# Hindi: Can I have / May I have



## petercolag

Based on what I have been able to find in some Hindi phrases books (as well as in textbooks for Hindi learners),  I understand that there are a number of different ways to translate into Hindi the English sentence "Can I have / May I have". 

I will illustrate these different possibilities using an example.  In order to translate the English sentence "May I have a bag" (or equivalently the more colloquial "Can I have a bag") there seems to be the following possibilities in Hindi:

    1,  Kya main ek baig le sakta hoon?      क्या मैं एक बैग ले सकता हूँ?
    2.  Kya mujhe baig mil saktee hai?       क्या मुझे बैग मिल सकती है?
    3.  Kya main baig loonga?                   क्या मैं बैग लूँगा?

Context:  Someone is in a shop and he asks the shop attendant for a bag in order to carry the items he has just bought.

What I would like to better understand is whether these different forms are equivalent, or whether some are more appropriate/natural than others in this context. 
In particular, some Hindi speakers have reported to me that the form "Kya main ek baig le sakta hoon"  is understandable, but not natural and would not be typically used by a native speaker.   Is these generally true, or does it vary regionally?


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## littlepond

petercolag said:


> 1,  Kya main ek baig le sakta hoon?      क्या मैं एक बैग ले सकता हूँ? -- Possible if it's not the shopkeeper who has to do the actual giving act (that is, you can pick one yourself from a particular place in the shop).
> 2.  Kya mujhe baig mil saktee hai?       क्या मुझे बैग मिल सकती है? -- Very much possible. Note that "bag" is masculine, so "saktaa".
> 3.  Kya main baig loonga?                   क्या मैं बैग लूँगा? -- No, not at all. Are you wondering to yourself?
> 
> Context:  Someone is in a shop and he asks the shop attendant for a bag in order to carry the items he has just bought.



The very natural thing would be to ask instead "kyaa aap ke paas (ek) bag hai/hogaa?" (or just "kyaa (ek) (zaraa) bag milegaa?"). Or "kyaa aap (mujhe) (ek) bag de sakte haiN?"


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## Sheikh_14

LP is absolutely right, that is the conventional means of responding to a purchase. Le saktaa hooN is more to do with borrowing or the sort of expression you would use when addressing a close friend or family. Kyaa maiN aap kaa X... le saktaa hooN for a personal item of interest is quite alright, but not for requesting a plastic/jute bag. Nevertheless in your circumstance above mil saktaa hai is again correct. To which the shopkeeper/assistant will respond with jee bilkul or jee zaroor. If he/she wants to respond fawningly then jee huzuur.


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## petercolag

Thank you very much @littlepond Ji and Sheik_14 Ji for your explanations!     

I am interested in knowing how the most natural / appropriate Hindi translation of "May I have ... / Can I have ..." would change when the object being requested (X) changes.

For instance, what would be the most appropriate Hindi formulation in the case where the requested object(s)  is/are:

   (i)  A coffee  (e.g., in a restaurant)
  (ii)  A kilo of oranges (e.g., in a fruit shop)
 (iii)  A train ticket to City YY   (e.g., in a railway station).

Is it generally the case that the formulation "Mujhe XX chahiye" is appropriate as a polite request for any of these types of objects (bag, coffee, oranges, train ticket, ...)?


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## Sheikh_14

1) Mil saktii hai, mile gii, chaa'e chaahiye, laaiye (gaa).
2) HoN gaye, dejiye, mil sakte haiN.
3) darkaar hai, chaahiye, mile gii, de deN, de dijiye, dilaa deN.


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## petercolag

@Sheikh_14 :   Thank you for the response!   Since the possible responses vary quite a bit as a function of the object requested,  can you recommend some guidelines for determining what is the most appropriate expression?   In other words: Does it depend on the relation between the object and the requester?  Does it depend on the level of formality corresponding to the environment the request is being made and/or the receiver of the request?   Are there other factors to consider? 

Thanks for your help!


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## littlepond

@petercolag : "kyaa maiN xyz kar saktaa hooN" is a freezingly formal construction in Hindi; it will normally be not used. Just even writing it makes me freeze in the bones. That's why "milnaa" (to get, to meet) is used a lot when you are asking for something: whether it's with a shopkeeper or with a family member. Of course, sometimes you just ask/order for it, without implying the possibility of "can/could": especially when it's a family member. (Again, all kinds of "please" are bone-freezing ...).
If you are not doing so already, I would suggest you to watch some modern Hindi movies, petercolag jii: you can start with popular movies like "3 Idiots" and "Jab We Met", as both use a very common form of Hindi, exactly like used in at least urban or small-town India.

