"We need a little food."
Translation:हमें थोड़ा खाना चाहिए।
30 CommentsThis discussion is locked.
Could "कुछ" be used here instead of "थोड़ा"? What exactly is the difference between these two words?
There is a subtle difference. कुछ is more like 'some'.
हमें कुछ खाना चाहिए is asking for 'some' (an unspecified amount of) food while हमें थोड़ा खाना चाहिए is asking for a small quantity of food.
This may be a dumb question but why is there not a है at the end of the sentence? Id it because there isn't an "is" or "are" word needed for it?
You don't need a है in sentences with चाहिए because they are assumed to be in the present tense by default.
The literal translation of the Hindi sentence is something like 'To us, a little food is needed'. You can think of हमें working like 'to us'.
Yes. हमको and हमें are usually interchangeable though हमें is considered more 'proper' in some regions.
Could this equally mean "We need little food" (e.g. we don't eat much) and "We need a little food" (e.g. because we are hungry)?
to convey "We need little food" the sentence would be "Humko thoda hi khana chahiye" which translates to "we need little food only "
खाना is used as an uncountable noun in this sense so it's only used in the singular (similar to 'food' in the English sentence).
Then why they use थोड़े पैसे, पैसे (money)is also an uncountable noun? Then why it is different?
पैसे is actually a countable noun. A पैसा is equal to one hundredth of a rupee.
However, due to the unit of currency becoming almost obsolete in recent times and पैसा being used so commonly as a general word for money, it is also not wrong to use it as an uncountable noun. So, थोड़ा पैसा should also be fine.
836
Why do some people treat the second consonant in thora as d? Writing it as thoda. I've seen it in other words as well. I totally hear it resembling a rolling R, also when I was in India. P.s, I thank in advance all helpers, mainly amazing vinay92!! Your answers teach me so much!!
It's a sound between the retroflex 'd' (ड) and र. Basically, you make the र sound but with your tongue bent backwards and hitting the same place in the roof of your mouth as for ड.
It is a sound native to Hindi/Urdu and all native speakers will recognise it as a different sound than either ड or र. The issue is only with romanization with some people writing it as 'd' and others as 'r' while transliterating (because English does not have the sound).
Usually, Hindi speakers will write it as 'd' and Urdu speakers as 'r' because the letter is written as a variation of 'd' and 'r' in their respective scripts.
The question: "We need a little food comes" after consideration came out as हमें चाहिए थोड़ा खाना and the correct answer is हमें थोड़ा खाना चाहिए।.. got it wrong by misplacing the wrong words in order. Any advice?
Most sentences in Hindi follow the order subject-object-verb. Compare with subject-verb-object in English.
Is हम थोड़ा खाना चाहते हैं incorrect? According to Duolingo, चाहिए means both want and need. And Apple dictionary says the same is true for चाहना.
That is true only for चाहिए. The other forms of चाहना mean only 'want'.
