Chitee to Santa

Merry Christmas and happy holidays! Today we are going to write a chittee to Santa – a letter to Santa. And you’re going to impress him with your awesome Hindi skills!

Inside how to say all these in Hindi:

• Chittee greeting
• My name is ______
• I am # years old
• May I have ________

Greeting. Let’s start the chitee with a greeting. To say, “Dear Santa” in Hindi we say, “Preeyay Santa”. Click play to hear how that sounds.

Introduction. Ok, awesome, we’ve got the greeting. Next, how about we tell Santa your name and how old you are? My name is ____________.

Mera naam ________ hai. And as you probably guessed, the blank line is where your name goes. So for me it would be, mera naam Samta hai – listen below (I repeated it a few times).

Let’s make sure you understand what each of these words means:

Mera = my

naam = name

Samta = Samta

hai = is

In Hindi, it’s “my name Samta is”. That sounds silly right? But actually it’s not. The order of the words in Hindi is not the same as English. And that’s true for most languages.

Age. Next, it would be nice to share your age in your chitee to Santa. He’s an expert on gifts and toys and stuff. If he knows your age then he’d be able to suggest khilonay (toys) you’d probably pasand (like).

To say, “I am 6 years old”, see below. See the blank line? That’s where your age goes. What’s 6 in Hindi? It’s chay. So the sentence would be, “Mai chay saal ka hoon. OR “Mai chay saal kee hoon.” But wait a second. What’s the difference? Why does one say “ka” and the other one “kee”?

Great question!

Hindi is a gendered language. That means words change slightly based on gender. So if a boy says, “I am 6 years old, it would be “Mai chay saal ka hoon”.

And if a girl says it, it would be “Mai chay saal kee hoon”.

Counting 1-10 in Hindi

What if you don’t know numbers in Hindi? No worries! The video below will teach you 1-10 in a jiffy (with some rhymes to help you remember too)!

Again, let’s make sure you understand what each word means:

Mai = I

chay = 6

saal = year

ka/kee = of

hoon = am

You should notice that in Hindi there are some words that aren’t in the English translation.

I live in ________

Next, let’s tell Santa where you live. Let’s pretend that you live in San Francisco.

“Mai San Francisco may rehtha or rehthee hoon.”

Similar to the phrase, I am 6 years old, you can see the word change, “rehtha vs. rehthee.” Boys say “rehtha” and girls, “rehthee”.

Play to hear the boy sentence.

Play to hear the girl sentence

By now you should know that the blank line is where you would fill in the city or town where you live.

Let’s break down each word:

Mai = I

San Francisco = San Francisco

may = in

rehtha/rehthee = live

hoon = am

So it translates to, “I am living in San Francisco”

Have you been naughty or nice?

Santa needs to know whether you’ve been naughty or nice doesn’t he? In your chittee you should tell him (and be honest, because he knows anyway!) Let’s include a line that says, “I have been badmaash (naughty) or “I have been acha (good).

May I have ________

Ok, now comes the part where you ask Santa for toys and games and other things. Instead of saying, “I want the Lego Millennium Falcon” wouldn’t it be way more polite to say, “May I have the Lego Millennium Falcon?” So let’s learn how to say that.

“Kyaa moojay Millennium Falcon mil saktha hai?”

“Kyaa moojay _______ mil saktha hai?”What do you think goes in the blank line? You guessed it! Whatever the item is that you want! It could be anything: a doll, a new bike, toys, games, a gift for your brother, sister, or parent….anything! Watch the video below to practice this phrase. It’s a nice thing to know, not just for your chittee to Santa but to speak Hindi politely all the time, which a good thing, right?

Thank you!

Let’s finish the chittee to Santa by saying thank you. There are two words used in Hindi to say thank you. They are dhanyavaad and shukriya – listen below.

Technically shukriya is not a Hindi word. It’s from another language called Urdu. But did you know that if you know Hindi then you know a lot of Urdu too?! How cool is that! In Hindi spoken on a daily basis people use both. They’re both polite and good words to know. So you can end your chittee with either one.

The Finished Chittee to Santa!

Here it is the finished chittee! Have fun writing yours!

Congrats on your Chittee to Santa!

Bravo! You not only wrote a chittee but in Hindi and so politely! Shaabash beta!

Christmas Kahaani

And to wish you a very Merry Christmas here’s a sweet Christmas story along with new vocabulary for you to practice! Cheers!

Interested in Learning Hindi?

Join one of our classes! We specialize in small group, fun classes where children to learn conversational Hindi. The classes are taught in American English. In addition to understanding and speaking Hindi, your child will learn about India and Indian culture. Visit our website for days, times and more info or contact us with any questions.