OK. I've trudged through the 100 most common Hindi words and incorporated suggestions and corrections. Now, I've posted the changes to the online list. Have a look: most commonly used Hindi words. If you would like to help me develop it, please let me know. The list comes from the Hindi Google Group, and I am modifying it to fit my aims. Good luck, and have fun.
In the course of stumbling through the top 100 most commonly used words in Hindi, I got some helpful advice regarding my mistakes and omissions. Now it's time to finally put that advice into play and update the first ten posts of ten words each...
8. अपने ap-ne (adjective) ours (plural form of अपना)
11. होता ho-taa (verb) happening - singular masculine imperfective aspect of होना
14. हुए hu-e (verb) becoming - plural masculine perfective aspect of होना
19. रहा ra-haa (auxiliary verb) masculine singular form of continuous aspect auxiliary verb
25. अपनी ap-nii (adjective) her own; hers - feminine form of अपना
26. होती ho-tii (verb) happening - singular feminine imperfective aspect of होना
32. रहे ra-he (auxiliary verb) masculine plural form of continuous aspect auxiliary verb
35. रही ra-hii (auxiliary verb) feminine singular form of continuous aspect auxiliary verb
36. होने ho-ne (verb) oblique infinitive form of होना
38. हुई hu-ii (verb) becoming - singular feminine perfective aspect of होना
OK
51. गये ga-ye (verb) plural perfective aspect of जाना, to go
53. आदि a-di (noun) et cetera
58. उन्होंने un-hon-ne (pronoun) oblique case of they
65. उनकी un-kii (adjective) theirs; his - formal
OK
OK
92. उनका un-a-kaa (adjective) theirs; his - formal
96. इसका is-a-kaa (adjective) his - informal
Vinay, Pradeep, thank you again for all of your help.
And now, on to something more practical: not just words, but sentences.
Words ranked number 91 to 100 in the list of most commonly used Hindi words (courtesy of Hindi Google Group and Resource Center for Indian Language Technology Solutions):
91. व्यक्ति vyak-ti (f. noun) a person; a particular person
92. उनका un-a-kā (adjective) theirs; his - formal
93. लिये li-ye (verb) took; received; accepted. This is the masculine plural, perfective aspect of लेना, "to take."
94. इसलिए is-a-li-e (adverb) so; therefore
95. तीन tīn (adjective) three
96. इसका is-a-kā (adjective) his - informal
97. ऐसी ai-sī (f. adjective) of this sort
98. विशेष vi-śheṣ (adjective) 1. particular, special, distinctive. 2. excellent.
99. बड़ी ba-ṛī (f. adjective) big, large; great
100. अथवा ath-a-vā (conjunction) or
The following resources were helpful for this set of words:
Now that I've made it to 100 -- except, of course, for the lingering blanks -- I am going to shift focus for some time. First, the spreadsheet of most common Hindi words needs to be completed; from 41 to 60, the definitions are included, but for the others I didn't include the information in the spreadsheet. Second, the previous posts need to have styles and errors fixed. Thanks to Pradeep and Vinay, I learned about things I was missing or had translated incorrectly. Now I will go back and fix the errors.
The next step is to put some of this new knowledge to use, to find sentences containing this set of 100 words and help to give them more context and meaning. The idea to start over and study Hindi from the most common words down originated from a video interview of Tim Ferriss that I watched some weeks ago. He attacked Japanese in the same way, first learning the words he was mostly likely to see -- a list of the most commonly used words in the language -- and building his knowledge around that. It made sense to me. Ultimately, it might not be the best way, for for self study, preparing myself for what I was most likely to see seems like a good idea. Now to go and apply the knowledge practically, then we'll see if this is right.
Words ranked number 81 to 90 in the list of the most common Hindi words (courtesy of Hindi Google Group and Resource Center for Indian Language Technology Solutions):
81. दूसरे dū-sa-re (adverb) another; secondly
82. हाथ hāth (m. noun) hand (as in giving a hand)
83. भाषा bhā-ṣā (f. noun) language; speech
84. मेरे me-re (pl. adjective) my
85. मैंने maiṃ-ne (pronoun) I - This is the first person singular ergative case of मैं. ने denotes ergative case.
86. तुम tum (pronoun) you (informal)
87. बीच bīc (m. noun) middle. बीच के is the preposition between.
