"वह बुरा आदमी है।"

Translation: He is a bad man.

[BobEaton4]

This can also mean "THAT is a bad man" (e.g. with a gesture)

[wihlke]

That's what I wrote and it was accepted :)

[AndyD616799]

Mine wasn't! Hmph lol

[JoaoDSouza]

I have reported that the audio sounds off. Just to clarify I mean that vah is to be read like vō and yah like yē.

[AndriLindbergs]

I have noticed this. In everyday speech in India वह seems to be pronounced as 'vō'. But maybe that is just fast talking, because literally it is 'vah'. Maybe that is how a slow speaker would say it, I'm not sure.

Maybe they are easing us in, teaching us the simplest form before we become conversational. I would love to hear an expert opinion here.

[glarbish]

This is actually covered in the tips & notes for basics 1: https://www.duolingo.com/skill/hi/Basics-1/tips-and-notes

[SouvikGhos652454]

vah = वह

vō = वो

yah = यह

yē = ये

[VeerappanV]

This is fine.

[JoaoDSouza]

Even slowly people will say "vo". In Urdu, vo is even the standard pronunciation. Standard Hindi insists on pronouncing it as vêh. But people have started using ye and vo even in writing

[Abdulraufhingoro]

You are right.

[SouvikGhos652454]

vah = वह

vō = वो

yah = यह

yē = ये

[tsuj1g1r1]

So THAT'S what Babhu Bhat must have told himself in Urdu before telling Seinfeld he was a veeery bad man.

[WazinShikd]

Can I say "वह आदमी बुरा है।" instead?

[wihlke]

I think that would mean: “That man is bad” instead which has a different connotation.

[Kateykr]

Hi
- Vo buraa aadmee hai = That is a bad man.
- Vo aadmee buraa hai = That man is bad.

I see exactly no difference in the meaning. :)

[BobEaton4]

The difference is in what we call focus. The former you might use in answer to the question, "who is that?" And the latter, to the question, "What is he like?"

[WazinShikd]

Thanks. Now it makes sense. Lingot from me.

[Urvasi3]

Vo buraa aadmee hai = He is a bad man. Vo aadmi buraa hai = That man is bad.

It has nothing to do with focus. The grammar in both sentences are different.

[BobEaton4]

I'm not sure what you think focus means, but these two differ in what point (focus) you're trying to make.
It's exactly the same as with the 'existential' vs 'locative' constructions:
exist: सवर्ग मैं परमेश्वर है।
loc: परमेश्वर सवर्ग मेंं है।

The first is used to predicate (focus on) the existence of God, and by the way, he's in heaven, vs the second is used when you're focusing on the location of God and not specifically on his existence.

The phrase closest to the verb is what's in focus.

[nnrbns6]

Why not "Voh bhura admi hai?" Why vaha? Vaha means here, and voh means he

[VeerappanV]

वह एक बुरा आदमी है। ऐसा लिखना चाहिए।

[rpd276587]

How do you differentiate bad from old in Hindi?

[BobEaton4]

Spelling. /बूढ़ा/ is old, /बुरा/ is bad/evil

[rpd276587]

Are they both pronounced "bura"?

[BobEaton4]

No, the /r/ in 'bad/evil' (/र/) is pronounced like 'tt' in butter (in IPA: [bʊ.ɾɑ] -- a.k.a. the alveolar tap or flap), while the /Rh/ in 'old' (/ढ़/) is a voiced aspirated retroflex flap (in IPA: [ɽʱ], with no equivalent in English)

[BobEaton4]

And FYI, the Hindi writing system is almost completely phonetic where each letter has its own pronunciation. And aside from a few phonological rules you can tell exactly how a word is pronounced just by how it's spelled with no ambiguity ( unlike English). Very easy alphabet to learn!