Greeting and being polite
🎯 Greet anyone in India, ask how they are, and answer.
🗣️ Say these out loud
- नमस्ते — namaste 🔊 nuh-muh-STAY I bow to you — hello and goodbye both. From Sanskrit नमः (bow) + ते (to you). Works at any hour, with anyone.
- आप कैसे हैं? — aap kaise hain? 🔊 aap KAY-say hain How are you? (to a man, respectfully) To a woman: आप कैसी हैं? aap kaisi hain. The adjective changes with the person spoken to.
- मैं ठीक हूँ — main theek hoon 🔊 main TEEK hoon I am fine. ठीक theek is one of the most used words in India — fine, correct, all right, agreed.
- धन्यवाद / शुक्रिया — dhanyavaad / shukriya 🔊 dhun-yuh-VAAD / shuk-ri-YA Thank you धन्यवाद is from Sanskrit and sounds formal; शुक्रिया is from Persian and sounds warm and everyday.
- कृपया — kripaya 🔊 KRIP-ya please In speech, politeness usually comes from the verb ending rather than from a word for 'please'.
- फिर मिलेंगे — phir milenge 🔊 fir mi-LEN-gay We will meet again. The everyday goodbye between friends.
Read every line aloud twice before moving on. The mouth learns a language, not the eye.
🔍 Three levels of 'you', and choosing right matters
Hindi has तू, तुम and आप. आप is respectful, तुम is friendly and equal, तू is intimate — or insulting, depending on who says it. A learner should use आप with everybody until invited otherwise.
- आप कैसे हैं? — to an elder, a teacher, a stranger
- तुम कैसे हो? — to a friend or a younger cousin
- तू कैसा है? — between very close friends, or in prayer to God; rude to a stranger
- Each level takes its own verb ending: हैं, हो, है.
🌍 Among the people
In much of north India a younger person greets an elder by touching their feet, and the elder replies with a blessing. नमस्ते with folded hands is the respectful version for everyone else.
🔁 Practise today
- Say नमस्ते aloud with folded hands five times — the gesture is part of the phrase.
- Ask three family members आप कैसे हैं and note the reply.
- Decide for five people you know: आप, तुम or तू?
