Hindi grammar
Hindi present tense verbs
Hindi's habitual present combines a verb stem ending in -ता/-ती/-ते (-tā/-tī/-te, agreeing with the subject's gender and number) with a form of है (hai, "is/are"). Conjugated here for करना (karnā, "to do").
I do (masc./fem.)
मैं करता हूँ / करती हूँ
maiṁ kartā hūṁ / kartī hūṁ
The verb ending changes with the speaker's gender — a distinctive Hindi feature English doesn't have.
You (informal) do
तुम करते हो / करती हो
tum karte ho / kartī ho
Second person informal.
You (formal) do
आप करते हैं
āp karte haiṁ
आप always takes the plural verb form, even for one person.
He/she does
वह करता है / करती है
vah kartā hai / kartī hai
Third person singular.
We do
हम करते हैं
ham karte haiṁ
First person plural.
They do
वे करते हैं
ve karte haiṁ
Third person plural.
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Hindi personal pronouns
Hindi has three formality levels of "you" — तू (tū), तुम (tum), and आप (āp). Picking the right one matters socially.
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Hindi postpositions
Hindi uses postpositions — small words placed after the noun — instead of English-style prepositions placed before it.
Hindi question words
Hindi wh-questions use a fixed set of question words placed where the answer would go; क्या (kyā) can also mark a plain yes/no question at the start of a sentence.
Hindi sentence structure — building a basic sentence
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Hindi numbers 1–10
The Hindi numerals 1 through 10.