Learn about the most popular sport in India, and the verbs "was" and "were"
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Neha: "Namaste," I'm Neha, and welcome to the Absolute Beginner Series, Lesson 24, Were You Watching Cricket Yesterday in India? |
| Maya: "Namaste," I'm Maya. In this lesson you'll learn about the verbs "was" and "were" in Hindi. |
| Neha: The conversation takes place in a classroom. |
| Maya: The conversation is between Katie and Dharana. |
| Neha: They are friends so they will be speaking informally with each other. |
| Maya: Let's listen to their conversation. |
Lesson conversation |
|---|
| केटी (ketii): तुम कल क्या कर रही थी? (Tum kaL kyaa kar rahii THii?) |
| धारणा (DHaaranaa): मैं क्रिकेट देख रही थी। (main kriket Dekh rahii THii.) |
| केटी (ketii): और तुम्हारा भाई? (aur Tumhaaraa bhaaii?) |
| धारणा (DHaaranaa): वह भी क्रिकेट देख रहा था। (vah bhii kriket Dekh rahaa THaa.) |
| Neha: Now let's listen to the same conversation at a slow speed. |
| केटी (ketii): तुम कल क्या कर रही थी? (Tum kaL kyaa kar rahii THii?) |
| धारणा (DHaaranaa): मैं क्रिकेट देख रही थी। (main kriket Dekh rahii THii.) |
| केटी (ketii): और तुम्हारा भाई? (aur Tumhaaraa bhaaii?) |
| धारणा (DHaaranaa): वह भी क्रिकेट देख रहा था। (vah bhii kriket Dekh rahaa THaa.) |
| Maya: Let's now listen to the conversation with English translation. |
| केटी (ketii): तुम कल क्या कर रही थी? (Tum kaL kyaa kar rahii THii?) |
| Neha: "What were you doing yesterday?" |
| धारणा (DHaaranaa): मैं क्रिकेट देख रही थी। (main kriket Dekh rahii THii.) |
| Maya: "I was watching cricket." |
| केटी (ketii): और तुम्हारा भाई? (aur Tumhaaraa bhaaii?) |
| Neha: "And your brother?" |
| धारणा (DHaaranaa): वह भी क्रिकेट देख रहा था। (vah bhii kriket Dekh rahaa THaa.) |
| Maya: "He was also watching cricket." |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Neha: You know, cricket is the most popular sport in India. It is a direct result of the British colonial rule and today, many people play cricket or watch cricket all over India. |
| Maya: Is it the national sport of India? |
| Neha: Actually it's not. Field hockey is the national sport of India. |
| Maya: Well, in any case, the cricket players are treated like stars. They earn millions by endorsing products, appearing in commercials, and doing many other things that sports players all over the world are engaged in. |
| Neha: Yes, and not only that, cricket has sometimes been used as a political tool. Matches between India and Pakistan have been held in both the countries to boost relationships between them. |
| Maya: That's very interesting! |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Neha: Let's now look at some of the words that came up in the conversation. |
| Maya: We'll first say the words at natural speed, then a bit slower, and finally we'll give you the meaning. |
| Neha: Our first word is तुम (Tum), तुम (Tum), तुम (Tum). |
| Maya: Which is an informal "you." |
| Neha: Next, we have कल (kaL), कल (kaL), कल (kaL). |
| Maya: Which means "tomorrow." |
| Neha: Then is कर रही (kar rahii), कर रही (kar rahii), कर रही (kar rahii). |
| Maya: Which means "doing." |
| Neha: Next is क्या (kyaa), क्या (kyaa), क्या (kyaa). |
| Maya: Which means "what." |
| Neha: Then is थीं (THiin), थीं (THiin), थीं (THiin). |
| Maya: Which means "were." |
| Neha: Next is क्रिकेट (kriket), क्रिकेट (kriket), क्रिकेट (kriket). |
| Maya: Which means "cricket." |
| Neha: Then we have देख रही (Dekh rahii), देख रही (Dekh rahii), देख रही (Dekh rahii). |
| Maya: Which means "watching." |
| Neha: Next is तुम्हारा (Tumhaaraa), तुम्हारा (Tumhaaraa), तुम्हारा (Tumhaaraa). |
| Maya: Which means "your." |
| Neha: then is भी (bhii), भी (bhii), भी (bhii). |
| Maya: Which means "also." |
| Neha: And finally, we have था (THaa), था (THaa), था (THaa). |
| Maya: Which means "was." |
| KEY VOCABULARY AND PHRASES |
| Neha: Let's now go over some of these words. |
| Maya: The word "doing" in Hindi comes from the verb करना (karaNaa), which means "to do." |
