The small words that make speech sound native
I can soften, confirm and emphasise the way a native speaker does
Look at these examples. Can you spot the grammar pattern?
You'll come, won't you?
Oh no, we're late!
So what do we do now?
Pay attention to the highlighted parts. What do they have in common?
A tag seeking agreement: आप आएँगे ना? - You'll come, won't you? It also softens a request: बता दीजिए ना.
Beyond contrast, तो fills the slot English gives to 'well' and 'so': तो अब क्या करें? - So what do we do now?
यार is an address particle between friends, roughly 'mate'. अरे opens a sentence with surprise or mild protest: अरे, आप यहाँ!
These combine freely: अरे यार, चलो ना. Getting the stack right is most of what makes speech sound unforced, and none of it can be worked out from rules.
Apply this grammar in B2 course exercises
Practice ExercisesOmitting particles entirely, which makes correct Hindi sound like a textbook.
Speech built with no particles at all
Match each Russian particle to a Hindi one.
yaar used with someone who is not a peer
yaar is for friends; it is out of place with an elder or a stranger.
You'll come, won't you?
na as a tag seeking agreement, like ved.
Oh no, we're late!
Two particles stacked, as Russian stacks nu and zhe.
So what do we do now?
to filling the slot of the Russian nu.
Practice in course
Apply this grammar in B2 course exercises
Yamuna Kachru's reference grammar; the descriptive account relied on for aspect, valency and clause structure.
Kamta Prasad Guru's grammar, the standard prescriptive reference for Hindi morphology and syntax.