# Hindi: favorite



## amiramir

Hello,

The only theoretically conversational word I can think of is 'pasandida.' I don't often hear it used though (I think in Urdu this wouldn't be the case). 

I thought I'd ask the native speakers if there is a better word or if they just use pasandida (or just 'favorite'?) or sabse pasand vaala?

Context:


Which of the three books is your favorite? --> In teen kitaabon mein se tumhari pasandida (sabse pasand vaali? Does that also work?) kaunsi hai? (Is that correct? I'm not sure if this is just awkwardly translated from English)
Punjabi chhole is my favorite food--> Punjabi chhole mera pasandida khaana hai ?

Lastly, in Urdu (I think. And farsi I think as well), pasandida is written with a h at the end. But in Hindi I tend to see it sans h i.e. पसंदीदा  -- can someone pls confirm?

Thank you for your guidance.


----------



## tonyspeed

I have heard man-pasand, but I can't vouce for its colloquialness.


----------



## Dib

amiramir said:


> Which of the three books is your favorite? --> In teen kitaabon mein se tumhari pasandida (sabse pasand vaali? Does that also work?) kaunsi hai? (Is that correct? I'm not sure if this is just awkwardly translated from English)
> Punjabi chhole is my favorite food--> Punjabi chhole mera pasandida khaana hai ?



One colloquial Hindi option would be:
- in tiin kitaaboN meN se tumheN kaun sii sab se zyaadaa pasand aatii hai?
- khaane meN panjaabii chhole mujhe sab se acche lagte haiN.

"man-pasand" is also coloquially used. But I think its nuance is probably slightly different. I'd say something like - "aaj shaam ko ham baahar jaa kar apnaa man-pasand khaanaa khaaeNge". I'd normally interpret it as "We'll go out this evening, and eat whatever we like" in the sense that whatever takes our fancy at that time, rather than the absolute all-time favorite food. Of course, as usual, I'd love to be corrected or complemented by other more informed members here.


----------



## mundiya

Dib said:


> One colloquial Hindi option would be:
> - in tiin kitaaboN meN se tumheN kaun sii sab se zyaadaa pasand aatii hai?
> - khaane meN panjaabii chhole mujhe sab se acche lagte haiN.
> 
> "man-pasand" is also coloquially used. But I think its nuance is probably slightly different. I'd say something like - "aaj shaam ko ham baahar jaa kar apnaa man-pasand khaanaa khaaeNge". I'd normally interpret it as "We'll go out this evening, and eat whatever we like" in the sense that whatever takes our fancy at that time, rather than the absolute all-time favorite food. Of course, as usual, I'd love to be corrected or complemented by other more informed members here.



Your suggestions are good.


----------



## nizamuddin

other meaning of favorite is approved desirable, chosen, choice, حسب دلخواہ، منظورِ نظر، مقبول، مرغوب دلخواہ


----------



## amiramir

Thank you, Dib, for your suggestions, and mundiya for your comment. Just to be clear, is pasandida definitely not colloquial Hindi? Just wanted to check. Thank you.


----------



## amiramir

Dib said:


> One colloquial Hindi option would be:
> - in tiin kitaaboN meN se tumheN kaun sii sab se zyaadaa pasand aatii hai?
> 
> Another follow up question, please.
> 
> Can one leave out 'aati' here and just say: In tiin kitaaboN meN se tumheN kaun sii sabse zyaada pasand hai?
> 
> (It seems so unwieldy compared to: In tiin kataabon meN se tumhaari favorite kaunsi hai...)
> 
> Thank you again for your time.


----------



## Dib

amiramir said:


> Just to be clear, is pasandida definitely not colloquial Hindi? Just wanted to check.



I won't rule it out. There may be individuals or regions preferring it - I don't know. But normally, it is not as frequent as the other options suggested. But, I do hear (and use) it from time to time. Compare those cases, like mojaa/mozaa vs juraab/jurraab, takyaa vs sirhaanaa, etc. There are regions and individuals who prefer the second in each pair, even though overall they are less common.



amiramir said:


> Can one leave out 'aati' here and just say: In tiin kitaaboN meN se tumheN kaun sii sabse zyaada pasand hai?
> 
> (It seems so unwieldy compared to: In tiin kataabon meN se tumhaari favorite kaunsi hai...)



