Learn all you need to know about greetings in Hindi
Now Playing: Lesson Audio
Get a breakdown of the dialogue and translations instantly with the Premium line-by-line Audio. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.
Intro |
|---|
| Alisha: How do you greet someone at different times of the day? |
| Shakti: And can they be replaced with time-neutral greetings? |
| Alisha: At HindiPod101.com, we hear these questions often. Consider the following situation: Ben Lee is greeting his friend, but he hasn't noticed how late it has become. Ben says, |
| "Good Morning." |
| बेन: सुप्रभात। (SuprabhaaT.) |
| Dialogue |
| Ben Lee: सुप्रभात। (SuprabhaaT.) |
| ख़ुशबू: शाम के छह बज चुके हैं। शुभ संध्या। (saam ke chah baj cuke hain. subh SaNDHyaa.) |
| Alisha: Once more with the English translation. |
| Ben Lee: सुप्रभात। (SuprabhaaT.) |
| Alisha: "Good Morning." |
| ख़ुश बू: शाम के छह बज चुके हैं। शुभ संध्या। (saam ke chah baj cuke hain. subh SaNDHyaa.) |
| Alisha: "It's six in the evening. Good evening." |
Lesson focus |
| Alisha: Using polite greetings when you are among people of a different culture is a sign of respect and goodwill. This could not be more true in India, where people love to show hospitality to guests. This is why learning to greet Indians in their own language is important, and should be at the top of our list of things to learn! |
| In this lesson, we will talk about time-sensitive Hindi greetings. Hindi, similar to English, has some greetings that are used depending on the time of the day, or |
| Shakti: दिन का समय (DiN kaa Samay). |
| Alisha: But, before we get into those, we want to remind you that Indians have a particularly beautiful and universal greeting that is known all over the world, and is probably the one word almost everybody knows in Hindi. Do you know what it is? |
| Shakti: [NORMAL] नमस्ते (NamaSTe) [SLOWLY] नमस्ते (NamaSTe). |
| [pause 3 seconds] |
| Alisha: That's right! This polite and respectful way of greeting is commonly used to say hello to people from all backgrounds—not just in India, but in many places around the world. In the West, you hear it at yoga studios, wellness retreats, certain Eastern-inspired restaurants, and so on. In India, it is a normal, everyday way to say hello. You can also use this greeting to welcome someone, to acknowledge them, or even to say goodbye. |
| But what does it mean? Well, this ancient, traditional greeting comes from Sanskrit and the literal meaning is "I bow to you." If you want to do it right, hold your palms together with your fingertips at chin level, and give a small nod when you say |
| Shakti: "Namaste." |
| Alisha: In a sentence, it sounds like this: |
| Shakti: नमस्ते, मेरा नाम शक्ति है। (NamaSTe, meraa Naam sakTi hai.) |
| Alisha: "Hello, my name is Shakti." |
| As I'm sure you can imagine, though, this is by no means the only greeting Indians have. With that in mind, it's time to learn a fuller range of Hindi greetings! There are many interesting ones worth learning, but in this lesson, we will focus on how to greet people at specific times of the day. |
| Recall 1 |
| Alisha: Let's take a closer look at the dialogue. Do you remember how Ben Lee says "Good morning"? |
| [pause 4 seconds] |
| Shakti as Ben Lee: सुप्रभात। (SuprabhaaT.) |
| Alisha: And can you remember how Ben's friend answers, "It's six in the evening. Good evening"? |
| [pause 4 seconds] |
| ख़ुशबू: शाम के छह बज चुके हैं। शुभ संध्या। (saam ke chah baj cuke hain. subh SaNDHyaa.) |
| Alisha: Ben Lee made a mistake in Hindi because he confused two time-sensitive greetings, which is a common error when learning a new language. Just like in English, Hindi speakers differentiate between four particular times of the day: morning, afternoon, evening, and night. Therefore, you need to get the "time of day" greetings right. It doesn't help to say "goodnight" in the morning, after all! |
| So, let us learn how to correctly use the time-sensitive greetings. I encourage you to listen carefully to Shakti, and repeat after him. First is one you have already heard |
| Shakti: [NORMAL] सुप्रभात (SuprabhaaT) [SLOWLY] सुप्रभात (SuprabhaaT). |
| [pause 3 seconds] |
| Alisha: This means "good morning" and you can say it from sunrise until midday. To be honest, though, Indians view this as more formal than our English version, and so it's not a hugely popular way to greet people in the mornings. You are more likely to hear it when someone is being very polite, or on the morning news. For example, |
| Shakti: सुप्रभात, आज के समाचार कुछ इस प्रकार हैं। (SuprabhaaT, aaj ke Samaacaar kuch iS prakaar hain.) |
| Alisha: "Good morning, here's the latest news for today." It is most commonly used in written Hindi. |
| Next, we have this greeting: |