I agree with Sheikh jii's answers in post no. 5, except for "HoN gaye", which I did not understand in this context. Meanwhile, "darkaar hai" is extremely formal at least in Hindi (maybe, the situation is different in Urdu), and I for one wouldn't use it (even in a formal situation), unless I want to be playfully heavily formal in an informal situation. Note that "dilaa denaa" is causative: that is, you are asking for someone else to get you a ticket. It will be used only in such context: I don't know why Sheikh jii mentioned here, though if you have gone to a travel agent for a ticket (rather than directly to the ticket seller), then you may be using it. Maybe that's why Sheikh jii mentioned this possibility, too.


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## Sheikh_14

With regards to disagreement over how formal your approach should be in my honest opinion I think the divide stems amongst Hindi/Urdu fault-lines. Urdu-phones are far more prone to you use aap-janaab Nawaabii language and can at times find (not necessarily) the do-Tok (straight-shooting) means of conversation employed in Hindi as a bit much. Please and thank you are required as part of Urdu-adab and "tere ko mere ko" would for instance be considered rude, though they are common parlance in Hindi. What i find particularly strange about Hindi-phones is that they employ Hindi very colloquially yet when they switch to English there terms of reference become surprisingly formal. It is beyond me why in a foreign language they would want to appear more polite but it is something you do come across in the Indian business community. LP's comments attest to this quite neatly.

Hon gaye in the case of oranges suggested that "do you have oranges, per chance" and that is one means you would express interest in their purchase. Darkaar hai is formal Urdu but used without any qualms in fact it would be met with a big wide smile since you are conforming to etiquette which isn't as strong as it once was. With regards to dilaa deN, there are reasons aplenty why they can be used a) we have discussed a nuanced distinction between dilwaanaa and dilaanaa in a recent forum (so here it simply suggests could you get me two tickets please) b) the agent or ticket seller purveys a ticket with the aid of a computer or machine and doesn't simply write one off by hand c) the possibility you have given is one good example on its own.


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## Aryaved

@Sheikh_14 @littlepond

Darkaar Hai= Avyashak Hai in terms of formality/gravity, right?

I've only ever heard 'Darkaar' used in songs/poetic songs, but Hindi speakers use Avashak and Avashakta just slightly less frequently than 'Zaroor'. Interestingly, in Marathi 'Avyashak' is used ALL the time.

So @petercolag for example (iii) you can say "Mujhe ek relgaadi ka tikat ki avashakta hai ji...kya mujhe ek tikat mil sakta hai?

Avyashak means essential/required/necessary/urgent/obligatory

Avyashakta means necessity/requirement

Interestingly, 'Avashya' is a polite/formal way of saying "of course", "certainly".


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## petercolag

@littlepond Jii:   Thank you for the explanations.  Thanks also for the film suggestions.   I have started watching "Jab We Met", and it is very interesting for me to start watching Hindi films even if my knowledge of Hindi is very rudimentary!   I have to really struggle to understand and follow the story line (thankfully there are English subtitles!).  However, I am able to make out a lot of the words.  This is very good practice and very motivating to continue learning and getting better!


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## mundiya

Sheikh_14 said:


> With regards to disagreement over how formal your approach should be in my honest opinion I think the divide stems amongst Hindi/Urdu fault-lines. Urdu-phones are far more prone to you use aap-janaab Nawaabii language and can at times find (not necessarily) the do-Tok (straight-shooting) means of conversation employed in Hindi as a bit much. Please and thank you are required as part of Urdu-adab and "tere ko mere ko" would for instance be considered rude, though they are common parlance in Hindi. What i find particularly strange about Hindi-phones is that they employ Hindi very colloquially yet when they switch to English there terms of reference become surprisingly formal. It is beyond me why in a foreign language they would want to appear more polite but it is something you do come across in the Indian business community. LP's comments attest to this quite neatly.
> 
> Hon gaye in the case of oranges suggested that "do you have oranges, per chance" and that is one means you would express interest in their purchase. Darkaar hai is formal Urdu but used without any qualms in fact it would be met with a big wide smile since you are conforming to etiquette which isn't as strong as it once was. With regards to dilaa deN, there are reasons aplenty why they can be used a) we have discussed a nuanced distinction between dilwaanaa and dilaanaa in a recent forum (so here it simply suggests could you get me two tickets please) b) the agent or ticket seller purveys a ticket with the aid of a computer or machine and doesn't simply write one off by hand c) the possibility you have given is one good example on its own.



