This might seem strange but Hindi sentences are like Oreo cookies. This is what I tell my students to help them understand the structure of a Hindi sentence.
Hindi follows a subject-object-verb (SOV) sentence structure whereas English is subject-verb-object (SVO).
For example:
If you’re confused don’t worry. We are going to crush this. First let’s go back to primary school to review subjects, objects and verbs.
Subjects, Objects, and Verbs
Subject. The subject of a sentence is the person or thing that the sentence is about.
Let’s look at an example.
The Lakers are the best team in the NBA. (scoff all you want; Lakers 4 Life!)
Subject = The Lakers
Object. The object is the receiver of the action. It is whom or what receives the action of the verb.
Using our Lakers example, the object = team
Verbs. Verbs are action words. And remember there are also state-of-being verbs (am, is, are).
Again, referring to the example:
The Lakers are the best team in the NBA. Verb = are
In this case, it’s a state-of-being verb.
In English “to” is added in front of a verb to indicate that it’s a verb. The equivalent in Hindi is that verbs have a “na” at the end (see examples below).
To run
To play
To eat
Work Through An Example To See The Verb At The End of The Sentence
This is Sameer….and, he makes cake.
So the sentence is:
Sameer makes cake.
And below you can see the sentence divided into the Oreo cookie.
Now look at the sentences, in the Oreo, side-by-side: English vs. Hindi.
Sameer kek banaathaa hai.
Sameer = his name
kek = cake
banaathaa hai = conjugated verb from “banaana” = to make
See, the verb is at the end of the sentence.
Next Step
Now let’s add words – details to the sentence and let’s see what happens to the verb.
Sameer makes vanilla cake.
Sameer vanilla kek banaathaa hai.
The verb is still at the end.
Sameer makes vanilla cake on Saturday.
Sameer Shaneevaar ko vanilla cake banaathaa hai.
The verb is….? still at the end.
Sameer makes vanilla cake with a friend on Saturday.
Sameer Shaneevaar ko vanilla cake
daust ke saath banaathaa hai.
And, the verb is….? still at the end.
So hopefully this has really drove home that, in Hindi, the verb is at the of the sentence. You can add words to the sentence and the verb just keeps getting pushed out to the end.
Cases Where The Verb Is Not At The End of A Sentence
Now, in colloquial Hindi there are times when one might put another word at the end of the sentence. It’s not grammatically correct, nor is it “good” Hindi but it’s accepted. For example:
How are you now?
Grammatically Correct Hindi: Abh aap kaise hain? (Now, you how are?)
Colloquial Hindi: Aap kaise hain abh? (You, how are, now?)
No one will look at you weird if you say the colloquial version but technically it is not correct.
Again in colloquial Hindi there are times where the verb might not be at the end but in limited situations and I don’t encourage to practice that to anyone learning Hindi.
Summary and Take Aways
Hopefully this article using an analogy helped you understand how Hindi sentences are like Oreo cookies. And helped you understand a framework that you can apply as you study Hindi further.
Remember, the verb is at the end of a Hindi sentence.
