Days, months and clock times come up in almost every conversation, and Hindi handles the clock in a way English does not. The half-hour words in particular catch out every learner, so they are worth learning properly.
| English | Hindi | Say it | Named after |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | सोमवार | somvaar | the Moon |
| Tuesday | मंगलवार | mangalvaar | Mars |
| Wednesday | बुधवार | budhvaar | Mercury |
| Thursday | गुरुवार | guruvaar | Jupiter |
| Friday | शुक्रवार | shukravaar | Venus |
| Saturday | शनिवार | shanivaar | Saturn |
| Sunday | रविवार | ravivaar | the Sun |
Every one ends in -वार, meaning day, and each is named for a planet — exactly as the English names are, through Norse and Latin. Monday is the Moon's day in both languages. Learn the seven planet names and the days come free.
आज aaj today · कल kal · परसों parson
Here is the oddity: कल means both yesterday and tomorrow. The same word. Which one is meant comes entirely from the verb tense:
And परसों means both "the day before yesterday" and "the day after tomorrow", by the same logic. Hindi treats time as distance from today, not direction.
In everyday life the English months are used almost universally, written in Devanagari: जनवरी, फ़रवरी, मार्च, अप्रैल, मई, जून, जुलाई, अगस्त, सितंबर, अक्टूबर, नवंबर, दिसंबर.
The traditional Hindu calendar months — चैत्र, वैशाख, ज्येष्ठ and so on — appear for festivals and religious dates. You will hear them around Diwali and Holi. For everyday use, the English names are correct and normal.
क्या समय हुआ है? kya samay hua hai? — what time is it? In speech most people say time kya hua hai?, using the English word.
On the hour: एक बजे ek baje (one o'clock), दो बजे do baje, and so on. Baje literally means "struck", as in a bell.
This is the part worth slowing down for. Hindi has dedicated words for the half hour, and they are used constantly:
| Time | Hindi | Literally |
|---|---|---|
| 1:30 | डेढ़ बजे dedh baje | one and a half |
| 2:30 | ढाई बजे dhai baje | two and a half |
| 3:30 | साढ़े तीन saadhe teen | three and a half |
| 4:30 | साढ़े चार saadhe chaar | four and a half |
Note that 1:30 and 2:30 have their own irregular words — dedh and dhai — and from 3:30 onwards you use saadhe plus the number. This irregularity is not optional; saying saadhe do for 2:30 marks you out immediately.
सवा sawa = quarter past. Sawa teen is 3:15.
पौने paune = quarter to. Paune chaar is 3:45.
Both are used with the coming hour for paune, so paune chaar is a quarter to four, not a quarter past.
सुबह subah morning · दोपहर dopahar afternoon · शाम shaam evening · रात raat night
Hindi has no am/pm. You attach the part of the day instead: सुबह के आठ बजे — eight in the morning.
The numbers underneath all of this are covered in our guide to Hindi numbers, which explains why they are irregular and which ones you actually need.
Reading about pronunciation only takes you so far — the sounds English does not have need someone listening and correcting you. EkGuru tutors teach one to one, from $6 a lesson, and most offer a trial.
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