| Shakti: [NORMAL] शुभ दिन! (subh DiN!) [SLOWLY] शुभ दिन! (subh DiN!) |
| [pause 3 seconds] |
| Alisha: This means "Good day." In a sentence, it sounds like this |
| Shakti: शुभ दिन, सर, आप कैसे हैं? (subh DiN, Sar, aap kaiSe hain) |
| [pause 4 seconds] |
| Alisha: "Good day, sir, how are you?" |
| You may use this greeting at any time of the day. Again, this is quite formal and is most commonly used in written Hindi, but you may say it if you want to! Then, we have a greeting for when the day is winding down |
| Shakti: [NORMAL] शुभ सन्ध्या! (subh SaNDHyaa!) [SLOWLY] शुभ सन्ध्या! (subh SaNDHyaa!) |
| [pause 3 seconds] |
| Alisha: This means "Good evening," and the usual time to say it is after sunset. In a sentence, it sounds like this: |
| Shakti: शुभ सन्ध्या! मुझे छह लोगों के लिए एक टेबल चाहिए। (subh SaNDHyaa! mujhe chah Logon ke Liye ek tebaL caahiye.) |
| [pause 4 seconds] |
| Alisha: meaning, "Good evening, I'd like a table for six, please." |
| Now, we also have another greeting used in the nighttime: |
| Shakti: [NORMAL] शुभ रात्रि (subh raaTri) [SLOWLY] शुभ रात्रि (subh raaTri). |
| [pause 3 seconds] |
| Alisha: This one means "Goodnight." You can say it in a sentence like this: |
| Shakti: शुभ रात्रि मेरे दोस्त, अच्छे सपने देखना! (subh raaTri mere DoST, acche SapaNe DekhaNaa!) |
| [pause 4 seconds] |
| Alisha: Shakti said, "Goodnight my friend, sweet dreams!" |
| As in English, you would only say this later at night when you are leaving company, or when you are going to bed. All of the previous time-sensitive greetings are said when meeting people, but this one is said when saying goodbye. Of course, you could also just say |
| Shakti: नमस्ते (Namaste) |
| Alisha: On that note, we should also mention a very close alternative |
| Shakti: [NORMAL] नमस्कार (NamaSkaar) [SLOWLY] नमस्कार (NamaSkaar). |
| [pause 3 seconds] |
| Alisha: This is a great way to greet a Hindi man or an elderly person, this being a somewhat humble gesture. It comes from two Sanskrit words |
| Shakti: नमः (Namah). |
| Alisha: meaning "bow" or "salute," and |
| Shakti: कर (kar). |
| Alisha: which comes from the verb meaning "to do." The full meaning, then, is "I do the act of saluting or bowing, with respect." |
| Alisha: But aren't we missing something? Yes, you are right. We haven't yet discussed any greeting for "good afternoon." That's because in Hindi there is no greeting for "good afternoon." If you would like to say "good afternoon" to someone, just say, |
| Shakti: नमस्कार (NamaSkaar). |
| Alisha: or |
| Shakti: नमस्ते (Namaste). |
| [Summary] |
| Alisha: In today's lesson, we learned that Hindi, like English, has four greetings that are meant for specific times of the day. These are |
| Shakti: सुप्रभात (SuprabhaaT). |
| Alisha: "good morning" |
| Shakti: शुभ दिन (subh DiN). |
| Alisha: "good day" |
| Shakti: शुभ सन्ध्या (Subh SaNDHyaa). |
| Alisha: "good evening," and |
| Shakti: शुभ रात्रि (subh raaTri). |
| Alisha: "good night." |
| We also learned that, most of the time, Hindi-speakers simply greet with |
| Shakti: नमस्ते (Namaste). |
| Alisha: or a similar greeting |
| Shakri: नमस्कार (NamaSkaar). |
| Cultural Insight |
| Alisha: If you travel to India, you will probably realize very quickly that it is a land of many languages and religions, and cultural groups such as Muslims and Sikhs have their own special greetings that they use, regardless of time of day. For this reason, and to know how to show respect, it will be useful to learn some of these culture-sensitive ways to say "hello." |
| For example, Urdu speakers in India use the Muslim greeting |
| Shakti: अस-सलाम-अलैकुम (aS-SaLaam-aLaikum) |
| Alisha: which is adapted from Arabic and means "Peace be unto you." If somebody says this to you, you can respond with |
| Shakti: [NORMAL] वा-अलैकुम-सलाम (vaa-aLaikum-SaLaam) [SLOWLY] वा-अलैकुम-सलाम |
| [pause 4 seconds] |
| Alisha: "Peace be unto you, too." Muslims in India also have this other friendly way to say "hello" to their people |
| Shakti: [NORMAL] आदाब (aaDaab) [SLOWLY] आदाब (aaDaab). |
| [pause 3 seconds] |
| Alisha: Another very important religion in India is Sikhism. Sikhs and Punjabis often greet like this: |
| Shakti: [NORMAL] सत् श्री अकाल (SaT srii akaaL) [SLOWLY] सत् श्री अकाल (SaT srii akaaL). |
| [pause 4 seconds] |
| Alisha: which is a shortened version of |
| Shakti: जो बोले सो निहाल, सत् श्री अकाल (jo boLe So NihaaL, Sat srii akaaL). |
| Alisha: and it means "Blessed is the person who says God is Truth." If you make a Punjabi friend in India, it will mean a lot to them if you say hello like this! |
Outro |
| Alisha: Do you have any more questions? We're here to answer them! |
| Shakti: फिर मिलेंगे! (phir miLenge!) |
| Alisha: See you soon! |
Comments
Hide