Learn how to say, "I don't understand"
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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 8 - How to Say "I don't understand" in Hindi |
| Today, we shall see a very useful phrase meaning "I don't understand." It is very useful because many times you won't immediately understand what people are saying. |
| In Hindi, "I don't understand" is मैं नहीं समझता हूँ| (main nahiin samaJHTaa hoon). |
| Let’s break it down by syllable: मैं नहीं समझता हूँ| (main nahiin samaJHTaa hoon). |
| Now let's hear it once again: मैं नहीं समझता हूँ| (main nahiin samaJHTaa hoon). |
| The first word, main, means "I." |
| Let’s repeat this word slowly now: main |
| And, main |
| The Hindi word meaning "not" follows, which is nahiin. |
| nahiin |
| And, nahiin |
| The Hindi word for "understand," which is samaJHTaa hoon, follows next. |
| samaJHTaa hoon |
| And, samaJHTaa hoon |
| To recap, we have मैं नहीं समझता हूँ| (main nahiin samaJHTaa hoon). Literally, this means "I don't understand." This was how a man would say it. |
| Now let's see how a woman would say "I don't understand": मैं नहीं समझती हूँ| (main nahiin samaJHTii hoon). Replace the masculine samaJHTaa with samaJHTii. |
| samaJHTii |
| Let's hear it one more time: मैं नहीं समझती हूँ| (main nahiin samaJHTii hoon) |
| Now let's look at another phrase, मुझे मालूम नहीं| (muJHe maaloom nahiin), which means "I don't know." |
| Let's hear that slower now: मुझे मालूम नहीं| (muJHe maaloom nahiin) |
| मुझे मालूम नहीं| (muJHe maaloom nahiin) |
| The word maaloom literally means "known," and it could be also replaced by the word paTaa, which literally means "clue": मुझे पता नहीं| (mujhe paTaa nahiin). |
| मुझे पता नहीं| (mujhe paTaa nahiin) |
| मुझे पता नहीं| (mujhe paTaa nahiin) |
| Another way to express that you don't understand is asking someone "What does it mean?" This phrase in Hindi is इसका मतलब क्या है| (iskaa maTlab kyaa hai?) |
| Let’s break it down by syllable: इसका मतलब क्या है| (iskaa maTlab kyaa hai?) |
| Now let's hear it once again: इसका मतलब क्या है| (iskaa maTlab kyaa hai?) |
| The first word, iskaa, means "its." |
| Let's break down this word and hear it one more time: iskaa |
| And, iskaa |
| This is followed by maTlab, which in English is "meaning." |
| maTlab |
| And, maTlab |
| Then we have kyaa hai, which means "What is?" |
| kyaa hai |
| kyaa hai |
| To recap here, we have iskaa maTlab kyaa hai? Literally, this means "What does it mean?" |
| In colloquial Hindi, people can simply say maTlab? instead of saying the complete sentence. |
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. |
| "I don't understand. (masculine)" - main nahiin samaJHTaa hoon |
| main nahiin samaJHTaa hoon |
| main nahiin samaJHTaa hoon |
| "I don't understand. (feminine)" - main nahiin samaJHTii hoon |
| main nahiin samaJHTii hoon |
| main nahiin samaJHTii hoon |
| "I don't know." - muJHe maaloom nahiin |
| muJHe maaloom nahiin |
| muJHe maaloom nahiin |
| "What does it mean?" - iskaa maTlab kyaa hai? |
| iskaa maTlab kyaa hai? |
| iskaa maTlab kyaa hai? |
| "I don't know. (variation)" - mujhe paTaa nahiin |
| mujhe paTaa nahiin |
| mujhe paTaa nahiin |
| 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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