Yes, you can say that.

On the contrary, it is a very frequent expression. I would guess, no less frequent than using the English "favorite".  And if you consider the whole family of "X ko Y (bahut/sab se zyaadaa)  pasand (aataa) hai", then I am pretty sure, "favorite" won't stand a  chance in frequency, simply because it has no such family to draw upon.


----------



## mundiya

amiramir said:


> Can one leave out 'aati' here and just say: In tiin kitaaboN meN se tumheN kaun sii sabse zyaada pasand hai?
> 
> (It seems so unwieldy compared to: In tiin kataabon meN se tumhaari favorite kaunsi hai...)
> 
> Thank you again for your time.



The Hindi sentence can be translated as: "Which of the three books do you like the most?" This is used in English too.  To me, it's not unwieldy in either language.


----------



## littlepond

"manpasand" does mean favorite: for example, "mera manpasand lekhak dostoyevski hai". "pasandidaa/dii" also exists, but is far less common to my knowledge.


----------



## Alfaaz

amiramir said:
			
		

> The only theoretically conversational word I can think of is 'pasandida.' I don't often hear it used though (I think in Urdu this wouldn't be the case).
> 
> I thought I'd ask the native speakers if there is a better word or if they just use pasandida (or just 'favorite'?) or sabse pasand vaala?


Other forum members will hopefully be able to shed more light on the following suggestion and provide details. Nobody has mentioned it in this thread, but _priya_ seems to be used in some cases in Hindi for English _favorite_ and Urdu _pa﻿sandeedah_. Example: 

_English: Who is your favorite artist?
Urdu: aap ke pasandiidah fankaar kaun haiN?
Hindi: aap ke priya kalaakaar kaun haiN?
_
*Questions:* Can _priya _be used for _favorite_? If not, what meaning would be derived from the example above? 


			
				amiramir said:
			
		

> Lastly, in Urdu (I think. And farsi I think as well), pasandida is written with a h at the end. But in Hindi I tend to see it sans h i.e. पसंदीदा  -- can someone pls confirm?


 Yes. There are multiple threads in the forum about this topic. The majority of Urdu words that end in_ h _(ہ) are usually just represented by _a_ if and when (used/written) in (Hindi/Devanagari).

Relevant threads: 
Urdu, Hindi: Transliteration Conflict
Hindi/Urdu - ziyaadah vs zyaadaa
Hindi/Urdu: final h as exhalation


			
				littlepond said:
			
		

> "pasandidaa/dii" also exists, but is far less common to my knowledge.


 _pasandiidii _doesn't exist...at least as far as Urdu is concerned! 

It remains پسندیدہ - _pasandiidah_ regardless of whether a masculine or feminine object is being described!


----------



## littlepond

^ Yes, "priye" is also there, indeed, though again it is a bit less common in colloquial language. One also uses "pyaari" quite a lot: for example, "aap kii pyaarii vastu kaunsii hai?", though that means fondness more, but of course implies the thing being favourite because of being fond of that thing.

Anyway, indeed "pasandiidii" does not exist in standard Hindi or Urdu; thanks for correcting me! Some speakers do use it though, colloquially.


----------



## Alfaaz

littlepond said:
			
		

> ^ Yes, "priye" is also there, indeed, though again it is a bit less common in colloquial language. One also uses "pyaari" quite a lot: for example, "aap kii pyaarii vastu kaunsii hai?", though that means fondness more, but of course implies the thing being favourite because of being fond of that thing.


 Thanks. Another question: What does _vastu _mean and is it masculine or feminine?


----------



## littlepond

^ "vastu" means "thing" (chiiz), and it is feminine.

http://dsalsrv02.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.1:1:8071.caturvedi


----------



## Alfaaz

^ Thanks for answering and providing the link.


