The focus of this lesson is है  (hai)
आपका नाम क्या है?
aapakaa Naam kyaa hai?
"What is your name?
"

है (hai) is a to-be verb "is" that can be used with singular subjects for first person, second person and third person.
English uses subject-verb-object order, whereas Hindi uses subject-object-verb order. Therefore, Hindi is a verb-final language where most verbs come at the end of the sentences. So, in this case, "what is your name" takes the form "your name what is" and stays the same whether you are addressing a male or a female.

An important point to note is that in Hindi all nouns have a gender; every noun is either Masculine or Feminine and verbs change accordingly. And the possessive form का (kaa) in आपका (aapakaa) i.e. "your" changes depending on what's being owned and not on who is doing the owning. In this case the thing being owned, i.e. "name" or नाम (Naam) is of masculine gender. So it doesn't matter who is being addressed, what matters is that the word "name" i.e नाम (Naam) is masculine. Therefore, the sentence structure never changes.

Let's now master how to respond to the question आपका नाम कया है? (aapakaa Naam kyaa hai?) "What is your name?" For this, all you have to remember to say are मेरा नाम ________ है। (meraa Naam ______ hai). Just add your name after नाम (Naam). So, if your name is Neha, you say, मेरा नाम नेहा है। (meraa Naam Nehaa hai.). If your name is Rahul, you say, मेरा नाम राहुल है। (meraa Naam raahuL hai.) and so on. Very easy!

है (hai) is used for first, second and third person singular.

For example:
1. First person singular
मेरा नाम महिमा है।
meraa Naam mahimaa hai.
"My name is Mahima."

2. Second person singular
आपका नाम किशन है।
aapakaa Naam kisaN hai.
"Your name is Kishan."

3. Third person singular
वह कैसा है? 
vah kaiSaa hai?
"How is he?"

Gender

है (hai) remains the same for both masculine and feminine subjects. For example:

1. नेहा एक लड़की है।
   Nehaa ek Ladakii hai.
   "Neha is a girl."
2. राहुल एक लड़का है।
   raahuL ek Ladakaa hai.
   "Rahul is a boy."

Examples From The Dialogue

1. नमस्ते, आपका नाम कया है?
   NamaSTe, aapakaa Naam kyaa hai?
   "Hello, what is your name?"
2. नमस्ते, मेरा नाम मेघा है।
   NamaSTe, meraa Naam meghaa hai.
   "Hello, my name is Megha."

Sample Sentences

1. कल मेरा जन्मदिन है|
   kaL meraa jaNmaDiN hai.
   "Tomorrow is my birthday"
2. आपके बेटे का नाम क्या है?
   aapake bete kaa Naam kyaa hai?
   "What is your son's name?"
3. वह पढ़ रही है।
   vah padh rahii hai.
   "She is reading."

1. नमस्ते (NamaSTe), which means "hello," is a common way of greeting in Hindi and can be used at any time of day. Other equivalent words for "hello" are नमस्कार (NamaSkaar) and प्रणाम (pranaam). They can also be used to say "goodbye."

You can also use time-specific greetings like सुप्रभात (SuprabhaaT) for "good morning", शुभ अपराह्न (subh apraahN) for "good afternoon", शुभ सन्ध्या (subh SaNDHyaa) for "good evening" and शुभ रात्रि (subh raaTri) for "good night." However, these are not as commonly used as नमस्ते (namaste) or नमस्कार (namaskaar).

2. आपका (aapakaa), which means "your," is a formal, honorific, possessive pronoun. आप (aap) on its own means "you" and का (kaa) means "of." Together they turn into a possessive form "your."

In Hindi, there are three levels of respect that one can show towards the other person. "You" can therefore be said in three different ways.

1. Respectful and formal  "you" - आप (aap); "your" – आपका (aapakaa)
2. Informal "you" - तुम (Tum); "your" - तुम्हारा (Tumhaaraa)
3. Intimate "you" - तू (Tuu); "your" - तेरा (Teraa)

Although तू (Tuu) is used between friends and siblings who are close to each other and therefore indicate some intimacy, it is considered rude to use it on others. So the general rule is to avoid using it.

3. आपका नाम क्या  हैं? (aapakaa Naam kyaa hai?) means "What is your name?" It is a formal honorific way of asking for someone’s name. If you want to ask informally, you will have to replace आपका (aapakaa) with तुम्हारा (Tumhaaraa). So, it becomes, तुम्हारा नाम कया है? (Tumhaaraa Naam kyaa hai?)

Understanding Indian Hierarchy

Indian society is hierarchical in nature where age, social standing and seniority in institutions are reflected in everyday speech by how people choose to address the other.

In the dialogue, Megha and Asha are meeting for the first time and therefore greet each other respectfully using the formal "you" - आप (aap). This is a standard way of addressing a stranger in Indian society. The less respectful "you" - तुम (Tum) is also acceptable most of the time if the person being addressed is about the same age or younger than the speaker.

People also add जी (jii) after a person's name to sound more formal and respectful. Like in the dialogue, Megha calls Asha आशा जी (asaa jii). It stays the same when used for both males and females. Therefore, Rahul can be addressed as राहुल जी (raahuuL jii). "Mother" can be माता जी (maaTaa jii) and "father" can be पिता जी (piTaa jii) and so on.