Learn how to ask "Why?" questions
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Maya: Namaste, I'm Maya. Welcome back to HindiPod101.com. This is Lower Beginner, Season 1, Lesson 7 - See the Sights in India! |
| Udita: Namaste, मैं उदिता हूँ। (main uDiTaa huun.). I'm Udita. In this lesson, you'll learn how to ask “why” questions in Hindi. |
| Maya: The conversation takes place in the train. |
| Udita: It's between Kate and Renu on the train on their way to Agra. |
| Maya: Since they are co-passengers, they will be using formal Hindi. |
| Udita: Let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| रेनू (reNuu): आप आगरा क्यों जा रही हैं? (aap aagaraa kyon jaa rahii hain?) |
| केट (ket): मैं घूमने जा रही हूँ। (main ghuumaNe jaa rahii huun.) |
| रेनू (reNuu): क्या आप पहली बार जा रही हैं? (kyaa aap pahaLii baar jaa rahii hain?) |
| केट (ket): जी हाँ। ताज महल के अलावा और क्या मशहूर है? (jii haan. Taaj mahaL ke aLaavaa aur kyaa masahuur hai?) |
| रेनू (reNuu): आगरा का लाल क़िला भी मशहूर है। (aagaraa kaa LaaL qiLaa bhii masahuur hai.) |
| Maya: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| रेनू (reNuu): आप आगरा क्यों जा रही हैं? (aap aagaraa kyon jaa rahii hain?) |
| केट (ket): मैं घूमने जा रही हूँ। (main ghuumaNe jaa rahii huun.) |
| रेनू (reNuu): क्या आप पहली बार जा रही हैं? (kyaa aap pahaLii baar jaa rahii hain?) |
| केट (ket): जी हाँ। ताज महल के अलावा और क्या मशहूर है? (jii haan. Taaj mahaL ke aLaavaa aur kyaa masahuur hai?) |
| रेनू (reNuu): आगरा का लाल क़िला भी मशहूर है। (aagaraa kaa LaaL qiLaa bhii masahuur hai.) |
| Maya: Now let's hear it with the English translation. |
| रेनू (reNuu): आप आगरा क्यों जा रही हैं? (aap aagaraa kyon jaa rahii hain?) |
| Renu: Why are you going to Agra? |
| केट (ket): मैं घूमने जा रही हूँ। (main ghuumaNe jaa rahii huun.) |
| Kate: I am going for sightseeing. |
| रेनू (reNuu): क्या आप पहली बार जा रही हैं? (kyaa aap pahaLii baar jaa rahii hain?) |
| Renu: Are you going for the first time? |
| केट (ket): जी हाँ। ताज महल के अलावा और क्या मशहूर है? (jii haan. Taaj mahaL ke aLaavaa aur kyaa masahuur hai?) |
| Kate: Yes. What else is famous apart from the Taj Mahal? |
| रेनू (reNuu): आगरा का लाल क़िला भी मशहूर है। (aagaraa kaa LaaL qiLaa bhii masahuur hai.) |
| Renu: Agra’s Red Fort is also famous. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Maya: Let’s talk more about trains in India. India is famous for its conventional rail journeys. |
| Udita: Yes, the real fun of travelling begins as soon as you board. Once you find your seat, the train jerks out of the station and gains tempo. |
| Maya: And all the while, you can enjoy the captivating landscape of India. |
| Udita: Depending on which type of train you are traveling on, it can make multiple stops on the way. Most stops are long enough for you to be able to get off and stretch your legs or grab a snack. |
| Maya: One of the fascinating things about travelling in trains is that it’s hard to figure out if your fellow passengers are old friends, or just meeting for the first time, because they get very friendly! |
| Udita: That’s right! They can not only gossip, but share food like good friends do. Don’t hesitate to join in if you feel like it! |
| Maya: The journey becomes truly entertaining. Riding the rails in India is a unique experience in itself. |
| Udita: Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Maya: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. The first word we shall see is... |
| Udita: क्यों (kyon). |
| Maya: "why." |
| Udita: क्यों (kyon), क्यों (kyon). |
| Maya: Next... |
| Udita: घूमने (ghuumaNe). |
| Maya: "sightseeing." |
| Udita: घूमने (ghuumaNe), घूमने (ghuumaNe). |
| Maya: Next... |
| Udita: के अलावा (ke aLaavaa). |
| Maya: "apart from." |
| Udita: के अलावा (ke aLaavaa), के अलावा (ke aLaavaa). |
| Maya: Next... |
| Udita: क़िला (qiLaa). |
| Maya: "fort." |
| Udita: क़िला (qiLaa), क़िला (qiLaa). |
| Maya: Next... |
| Udita: पहली (pahaLii). |
| Maya: "first." |
| Udita: पहली (pahaLii), पहली (pahaLii). |
| Maya: Next... |
| Udita: बार (baar). |
| Maya: "time." |
| Udita: बार (baar), बार (baar). |
| Maya: Next... |
| Udita: भी (bhii). |
| Maya: "also." |
| Udita: भी (bhii), भी (bhii). |
| Maya: Next... |
| Udita: मशहूर (masahuur). |
| Maya: "famous." |
| Udita: मशहूर (masahuur), मशहूर (masahuur). |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Maya: Let's have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Udita: First, we have क्यों (kyon) which is like “why” in English. |
| Maya: Question words in Hindi begin with the क (ka) sound. |
| Udita: जा रहे (jaa rahe) means “going.” It comes from the verb जाना (jaaNaa). |