----------



## Jashn

Can we use 'priya' as in the above example, '_aap ke priya kalaakaar kaun haiN?_'? I've only heard 'priya' used more in the context of someone you love, with a meaning similar to 'dear'. Occasionally in formal letter writing, 'priya', is recommended to play the same role of 'Dear (John)'. It can even mean husband (swami/pati) (would post link to such usage in hindi shabdsagar but am not yet able to post links). Hindi is my second language, so this would be news to me.


----------



## littlepond

^ Yes (your sentence should be "aap kaa priye kalaakar kaun hai?" for singular and "aap ke priye kalaakar kaun haiN?" for many artists). See post 12.


----------



## Jashn

Thank you for the confirmation, littlepond.


----------



## amiramir

I was reading a story the other day which was translated from English to Hindi. One character brings the other some cookies. In the English, the recipient of the cookies says, "Thank you. These are my favorites."

In the Hindi, the character says, "तुम्हें धन्यवाद. ये मेरे चेहते (or maybe it was चहेते-- I don't remember) हैं. Does this work as a good translation for 'favorite?' Is it colloquial? Would you have preferred pasandida? 

Thanks.


----------



## littlepond

चहेते is a very excellent choice! (it's slightly stronger than favourites though)


----------



## amiramir

Thanks, lpji. But in the course of normal life, is it idiomatic to say?
- Yeh mera chahetaa khaana hai, or
- Yeh meri sabse chaheti kitaab hai

Or is that awkward/strange? 

Thanks again!


----------



## littlepond

^ Somehow, not for "khaanaa" (though grammatically fine), but yes for "chahetaa phal", etc. Yes, "merii chahetii kitaab" is both correct and well used.


----------



## amiramir

Ok thanks. Will stick with pasandidaa for khaanaa then.


----------



## littlepond

One can also say "mera priye khaanaa": also highly used.


----------



## marrish

Isn't man-pasand an option as well?


----------



## littlepond

marrish said:


> Isn't man-pasand an option as well?



Yes, it is, definitely!


----------



## amiramir

@littlepond, @marrish, @Dib ,

But I thought manpasand is more like what one feels like at a given point in time, as per Dibji's contribution from above:



Dib said:


> "man-pasand" is also coloquially used. But I think its nuance is probably slightly different. I'd say something like - "aaj shaam ko ham baahar jaa kar apnaa man-pasand khaanaa khaaeNge". I'd normally interpret it as "We'll go out this evening, and eat whatever we like" in the sense that whatever takes our fancy at that time, rather than the absolute all-time favorite food. Of course, as usual, I'd love to be corrected or complemented by other more informed members here


----------



## marrish

There's a word 'man-maanii', as in 'man-maanii karnaa' which roughly means to do


Dib said:


> whatever takes our fancy at that time


so to me it seems that it should not be necessarily expanded to 'man-pasand'.

PS. I'm sorry I hadn't read the previous posts well before I joined the discussion.

EDIT: Adding to it from the Urdu perspective, there is a thread about 'soulmate' and "man-pasand fard (=H. vyakti)", and the post copied below might be helpful: (I'll allow myself to add translitetration).


Faylasoof said:


> Well, the Urdu-Urdu meaning of من پسند  _man pasand_ is دل پسند  / پسندیدہ _dil-pasand/pasandiidah_ or even محبوب _maHbuub_, but some modern Urdu dictionaries give جگری دوست , جانی دوست  _jigrii dost, jaanii dost_ as equivalents for _soulmate_.
> 
> Traditionally, من پسند _man pasand_ meant someone / something you really like / love. While a _soulmate_ was best described by Sir Thomas More as someone to whom you feel _profoundly connected_. Not just someone you happen to like a lot.


----------



## amiramir

@marrish 

Ok, thank you. I will feel free to use manpasand then as my everyday equivalent for 'favorite'


----------



## littlepond

"manpasand" is favourite, what I like, not something that takes my fancy at a given point of time. (I had already clarified that in post 10.)


