"Raj is eating a vegetable."
Translation:राज सब्ज़ी खा रहा है।
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My mother in law always pronounces it as " सब्जी - subjii" with a 'J' sound instead of " सब्ज़ी - subzii" with a 'Z' sound. Is that a regional thing or something? She's originally from Mumbai area.
ज़ (za) is not a sound that is native to Hindi and is only present in loanwords from Persian, Arabic and European languages. So a lot of speakers will pronounce it as ज (ja) instead. You will also see this in writing where the dot in ज़ is often dropped.
The tendency to use the original 'z' pronunciation in words with ज़ is correlated more with exposure to Urdu/English than with region. In your mother-in-law's case however, it may also have something to do with her exposure to Marathi (the official language of the state Mumbai is in). Marathi has the 'z' sound but because it uses the same letters for both the 'j' and 'z' sounds, it has its own rules for when to use which. These rules sometimes make their way into Hindi dialects from the region.
Note: This effect is more pronounced with other non-native letters क़ (qa), ख़ (k͟ha) and ग़ (ġa) which most native Hindi speakers pronounce as क, ख and ग respectively. The letter फ़ (fa) is also foreign but it has been integrated better into Hindi so much so that some native speakers even substitute it for फ (pha) in words like फल (fruit). The letters ड़ and ढ़ also have the dot in them but they are native to Hindi.
The Duolingo audio pronounces ख़ as ख. As I say in the parent comment, this is also what most Hindi native speakers do.
The actual pronunciation of the letter is similar to the 'ch' in Scottish 'loch'.
In most sentences, Hindi doesn't require an article to be there. So, you can either include or drop the "ek" as per your preference.
Thanks for your answer. Would it be ok to drop it from "क्या यह एक बिल्ली है?" ? Seems like a generic question where it could be done.
Does this mean a single whole vegetable, or cooked sabzi as part of/a meal, or is it ambiguous?
It can mean both but in most contexts would be understood as the second meaning.
In fact, sabzi can also refer to a dish comprising of vegetables. For example, 'aloo matar ki sabzi' is a dish comprising of potatoes and peas. So, in a restaurant context, if you ask for 'roti aur ek sabzi' you are asking for a serving of a single dish along with roti. (Though it would be funny if the waiter just gave you an uncooked whole potato with your roti).
Do you mean 'khata hai'? That would be in a different tense.
राज सब्ज़ी खाता है = 'Raj eats a vegetable'
'Khati' is the feminine form of 'khata'.
सब्ज़ियाँ is the plural form.
'Raj is eating vegetables' - राज सब्ज़ियाँ खा रहा है।