Did you know that as a former British colony, India has millions of English speakers? What you may not know is that there are some awesome Hindi words (a major language spoke in most of north India) that may just inspire you to learn their language?
30 Hindi Words You Should Add to your Vocabulary
- Aaj – This means today.
- Din – Means THIS day, being more specific
- Bakwas – This means something is worthless or rubbish.
- Dina Japta – A phrase meaning to seize the day
- Hasnaa – This means to laugh
- Aachaa – This means good. So you like something and it isn’t great? Ahhh, aachaa…
- Kathin – means something that is difficult, a situation or person!
- Sundar – This means beautiful. Love the sunset? Think someone’s new haircut is awesome? This is the word you go with.
- Kala – Means the color black or darkness
- Apne – this means “ours” or “our shirt” is apne kameez
- Donom – This means both – so if you like both option, you’d say donom
- Mere (mayrae, not the English mere) – Means “mine.”
- Ek (pronounced ache) – Means one.
- Tum – Means “you” in Hindi, Hum Tum is a popular Bollywood meaning, which translates to mean “You and us”
- Ladke – Meaning a boy child
- Chumma – Means “for no reason.”
- Ladka – Meaning a girl child
- Bacha – An enduring form to say children
- Pyaar – is another word you can use for love if you want to throw some random Hindi into your vocabulary.
- Aloo – This is potato, and a good word to know when eating at Indian restaurants!
- Garam – This means hot and warm spice.
- Khana – This is a word for food and many online recipe books use this word to help you find awesome Indian recipes.
- Masala – This is mixture of spices, but you can likely use it to indicate a mixture. A group of mixed couples would be “masala couples”
- Shubharambh – This is really a bit untranslateable, but means a real auspicious moment. This is why some Hindu weddings take place at 10:14 am on a Tuesday morning! It is THE moment!
- Riyaaz – This is when you do a form of art every day… because you feel that deep desire and need to do so!
- Patti – While a name in English, this is the Hindi word for a bandage or covering.
- Rakhi – This is a string that binds a brother to his sister through duty and love.
- Kal – Want to be utterly confused. This same word means both yesterday and tomorrow!
- mere priye – This phrase means “my beloved” and if you’ve ever watched an old Bollywood movie with subtitles, you’ve heard this before!
- Moksha – This is the eternal circle of life and being.
I’ve never heard of any of these, so this is interesting to read!