----------



## marrish

amiramir said:


> sabse pasand vaala?
> Context:
> 
> Which of the three books is your favorite? --> In teen kitaabon mein se tumhari pasandida (sabse pasand vaali? Does that also work?) kaunsi hai? (Is that correct? I'm not sure if this is just awkwardly translated from English)


In the first sentence which serves as the context in the opening post there's the question about equivalents/meanings for the adjective 'favourite' in Hindi.

In the sense "the one you like the most [of all]".

The question recurs in the second sentence of the post below, using the word _chahetaa_:


amiramir said:


> Thanks, lpji. But in the course of normal life, is it idiomatic to say?
> - Yeh mera chahetaa khaana hai, or
> - Yeh meri sabse chaheti kitaab hai


Here, 'sab se zyaadaa pasand' has been introduced:


Dib said:


> [...] it is a very frequent expression. I would guess, no less frequent than using the English "favorite". And if you consider the whole family of "X ko Y (bahut/sab se zyaadaa) pasand (aataa) hai", then I am pretty sure, "favorite" won't stand a chance in frequency, simply because it has no such family to draw upon.


So we have these words to chose from so far - and some yet unconfirmed:

sabse pasand [vaalaa?]
sabse manpasand?
sabse pasandiidaa?
pasandiidaa?
priyə
sabse chahetaa?
Re. priyə, could a word like सर्वप्रिय sarvəpriyə, possibly express the needed meaning in this context or is it limited to "loved/liked by all"?

Other way could be the gradation of priyə⟶priyə_tar_⟶priyə_tam_?


----------



## littlepond

If you just say "merii pasandiidaa" among a set of books, it would be understood to be your "most favourite/liked book", though you could of course also say "merii sabse adhik/z(y)aadaa/j(y)aadaa pasandiidaa kitaab". Same goes for "chahetii kitaab", "manpasand kitaab", etc. (Note that "chahetaa" brings an element of something being cherished, so it's a strong word for liking something: emotionally stronger than "favourite".) Of course, one can also say "pasand vaalii", though less frequent. If a word does exist, then using "vaalaa" constructions is a bit lazy and not that elegant Hindi.

One can of course say "priyetam kitaab", though that would be odd in colloquial language: the word "priyetam", though it means the most beloved/favourite, is rarely used in spoken language except playfully (to someone's beloved, for example). On the other hand, "priye" is often used, and one can very well say "yeh merii priye kitaab hai" or "... sabse priye kitaab": the same understanding applies as for "pasandiidaa". One could also use "sarvpriye", meaning the book most liked by me among all books, but, again, it's a heavy word, though less heavy than "priyetam". No need of "sabse" of course with "sarvpriye": that would be redundant.

One could of course also say "yeh kitaab mujhe sabse (adhik/zyaadaa) achchhii lagtii hai": in this sentence, "sabse" is necessary to indicate the "most" part.


----------



## fishcurl

Hi. I do not speak any Hindi, but just happen to know of a website where you can search for equivalents (www.wordhippo.com). Naturally I am unable to say if the information on this site is reliable. Below are the search results for 'favorite' from 'wordhippo', just as a test, and then also to possibly be of help.

Hindi words for favorite

अनुकूल

Anukūla

इष्ट

Iṣṭa

कृपापात्र

Kr̥pāpātra

प्रिय

Priya

प्रियपात्र

Priyapātra

प्रीतिपात्र

Prītipātra

मनभावन

Manabhāvana

स्नेहभाजन

Snēhabhājana


By the way, is 'mahbub' used at all in Hindi, to mean 'favorite' or in some other sense? I ask because this is the word commonly used in Iranian Persian for 'favorite'. Thanks.


----------



## littlepond

^ Thanks for the link, fishcurl jii, but without a context, such lists are meaningless: it can only mislead, in fact, any language learner.

"maihboob" by the way is very much used in Hindi to mean a (male) lover ("maihboobaa" for the female lover). Not for "favourite".


----------



## fishcurl

Thank you, littlepond jii. I suspected as much, about both questions, in fact, but thought I'd risk it, just in case. And, I've just remembered that the word 'mahbub' does denote a 'loved one' in Persian, too!


----------

