Indo-European → Indo-Iranian → Indo-Aryan (close to Urdu; links to Marathi, Bhojpuri, Nepali)
High spoken mutual intelligibility with Urdu
Writing System
Devanagari (alphasyllabary). Consonants carry a default vowel “a”; diacritics modify or mute it.
11 vowels33 consonantsLeft-to-right
Typical Word Order
SOV; postpositions (not prepositions). Flexible for focus/emphasis.
Gendered nounsVerb agreement
ISO Codes
ISO 639-1: hi • 639-2: hin • 639-3: hin
Standard: Khari Boli
Difficulty (for English speakers)
Medium–Hard: new script + gender system + agreement
Phonetic scriptRetroflex vs dental
Quick Overview
Hindi is the most widely spoken language of India, part of the Indo-Aryan branch. It uses the Devanagari script, where letters “hang” from a headline. Grammar features gendered nouns, postpositions, and agreement driven by aspect and participant features. Spoken Hindi and Urdu are near-identical in everyday conversation; formal registers diverge in vocabulary and script.
Retroflex vs dental: ट ṭ, ड ḍ are tongue-curled; त t, द d are dental.
Nasalization: bindu (ं) or chandrabindu (ँ) marks nasal vowels: हूँ (hū̃).
Virama: halant (्) suppresses the inherent vowel for consonant clusters.
Grammar Snapshot
Postpositions:में (in), से (from/with), को (to/object), पर (on/at), के साथ (with).
Oblique case: nouns shift form before postpositions (esp. masculine -ā → -e).
Agreement: verbs agree with gender/number; perfective often triggers ergative ने.
Possessive:का/की/के agrees with the possessed noun (masc sg/fem sg/plural).
Registers: Sanskritized ↔ Persianized
Everyday speech uses common colloquial words shared with Urdu. Formal Hindi leans on Sanskrit (e.g., विमान vīmān “aircraft”), while Urdu favors Persian-Arabic (तय्यारा tayyāra). Same street, different wardrobes.
Sample & Breakdown
आज मैं स्कूल जा रहा हूँ। āj maĩ skūl jā rahā hū̃ today I school go PROG.MASC.SG be.1SG → “I am going to school today.”
Polite alternative: मैं स्कूल जा रहा हूँ, कृपया दरवाज़ा बंद कर दीजिए।
Common Phrases
Namaste (Hello)Shukriya (Thank you)Kaise ho? / Aap kaise hain? (How are you?)Kripya (Please)Phir milenge (See you)
Layers upon layers: samay (Skt.), khidki (Pers.), station (Eng.). Hindi happily code-switches.
Postposition & Possessive Helper (Simple Rules)
Type a noun (Devanagari or Latin). Choose gender/number and a function; the helper applies common oblique and agreement patterns. (Try लड़का “boy”, kitāb “book”, घर “house”.)
Note: Lightweight rules. Handles common masculine -ā → -e oblique, basic plural oblique (-on/ों), and simple possessive का/की/के. Not all noun classes or schwa-deletion edge cases are covered.