Well, "tere ko, mere ko" are grammatically wrong, so perhaps you meant "tujh ko, mujh ko". Meanwhile, "darkaar" is a Persian word and not very colloquial in Hindi. Hence the perception of it being very formal.


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## littlepond

Aryaved said:


> Avyashak means essential/required/necessary/urgent/obligatory
> 
> Avyashakta means necessity/requirement
> 
> Interestingly, 'Avashya' is a polite/formal way of saying "of course", "certainly".



The "of course" is "avashya", whereas essential/necessary is "*aa*vashyak"!

Meanwhile, "aavashyak" is hardly used in spoken Hindi: it's extremely heavy (much more than "darkaar"), and in fact many people would laugh at you if you were to use it in daily life. Of course, Marathi has a lot of Sanskritic words, so that's another matter altogether.


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## littlepond

Sheikh_14 said:


> Urdu-phones are far more prone to you use aap-janaab Nawaabii language and can at times find (not necessarily) the do-Tok (straight-shooting) means of conversation employed in Hindi as a bit much. ... What i find particularly strange about Hindi-phones is that they employ Hindi very colloquially yet when they switch to English there terms of reference become surprisingly formal. It is beyond me why in a foreign language they would want to appear more polite but it is something you do come across in the Indian business community.



I agree with you: Urdu is a language more prone to politeness, in fact the most among all the languages that I know of. Since this thread is about Hindi and not Urdu, I however did not see it fit to mention the general _pehle aap_ level prevalent in Urdu.

Meanwhile, the Indian speaker, whether Hindi or Urdu or Marathi or whomsoever, isn't trying to be extraordinarily formal or polite in a foreign language. It's just that our English is a bookish kind of English, since we lack idioms, etc. (or create our own), as English was once a foreign language. We have made it our own, but of course the register remains quite academic (if a speaker from Yorkshire, say, were to hear our register). That's all there is to it.


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## Dib

littlepond said:


> @petercolag
> I agree with Sheikh jii's answers in post no. 5, except for "HoN gaye", which I did not understand in this context.



I think, the intended form was होंगे/ھوں گے .



littlepond said:


> Meanwhile, "aavashyak" is hardly used in spoken Hindi: it's extremely heavy (much more than "darkaar"), and in fact many people would laugh at you if you were to use it in daily life. Of course, Marathi has a lot of Sanskritic words, so that's another matter altogether.



Indeed. I was quite surprised to see Aryaved's claim. I have hardly ever heard aavashyak in spontaneous Hindi speech - almost only if they are mocking formality. Interestingly, in Bengali, joruri (i.e. ज़रूरी/ضروری) means "urgent". And dɔrkar is the normal Bengali word for "need" (and predicatively also "necessary"), though there is only a slightly formal Sanskritic replacement as well - "proyojon" (i.e. प्रयोजन/prayojan). On the other hand, abossɔk (i.e. aavashyak) is probably limited only to formal notices. Then there is abossik (i.e. aavashyik) which means "mandatory". Does this exist in Hindi?



littlepond said:


> Meanwhile, the Indian speaker, whether Hindi or Urdu or Marathi or whomsoever, isn't trying to be extraordinarily formal or polite in a foreign language. It's just that our English is a bookish kind of English, since we lack idioms, etc. (or create our own), as English was once a foreign language. We have made it our own, but of course the register remains quite academic (if a speaker from Yorkshire, say, were to hear our register). That's all there is to it.



Very well put. English is still primarily a written-only language in India, and our register reflects that. In the same way, I - as a non-school learner - find it difficult to use Hindi in formal registers, because to me it is almost exclusively a friend-circle-and-street-language.


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## Aryaved

littlepond said:


> The "of course" is "avashya", whereas essential/necessary is "*aa*vashyak"!
> 
> Meanwhile, "aavashyak" is hardly used in spoken Hindi: it's extremely heavy (much more than "darkaar"), and in fact many people would laugh at you if you were to use it in daily life. Of course, Marathi has a lot of Sanskritic words, so that's another matter altogether.