| Neha: Like most verbs, it changes according to the gender and number of the subject. |
| Maya: If the subject is a singular or plural female, which means, if the speaker or speakers are female or if the sentence is about another female, then you use... |
| Neha: कर रही (kar rahii). So the sentence "I am doing." would be मैं कर रही हूँ। (main kar rahii huun.) and the sentence "She is doing." would be वह कर रही है। (vah kar rahii hai.). |
| Maya: If the subject is a singular male, which means, if the speaker is a male or if the sentence is about another male, then you use... |
| Neha: कर रहा (kar rahaa). The sentence "I am doing." would be मैं कर रहा हूँ। (main kar rahaa huun.) and the sentence "He is doing." would be वह कर रहा है। (vah kar rahaa hai.). |
| Maya: If the subject is a plural masculine, which means you are a group of males or are talking about a group of males, then you use... |
| Neha: कर रहे (kar rahe). The sentence "We are doing" would be हम कर रहे हैं। (ham kar rahe hain.) and the sentence "They are doing" would be वे कर रहे हैं। (ve kar rahe hain.). |
| Maya: In the same way, the verb "watching" in Hindi comes from the verb देखना (DekhaNaa), which means "to see." |
| Neha: It also changes according to the gender and number of the subject. |
| Maya: If the subject is a singular or a plural feminine, you use... |
| Neha: देख रही (Dekh rahii). |
| Maya: If the subject is a singular male, you use... |
| Neha: देख रहा (Dekh rahaa). |
| Maya: And finally, if the subject is a plural male, you use... |
| Neha: देख रहे (Dekh rahe). |
Lesson focus |
| Maya: Now the focus of this lesson is the verbs "was" and "were" in Hindi. |
| Neha: Since Hindi is a verb final language, these also come at the end of a sentence. But unlike the verbs "is" and "are," for example, है (hai) and हैं (hain), they change according to the gender and the number of the subject. |
| Maya: For singular masculine subjects, the verb "was" in Hindi is था (THaa). |
| Neha: For plural masculine subjects, the verb "were" in Hindi is थे (The). |
| Maya: For singular feminine subjects, the verb "was" in Hindi is थी (Thii). |
| Neha: And lastly, for plural feminine subjects, the verb "were" in Hindi is थीं (THiin). |
| Maya: Note that "was" and "were" for female subjects sound almost the same. The difference lies in their nasalization. |
| Neha: Yes, "was" is थी (THii) without the nasal tone and "were' is थीं (THiin) with the nasal tone. |
| Maya: Also remember that you have to change other supporting verbs and adjectives accordingly as well. |
| For example, "I was sitting in the bus," said by a male speaker is... |
| Neha: मैं बस में बैठ रहा था। (main baS men baith rahaa THaa.) |
| Maya: By a female speaker is... |
| Neha: मैं बस में बैठ रही थी। (main baS men baith rahii THii.) |
| Maya: Now, "We were sitting," said by a group of males is... |
| Neha: हम बस में बैठ रहे थे। (ham baS men baith rahe THe.) |
| Maya: And finally, by a group of females is... |
| Neha: हम बस में बैठ रही थीं। (ham baS men baith rahii THiin.) |
| Maya: Did you all notice how not only the auxiliary verbs changed but also the verb "sitting" changed between बैठ रहा (baith rahaa), बैठ रही (baith rahii), and बैठ रहे (baith rahe)? |
| Neha: One more thing before we end this lesson. The plural verbs "were," for example, थे (THe) and थीं (THiin), can also be used with singular subjects if we want to show respect. |
| Maya: Right. For example, if you want to say "My father was in Japan," and you want to address your father respectfully, you can say... |
| Neha: मेरे पिताजी जापान में थे। (mere piTaajii) jaapaaN men THe.) |
| Maya: As you can see, in this sentence even though father is a singular case, you didn't use था (THaa) for "was." |
| Neha: Okay, that's all we have for this lesson. Please look at the lesson notes for more explanations and examples on this topic! |
| Maya: Thank you for listening. Until next time! |
| Neha: शुक्रिया और फिर मिलेंगे! (sukriyaa aur phir miLenge!) |
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