| Maya: We learned in our previous lessons that in order to use a verb in the present continuous tense, such as for an action that is continuous and is happening now, we need to add रहा (rahaa), रही (rahii) or रहे (rahe) to the verb depending on the gender and number of the noun. |
| Udita: Now, since questions always focus on the second person, the rule is slightly different when we use these verbs to ask another person about his actions. |
| Maya: In the case of second person masculine - singular and plural - we add रहे (rahe) to the root of the verb. |
| Udita: So, it becomes जा रहे (jaa rahe) meaning “going.” |
| Maya: What would you say to ask a male, “where are you going?” |
| Udita: आप कहाँ जा रहे हैं? (aap kahaan jaa rahe hain?) |
| Maya: Now, to ask a female, it becomes, जा रही (jaa rahii). |
| Udita: So we’d say, आप कहाँ जा रही हैं? (aap kahaan jaa rahii hain?). “Where are you going?” |
| Maya: Let’s look at another verb - “to eat.” |
| Udita: It becomes खा रहे (khaa rahe) for second person masculine, and खा रही (khaa rahii) for second person feminine. |
| Maya: What about the verb “to study”? |
| Udita: पढ़ रहा (padh rahaa) for second person masculine, and पढ़ रही (padh rahii) for second person feminine. |
| Maya: घूमना ((ghuumaNaa) means “tour”, “trip” or “roam” in general. |
| Udita: Well, the actual word for “sightseeing” is पर्यटन (paryataN). But people generally use the word घूमना (ghuumaNaa) to mean the same thing. |
| Maya: के अलावा (ke aLaavaa) means “apart from.” This phrase comes immediately after the noun or the verb, the same way we use “apart from” in English. |
| Udita: Okay, now onto the grammar. |
| GRAMMAR POINT |
| Maya: In this lesson we’re going to learn how to ask the “why” questions. |
| Udita: क्यों (kyon) means “why” in English. Usually the question-word क्यों (kyon) occurs in the pre-verbal position. |
| Maya: It may follow the verb within the sentence. The placement of this question word in the post-verbal position is possible, but it does not necessarily expect an answer. |
| Udita: The movement of this question word क्यों (kyon) influences the meaning of the sentence. |
| Maya: Now, the placement of क्यों (kyon) can be done in different ways. |
| Udita: आप आगरा क्यों जा रही हैं? (aap aagaraa kyon jaa rahii hain?). In this case, there is stress on the direct object - “why are you going to Agra?” |
| Udita: आप आगरा जा क्यों रही हैं? (aap aagaraa jaa kyon rahii hain?). In this case the stress is on the verb and the indirect object. |
| Maya: Let’s look at some other examples. |
| Udita: To ask someone informally why the other person is doing something, simply say तुम क्यों ....... रहे हो? (Tum kyon ...... rahe ho?). Simply add the root of the verb in between. |
| Maya: For example, to ask someone “why are you studying?” we’d say... |
| Udita: तुम क्यों पढ़ रहे हो? (Tum kyon padh rahe ho?) |
| Maya: Let’s break it down. |
| Udita: Okay. Here तुम (Tum means "you," क्यों (kyon) means "why," पढ़ रहे (padh rahe) means “studying” and हो (ho) means "are." |
| Maya: So it becomes “you why studying are” and translates as “why are you studying?” |
| Udita: Here, we just added the root of the verb पढ़ना (padhaNaa) to the sentence pattern - तुम क्यों ....... रहे हो? (Tum kyon ...... rahe ho?) |
| Maya: What will we say for “why are you going?” |
| Udita: जाना (jaaNaa) means “to go”. The root of the verb is जा (jaa). Simply add the verb root to the pattern. So it becomes तुम क्यों जा रहे हो? (Tum kyon jaa rahe ho?) |
| Maya: Similarly, “why are you singing?” would be... |
| Udita: तुम क्यों गा रहे हो? (Tum kyon gaa rahe ho?) |
| Maya: Okay, now it's time for a quiz. Listeners, can you make a Hindi sentence meaning "Why are you buying?" Let me give you three seconds. |
| Maya: What's the Hindi phrase, Udita? |
| Udita: तुम क्यों ख़रीद रहे हो? (Tum kyon khariiD rahe ho?) |
| Maya: Okay. Another one! “Why are you giving?” in Hindi would be? |
| Udita: तुम क्यों दे रहे हो? (Tum kyon De rahe ho?) |
| Maya: Let's see how this grammar point was used in the dialogue. |
| Udita: Renu asks Kate आप आगरा क्यों जा रही हैं? (aap aagaraa kyon jaa rahii hain?) which means "why are you going to Agra?” |
Outro |
|---|
| Maya: Well, that’s all we have for this lesson. |
| Udita: Listeners, how would you say “why are you laughing?” in Hindi? Tell us in a comment at HindiPod101.com! |
| Maya: And make sure you read the lesson notes for more examples and explanations on this topic. |
| Udita: They will be a lot of help. Thank you for listening. Until next time! |
| Maya: शुक्रिया और फिर मिलेंगे! (sukriyaa aur phir miLenge!) |
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