88. वाली vā-lī (f. suffix) 1. (added to noun) a person employed in the preceding noun. 2. (added to adjective) adds emphasis to preceding adjective. 3. (added to noun, adjective, or noun phrase) gives adjectival properties to preceding word. 4. (added to verb) gives agentive meaning to preceding verb. Feminine form of वाला. http://www.geekofalltrades.net/2007/02/grammarwallah.html has a good explanation of how the word works.
89. बड़े ba-ɽe (pl. m. adjective) big, large; great; elder
90. प्रति pra-ti 1. (f. noun) copy of an original. 2. (f. noun) section, group (of a larger whole). 3. (prefix) again, back again, re-. 4. (preposition) towards, against, anti-. 5. (preposition) each, every; per. 6. (preposition) similar to.
Pradeep also says that रति is used on the cover of letters in place of to.
Pradeep had a good suggestion. He said -- and I'll paraphrase, to entertain myself -- that I'm a nut and a dope for worrying about individual words because they don't mean anything. In these top 100 words: he's right. Maybe if I was learning a list of, say, types of fruit or days of the week, slogging through individual words would make sense. In this case, going through the top 100 words, it really doesn't. For example, in English, I bet the word been is one of the top words, perhaps in the top 100. How would I explain the word been to someone? It's a form of to be, but it doesn't stand alone. You use it with other verbs -- say, has been -- to indicate progressive tense. What I'm getting at: for a beginner, that's all arcana. Ask a native speaker to explain something that he or she knows by heart, but has a tricky description, and you might not get such a great response. I had to look up that been was used in the progressive case. I just knew that we... well, that we use been, and I could make a sentence with it. There's Pradeep's suggestion for improvement: use sentences. It's a good idea.
Once I get to 100 words, I will change course and think about the context of the words, not just the words themselves. I think at 100 words, I should be able to tackle bbc.co.uk/hindi and find plenty of instances of the words here. That's the reason I started with the most common words: because there are more of them out there in the wild than the other words.
Words ranked number 71 to 80 in the list of the most commonly used Hindi words (courtesy of Hindi Google Group and Resource Center for Indian Language Technology Solutions):
71. इसी (is-ī) (adjective, singular oblique) this (emphatic)
72. देश deś (m. noun) 1. place, region. 2. country; nation.
73. यदि (ya-di) (conjunction) if; whether
74. सभी (sa-bhī) (adjective, pronoun) every single one; absolutely all
75. नाम (nām) (m. noun) name, title
76. वर्ष (varṣ) (m. noun) a year
77. ऐसा (ai-sā) (adjective - singular) of this sort
78. विकास (vi-kās) (m. noun) opening, expanding
79. अपना (ap-nā) (adjective) one's, one's own; his, her, my
80. ऐसे (ai-se) (adjective - plural) of this sort
These ten words are part of a list of the most commonly used Hindi words (courtesy of Hindi Google Group and Resource Center for Indian Language Technology Solutions). Many many thanks to Vinay from the Hindi group for dropping by to advise and correct on Wednesday. (I'll respond to the comment soon. I'm trying to digest it still...). I don't think I could have as much patience as you to read and try to help someone like me stumble and fumble through this. Words ranked #61 to #70:
61. वहाँ va-hāṃ (adverb) there.
62. भारत bhā-rat (m. noun) India.
63. लिया li-yā (verb) taken. This is the singular perfect form of लेना, to take.
64. प्राप्त prāpt (adjective) 1. obtained; acquired; incurred. 2. come upon, found.
65. उनकी un-kī (adjective) theirs; his - formal
66. लोगों (lo-goṃ) (pl. noun) people. This is the oblique plural form of लोग, people.
67. गयी (ga-yī) (verb) went. This is the feminine singular past participle of जाना, to go.
68. लगा (la-gā) (verb) seemed. This is the masculine singular past participle of लगना, to seem.
69. अन्य (an-ya) (adjective) other, different.
70. होगा (ho-gā) (verb) will be. This is the third person future tense of होना, to be.
There should be some sort of disclaimer that goes with all of this, say: every time I write "this is" it really means "this is probably, I think." Help with this post comes from:
Edit (15 August 2008): Updated with help from Pradeep -- see Errata, Words 1 to 100 for changes.
These ten words are taken from a list of the most common Hindi words (courtesy of Hindi Google Group and Resource Center for Indian Language Technology Solutions). Two of them -- 51. गये and 58 उन्होंने -- are still mysterious, i.e., I didn't find a definition for them. I'll have to ask Pradeep and see what he thinks...
