Why Hindi to English is harder than it looks
Hindi has three levels of “you,” and English has one. Tu, tum and aap run from intimate to respectful, and the verb changes with each. A message written with aap to an elder carries respect that simply vanishes in English unless the wording is chosen to carry it instead.
The verb comes at the end. Hindi puts the action last, so a long sentence only resolves at its final word. Translating in order produces broken English; the sentence has to be read whole and rebuilt.
Hinglish is the real chat language. Most people mix English words into Hindi sentences, and many type Devanagari words in Latin letters. Spelling varies from person to person, which is exactly the situation machine translation handles worst, so the preview matters more here than in most pairs.
Respect is built into the grammar. Plural verb forms are used for one person to show deference, and kinship terms like didi or bhaiya are used for people who are not relatives at all. Translated literally they become “sister” and “brother,” which misleads an English reader about the relationship.
Written by Hardik Vegad, Co-founder, Translatify. Last updated .
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