# Hindi: Seasons in colloquial language



## amiramir

I would appreciate your help regarding seasons. There are quite a few options-- for example, for Spring, we have: basant, vasant, bahaar, and many others. My family just uses them all in English while speaking Hindi. What is a normal colloquial way of naming the seasons. (for summer: do people really say, garmiyon mein...? Or do they use the singular: garmi mein...? Or is there some more normal way?)

Maybe I'm off base , but perhaps given the climate in the subcontinent, separating the year into winter, spring, summer, and fall/autumn isn't the traditional way of looking at the weather. I don't know. I'm not arguing that either way, but it was just a thought. 

Thank you


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## littlepond

These are the colloquialisms for me in Hindi from my experience, noting that "summer" and "winter" - the English words - are also now very much part of the Hindi vocab:

spring - basant
summer - garmiyaaN (and hence garmiyoN meN), summer
rainy season - barsaat/baarish kaa mausam, maunsoon, paanii ke din, baarish ke din (hence baarish ke dinoN meN)
autumn - patjhaR
winter - jaaRaa (hence jaaRo/jaaRe meN*), sardiyoN ke din, winter

* A 40-day period in winter in northern India, when sun is rarely sighted and it's very cold (Dec.-Jan.), is called as "chillaa jaaRe".


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## amiramir

This is fascinating, thanks. I have never come across the words for autumn and winter before, so that was very enlightening.


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## mundiya

littlepond said:


> These are the colloquialisms for me in Hindi from my experience, noting that "summer" and "winter" - the English words - are also now very much part of the Hindi vocab:
> 
> spring - basant
> summer - garmiyaaN (and hence garmiyoN meN), summer
> rainy season - barsaat/baarish kaa mausam, maunsoon, paanii ke din, baarish ke din (hence baarish ke dinoN meN)
> autumn - patjhaR
> winter - jaaRaa (hence jaaRo/jaaRe meN*), sardiyoN ke din, winter
> 
> * A 40-day period in winter in northern India, when sun is rarely sighted and it's very cold (Dec.-Jan.), is called as "chillaa jaaRe".



No doubt "patjhaR" is common, but don't you feel "sharad" is used more?


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## amiramir

mundiya said:


> No doubt "patjhaR" is common, but don't you feel "sharad" is used more?



For what it's worth, I bought a Hindi book about the seasons for my infant daughter, and the book only uses sharad for autumn. In fact, it disagrees with the first respondant on everything except basant. For winter and summer it uses the singular sardi (meN) and garmi (meN) , not the plural forms as was suggested. 


Are the singular forms more common? 


Also, there are a lot of words for season in the dictionary, which do you think is most common in spoken Hindi? Thank you all.


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## mundiya

amiramir said:


> For what it's worth, I bought a Hindi book about the seasons for my infant daughter, and the book only uses sharad for autumn. In fact, it disagrees with the first respondant on everything except basant. For winter and summer it uses the singular sardi (meN) and garmi (meN) , not the plural forms as was suggested.
> 
> 
> Are the singular forms more common?
> 
> 
> Also, there are a lot of words for season in the dictionary, which do you think is most common in spoken Hindi? Thank you all.



Both forms are common.  They are usually interchangeable in this context.

"mausam" is the most common.

EDIT: Examples - garmii, sardii


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## tonyspeed

mundiya said:


> Both forms are common.  They are usually interchangeable in this context.
> 
> "mausam" is the most common.
> 
> EDIT: Examples - garmii, sardii




Could garmiyoN meN be referring to the months themselves? Like saying "the cold/hot ones (months)"


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## bakshink

sharad for autumn is wrong- sharad ritu means winter "ritu" hindi word for season, so we can or should say basant ritu, sharad ritu and so on but ritu is often dropped. BTW ritu is also called rut in Punjabi and hindi. Summer in shuddh hindi is Greeshm ritu and winter sheet ritu or sharad ritu. Ritu used in a Hindi song...Maang mein bhar le rang sakhi ri, aanchal bhar le taare, milan rut aa gayee. Put colour in your hair ( here it means sindhoor in the hair parting) O friend, put stars in your "duppatta" corner of "pallu"- the season of meeting has arrived.


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## bakshink

Basant is also known as Madhu-maas ( Month of honey) or Madhu rut- Season of Honey


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## mundiya

tonyspeed said:


> Could garmiyoN meN be referring to the months themselves? Like saying "the cold/hot ones (months)"



I think that's a logical explanation.


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## mundiya

bakshink said:


> sharad for autumn is wrong- sharad ritu means winter



"sharad" means autumn not winter.  I'm surprised you didn't know this.


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## littlepond

I have never used "sharad", mundiya jii, except in the festival name "sharad purNRimaa": and since the festival is the beginning of the autumn, it must mean "autumn". However, many Hindi speakers think "sharad" is winter: owing maybe to the "sh" also found in "sheet" and since, at least among the Hindi speakers I have met, it is not used.
As far as "ritu" is concerned, it is a literary word: I didn't mention it as the opening post wants colloquial words.

The plural usage is far more common for summer and winter, btw.


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## bakshink

*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharad
Sharad* (Sanskrit: शरद्) is the early autumn season in the Hindu calendar. It roughly corresponds to the western months  of mid-September to mid-November. Sharad is preceded by Varsha and  followed by Hemant. The Hindu calendar contains six seasons (Vasant, Grishma, Varsha, *Sharad*, Hemant, Shishir) with two months each.

thanks for telling me


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## desi4life

It's amazing that there are so many possible options for the season names.

I didn't know there were six seasons.


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## littlepond

^ In reality, I don't even find much of autumn and spring in most of India. I wonder what era had _six_​ seasons!


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## tonyspeed

littlepond said:


> ^ In reality, I don't even find much of autumn and spring in most of India. I wonder what era had _six_​ seasons!



It may have to do more with the time certain crops are harvested, rather than actual drastic weather changes.


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## mundiya

4 or 5 seasons (counting monsoon) is the norm now in my view.


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