Common words in Hindi, numbers 51 through 60:
51. गये ga-ye (verb) plural perfective aspect of जाना, to go
52. कभी ka-bhī (adverb) sometimes; at any time
53. आदि a-di (noun) et cetera
54. लोग log (masculine/feminine/plural noun) people, folk
55. बार bār (masculine noun) 1. times, occasion. 2. gate, door; doorway.
56. यहाँ ya-hāṃ (adverb) 1. here. 2. at
57. दोनों do-noṃ (adverb) the two; both
58. उन्होंने un-hoṃ-ne (pronoun) oblique case of they
59. कार्य kār-ya (masculine noun) 1. action, act; activity. 2. work, task duty.
60. पास pās (adverb) nearby
All translations made with The Oxford Hindi-English Dictionary.
Edit (15 August 2008): Updated with advice from Vinay and Pradeep -- see changes made in Errata, Words 1 to 100.
Taken from a list of most common Hindi words. Common words in Hindi, numbers 41 through 50:
41. थी (thī) - verb was (feminine past singular of होना)
42. वाले (vā-le) - postposition used to denote a relationship to the noun, verb, or adjective preceding the postposition
43. चाहिए (cā-hi-e) - intransitive verb is wanted (चाहिए को, is wanted by); is needful (to or for); should ought
44. दिन (din) - noun (m) a day
45. लेकिन (le-kin) - conjunction but; however
46. काम (kām) - noun (m) action; act; work; task
47. हूँ (hūṃ) - verb am (first person singular of होना)
48. होते (ho-te) - verb are (masculine third person plural form of होना)
49. इसके (is-a-ke) - pronoun of this, for this (oblique case of इस, this)
50. उन्हें (un-heṃ) - pronoun to them (dative case)
Many thanks to A Door Into Hindi, which provided help on the oblique and dative cases for िसके and उन्हें.
Taken from a list of most common Hindi words. Common words in Hindi, numbers 31 through 40:
31. फिर (phir) - adv. 1. anew, again. 2. thereafter, afterwards; next; then. 3. furthermore; but.
32. रहे (ra-he) - aux. v. masculine plural form of continuous aspect auxiliary verb
33. द्वारा (dvā-rā) - prep. by means
34. अधिक (adh-ik) - adj. increased, exceeding; more
35. रही (ra-hī) - aux. v. feminine singular form of continuous aspect auxiliary verb
36. होने (ho-ne) - v. be; oblique infinitive form of होना
37. एवं (e-vaṃ) - adv. 1. thus, so. 2. and.
38. हुई (hu-ī) - v. becoming - singular feminine perfective aspect of होना
39. थे (the) - v. were (past masculine plural of 'to be')
40. उनके (un-a-ke) - adj. his
As you can see, there are still some translations that are missing (???). Pradeep just sent me an email that describes these, plus other ???'s from previous posts. Some of blanks are regular omissions. From a few quick searches, I learned that रहे and similar words are part of a grammatical form known as the continuous aspect. Pradeep informed me that you wouldn't use that word on its own, only with other verbs. Some of the other missing words, such as होने, are forms of होना, which means to be -- a very important word. The variations of to be are, of course, critical. Since there are many forms, now I understand why they were not all present as individual words in the dictionary. So, tomorrow, it's time to take a break from rote vocabulary building and fill in the holes. Also, it's time to develop a strategy for learning. The spreadsheet above will be part of the plan. Some of the wiki sites I've found will also be part of the plan. But, I want to have clear goals and a clear understanding of how to get there. I don't just want to know a few things, I want to be really good at Hindi (and Spanish and Punjabi).
View the list of most common Hindi words. Common words in Hindi, numbers 11 through 20:
11. होता (ho-taa) - v. happening - singular masculine imperfective aspect of होना
12. था (thā) - v.i. imperf. was
13. दिया (di-yā) - given
14. हुए (hu-e) - v. becoming - plural masculine perfective aspect of होना
15. कोई (ko-ī) - pron. 1. someone; anyone. 2. some
16. रूप (rūp) - n. form; shape; appearance; aspect
17. से (se) - prep. by means of; by; with
18. मैं (maiṃ) - pron. I
19. रहा (ra-hā) - aux. v. masculine singular form of continuous aspect auxiliary verb
20. हुआ (hu-ā) - v.i. became; came about; was
I discovered the spreadsheet containing the most frequently used words from the Hindi Google Group, a list which is derived from Resource Center for Indian Language Technology Solutions at IIT-Mumbai.