Thanks for the clarification. I had no idea that aavashyak has more gravity to it than darkaar. When you say spoken Hindi, you mean colloquial usage right? Because I have heard a lot of politicians (Modi, Jaitley, even Scindia, etc) and Zee News/Doordarshan announcers use it a lot. A lot of elders in my family and my local priest here, who is from Himachal Pradesh, also use such high-brow language frequently. Of course, between my friends, it's colloquial to the point where English is preferred over Hindi!


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## Aryaved

Dib said:


> I think, the intended form was होंगे/ھوں گے .
> 
> 
> 
> Indeed. I was quite surprised to see Aryaved's claim. I have hardly ever heard aavashyak in spontaneous Hindi speech - almost only if they are mocking formality. Interestingly, in Bengali, joruri (i.e. ज़रूरी/ضروری) means "urgent". And dɔrkar is the normal Bengali word for "need" (and predicatively also "necessary"), though there is only a slightly formal Sanskritic replacement as well - "proyojon" (i.e. प्रयोजन/prayojan). On the other hand, abossɔk (i.e. aavashyak) is probably limited only to formal notices. Then there is abossik (i.e. aavashyik) which means "mandatory". Does this exist in Hindi?
> 
> 
> 
> Very well put. English is still primarily a written-only language in India, and our register reflects that. In the same way, I - as a non-school learner - find it difficult to use Hindi in formal registers, because to me it is almost exclusively a friend-circle-and-street-language.




I too am a non-school learner of both Marathi and Hindi. Whatever I have learnt was through my family, Sunday School at the temple when I was a kid, Bollywood, and a genuine interest and desire to stay connected to my heritage. My family always stressed a formal register and are concerned with the current state of the languages (Moreso Hindi than Marathi). Moved to the States when I was only 5, so speaking Hindi/Marathi was limited only to the house and the temple. Therefore, that might explain some discrepancy. I only started speaking Hindi regularly when I went to college and saw a HUGE amount of young Indians for the first time.

Slight off topic question for you, just like Bojhpuri speakers, Bengali Z --> J and V-- >B? In Marathi, just like Hindi, B and V as well as J and Z, are clearly differentiated. Interesting. Bengali has always been fascinating to me especially its literary heritage. I see many commonalities with Marathi in this regard.


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## Dib

Aryaved said:


> I too am a non-school learner of both Marathi and Hindi. Whatever I have learnt was through my family, Sunday School at the temple when I was a kid, Bollywood, and a genuine interest and desire to stay connected to my heritage. My family always stressed a formal register and are concerned with the current state of the languages (Moreso Hindi than Marathi). Moved to the States when I was only 5, so speaking Hindi/Marathi was limited only to the house and the temple. Therefore, that might explain some discrepancy. I only started speaking Hindi regularly when I went to college and saw a HUGE amount of young Indians for the first time.



Thank you for explaining your situation. That would indeed likely explain some of the discrepancies.


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## littlepond

Aryaved said:


> I had no idea that aavashyak has more gravity to it than darkaar. When you say spoken Hindi, you mean colloquial usage right? Because I have heard a lot of politicians (Modi, Jaitley, even Scindia, etc) and Zee News/Doordarshan announcers use it a lot.



Many national-level politicians as well as Doordarshan announcers use a very Sanskritic hindi, aryaved jii, not the colloquial version. Modi is overall OK as the guy is a genius in making a connect with several types of people, but some other politicians (or sectarian gurus) use or try to use a very highbrow language.


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## littlepond

petercolag said:


> Thanks also for the film suggestions.   I have started watching "Jab We Met", and it is very interesting for me to start watching Hindi films even if my knowledge of Hindi is very rudimentary!   I have to really struggle to understand and follow the story line (thankfully there are English subtitles!).  However, I am able to make out a lot of the words.  This is very good practice and very motivating to continue learning and getting better!



That's good to hear: watching Hindi films, news, advertisements, short videos (there are plenty on YouTube) is important, as Hindi does not have a lot of good resources as yet to learn it, so what's natural and what's not, you may only be able to learn through such sources. Even if you don't like a particular film or video, it's ok: your objective is to learn Hindi. Though with time you may certainly acquire a taste for them.

Feel free to message me if you need more suggestions.


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