful greeting to start and end a conversation. It is similar to hello or hi.
- Chalo – Let’s go
- Bahut Hua – Enough
- Accha or Thik hai – Okay
- Kya – What?
- Nahi – No
- Haan – Yes
- Mujhe Maaf Kijiye – Excuse me
- Dhanyabad or Shukriya – Thank you (Madad ke liye dhanyawaad – Thank you for your help)
- Police ko Bulaungee – I’ll call the police
- Mujhe jaana hai – I have to go
- App kaha ja rahe hai – Where are you going?
- Aap kaise hain? – How are you?
- Main thik hoon – I’m fine
- Aap ka naam kya hai? – What’s your name?
- Mera naam ….hai – My name is….
- Aap se mil ke khushi hui – It’s nice to see you
- Phir milenge– We will meet again.
- Kya samaya hai? – What’s the time?
- Mujhe malum nahi– I don’t know
- Mujhe India pasand hai– I like India
- Bathroom Kahan hai? – Where is the bathroom?
- Mujhe Hindi nahi aati– I can’t speak Hindi
- Mujhe peene ka pani chahiye – I want drinking water
- Numbers: 0 – Shunya, 1 – Ek, 2 – Do, 3 – Teen, 4 – Char, 5 – Paanch, 6 – Chhai, 7 – Saat, 8 – Aath, 9 – Nau, 10 – Dus.
How To Address People?
Sir and madam are quite common understandable words in India. If you want to address them in their mother tongue,
- Bhaiyaji – Brother
- Behenji – Sister
- Aap ka – Yours
- Mai – Me
Words You Need In A Restaurant
- Paani – Water
- Chai – Tea
- Khana – Food
- Chawal – Rice
- Naasta – Breakfast
- Cheeni – Sugar
Shopping Essentials
If you are going for shopping, you need to know the numbers in Hindi and a few phrases.
- Yeh bahaut mehenga hai – It’s too expensive
- Nahi Chahiye – I don’t want
- Yeh kitne ka hai? – What is the cost of this?
- Mujhe yeh chahiye – I want this one
- …Kahan milegee – Where can I find …?
It is true that the whole country does not speak Hindi. Not even the whole North of India speaks Hindi. However, most of the people understand and can communicate in Hindi in India. You can travel to all the regions in the country with nothing but English and Hindi.