Increasing Word Choice and Meaning with Synonyms Posted by Nitya on Apr 15, 2018 in Hindi Language
I was working with some adult English learners last week. As in every class, there are the early-finishers and this class was no exception. While the rest of the class was working on learning the names of objects in a department store, I put the early finisher to a challenge — to use the newly-acquired vocabulary in sentences, and use at least one adjective that described the object/noun. The student set to task — but when I read the words “big” and “many” used one too many times, I decided it was time for a little lesson on synonyms.
| बड़ा (bada) | big | विशाल (vishaal) = massive or vast | महान (mahaan) = great [person/deed] |
| दोस्त (doast) | friend | मित्र (mitr) | यार (yaar) = buddy/pal a more colloquial usage |
| खुश (khush) | happy | प्रसन्न (prasann) = pleased | आनंद (aanand) = joy |
| पानी (paani) | water | जल (jal) | नीर (neer) |
| खाना (khana) | food | भोजन (bhojan) = meals | आहार (aahaar) |
| पैसा (paisa) | money | धन (dhan) = wealth | माल (maal) = wealth/property [slang] |
| अमीर (ameer) | rich | धनवान (dhanvaan) = wealthy | मालदार (maaldaar) = rich; [slang] |
| इच्छा (ichcha) | wish/desire | ख्वाहिश (khvaahish) = aspiration | तमन्ना (tamanna) |
| बदमाश (badmaash) | naughty/one causing trouble | गुंडा (gunda) = ruffian | दुष्ट (dusht) = evil/ill-intending |
| होशियार (hoshiyaar) | clever/smart | चतुर (chatur) | बुद्धिमान (buddhimaan) |
| दीप (deep) | lamp | दीपक (deepak) | बत्ती (batti) [more colloquial usage] |
| बूढ़ा (boodha) [used to describe people] | old | वृद्ध (vruddh) = old [person] | प्राचीन = old/ancient |
| नया (naya) | new | नवीन (naveen) | नूतन (nootan) |
| सीधा (seedha) | straight/direct | सरल (saral) = simple/uncomplicated | स्पष्ट (spasht) = clear [as in conversation, speech, ideas] |
| गुस्सा (gussa) | anger | कोप (kope) | क्रोध (krodh) |
| प्यार (pyaar) | love | प्रेम (prem) | प्रीति (preeti) = love/affection |
| आदर (aadar) | respect | सम्मान (sammaan) | लिहाज़ (lihaaz) [Urdu] |
| दुःख (dukh) | sadness/sorrow | पीड़ा (peeda) = pain/sadness | वेदना (vaydana) = pain/sadness |
| दया (daya) | pity | करुणा (karuNa) = mercy/pity | तरस (taras) = pity/mercy/compassion |
| छोटा (chhota) | small | नन्हा (nanha) = tiny [as a baby or infant] | क्षुद्र (kshudra) = insignificant, miniscule |
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About the Author: Nitya
Namaste, friends. My name is Nitya. I was born and raised in Mumbai (formerly Bombay). I'm a native Hindi speaker. However, as life took me through school, college, work, and waves of friends from different parts of India, my repertoire of Hindi flavors and dialects grew and added dimension to my native fluency. Casual, formal, colloquial, and regional ... Hindi is a language with incredible variety and localization. Through this blog, I will help you learn Hindi through conversations, vocabulary, colloquialisms, and glimpses of Indian culture. आओ, मिलकर हिंदी सीखते हैं। (Aao, milkar Hindi seekhte hain!) Come, let's learn Hindi together.
Comments:
Sridharan:
Great gesture to give what you have to one who wants it educate someone without any expectation is a great service in deed. God bless you