Learn how to ask, "Can you speak English?"
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Namaste! Hello and welcome to Hindi Survival Phrases brought to you by HindiPod101.com, this course is designed to equip you with the language skills and knowledge to enable you to get the most out of your visit to India. You will be surprised at how far a little Hindi will go. |
| Now, before we jump in, remember to stop by HindiPod101.com and there, you will find the accompanying PDF and additional info in the post. If you stop by, be sure to leave us a comment. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Survival Phrases lesson 7 - Use English to Your Advantage in Hindi |
| In today’s lesson, we'll cover another extremely important phrase: "Can you speak English?" Using this phrase, as opposed to speaking English to someone, is important for many reasons. For one, if the party you're speaking to doesn't understand English, at least they'll be able to understand what you're asking. Furthermore, it shows a lot of respect on your part that you've made an effort to learn even a little bit of the language. For these reasons and many more, we're going to cover this very important phrase. |
| In Hindi, "Can you speak English?" is क्या आपको अंग्रेज़ी आती है? (kyaa aapko angrezii aaTii hai?) |
| क्या आपको अंग्रेज़ी आती है? (kyaa aapko angrezii aaTii hai?) |
| Let’s break it down by syllable: क्या आपको अंग्रेज़ी आती है? (kyaa aapko angrezii aaTii hai?) |
| Now let's hear it once again: क्या आपको अंग्रेज़ी आती है? (kyaa aapko angrezii aaTii hai?) |
| The first word, kyaa, is only a question marker when it comes at the beginning of a sentence, while the second word, aapko, means "to you," using the respectful word for "you," which is aap. |
| Let's break down these two words and hear them one more time: kyaa aapko |
| kyaa aapko |
| angrezii, which means "English" in Hindi, follows this. |
| angrezii |
| angrezii |
| The last words, aaTii hai, mean "comes." |
| aaTii hai |
| aaTii hai |
| This construct is commonly used in Hindi to ask a person about any skill, especially the knowledge of a language. It is quite easy to use this construct as it is impersonal. There is also another way to ask "Can you speak English?" in Hindi. This is क्या आप अंग्रेज़ी बोल सकते हैं? (kyaa aap angrezii bol sakTe hain?) This sentence literally means "Can you speak English?" |
| क्या आप अंग्रेज़ी बोल सकते हैं? (kyaa aap angrezii bol sakTe hain?) |
| Let’s break it down by syllable: क्या आप अंग्रेज़ी बोल सकते हैं? (kyaa aap angrezii bol sakTe hain?) |
| Now let's hear it once again: क्या आप अंग्रेज़ी बोल सकते हैं? (kyaa aap angrezii bol sakTe hain?) |
| This is the way you would address a man in Hindi. If you want to ask the same question to a woman, you would have to say क्या आप अंग्रेज़ी बोल सकती हैं? (kyaa aap angrezii bol sakTii hain?) |
| क्या आप अंग्रेज़ी बोल सकती हैं? (kyaa aap angrezii bol sakTii hain?) |
| The only difference is the word sakTii, which is feminine, instead of sakTe, which is masculine. |
| Let’s break it down by syllable: sakTii |
| Now let's hear it once again: क्या आप अंग्रेज़ी बोल सकती हैं? (kyaa aap angrezii bol sakTii hain?) |
| The phrases that we just learned are in the formal form, which means you should always use the above phrases in situations with people you don't know or with elders. |
| When speaking to younger people, it's acceptable to use the informal form. In which case, you will say in Hindi, क्या तुम अंग्रेज़ी बोल सकते हो? (kyaa Tum angrezii bol sakTe ho?) |
| While the difference is minimal, the significance is very important. |
| Let’s say it slowly once more: क्या तुम अंग्रेज़ी बोल सकते हो? (kyaa Tum angrezii bol sakTe ho?) |
| Let’s break it down by syllable: क्या तुम अंग्रेज़ी बोल सकते हो? (kyaa Tum angrezii bol sakTe ho?) |
| Hear it once again: क्या तुम अंग्रेज़ी बोल सकते हो? (kyaa Tum angrezii bol sakTe ho?) |
| This was the informal masculine tense; let's see the feminine. Again, the difference lies in using sakTii instead of sakTe: क्या तुम अंग्रेज़ी बोल सकती हो? (kyaa Tum angrezii bol sakTii ho?) |
| क्या तुम अंग्रेज़ी बोल सकती हो? (kyaa Tum angrezii bol sakTii ho?) |
| क्या तुम अंग्रेज़ी बोल सकती हो? (kyaa Tum angrezii bol sakTii ho?) |
| Now for a change, let's try a different language. Let's try Chinese. "Can you speak Chinese?" is kyaa aapko chiinii aaTii hai? |
| kyaa aapko chiinii aaTii hai? |
| Here, just the word for the language changes; the rest is the same. |
Outro |
| Okay, to close out today's lesson, we'd like for you to practice what you've just learned. I'll provide you with the English equivalent of the phrase and you're responsible for saying it aloud. You'll have a few seconds before I give you the answer, so गुड लक! (guud Lak!), which means "good luck" in Hindi. |
| "Do you speak English?" - kyaa aapko angrezii aaTii hai? |
| kyaa aapko angrezii aaTii hai? |
| kyaa aapko angrezii aaTii hai? |
| "Do you speak English? (variation, formal, masculine)" - kyaa aap angrezii bol sakTe hain? |
| kyaa aap angrezii bol sakTe hain? |
| kyaa aap angrezii bol sakTe hain? |
| "Do you speak English? (variation, formal, feminine)" - kyaa aap angrezii bol sakTii hain? |
| kyaa aap angrezii bol sakTii hain? |
| kyaa aap angrezii bol sakTii hain? |
| "Do you speak English? (variation, informal, masculine)" - kyaa tum angrezii bol sakTe ho? |
| kyaa tum angrezii bol sakTe ho? |
| kyaa tum angrezii bol sakTe ho? |
| "Do you speak English? (variation, informal, feminine)" - kyaa tum angrezii bol sakTii ho? |
| kyaa tum angrezii bol sakTii ho? |
| kyaa tum angrezii bol sakTii ho? |
| All right. That’s is going to do it for today. Remember to stop by HindiPod101.com and pick up the accompanying PDF. If you stop by, be sure to leave us a comment. |
| फिर मिलेंगे (phir milenge), goodbye! |
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