When to use it
Use it when you tell a host or cooking teacher in India that you would like to learn to cook traditional food (women say ‘चाहती हूँ’).
The sentence in English: “I want to learn to cook traditional dishes.”
In “I want to learn to cook traditional dishes.” the verbs go in a chain from left to right: ‘want’, then ‘to learn’, then ‘to cook’, each new verb introduced by ‘to’. ‘dishes’ is plural, with the adjective ‘traditional’ before it.
- I
- pronounpersonal pronoun, always written with a capital letter
- want
- verbwant · tense: present · person: first · number: singular · followed by "to" + verb
- to
- particleinfinitive marker before the verb
- learn
- verblearn · form: base form (infinitive without "to") · after "to"
- to
- particleinfinitive marker before the verb
- cook
- verbcook · form: base form (infinitive without "to") · after "to"
- traditional
- adjectiveadjective
- dishes
- nounplural noun; prepared food
The sentence in Hindi: “मैं पारंपरिक व्यंजन बनाना सीखना चाहता हूँ।”
In “मैं पारंपरिक व्यंजन बनाना सीखना चाहता हूँ।” the chain runs the other way: ‘बनाना’ (to make), then ‘सीखना’ (to learn), then ‘चाहता हूँ’ (I want) at the end. Infinitives end in ‘-ना’. ‘चाहता’ is masculine; a woman would say ‘चाहती हूँ’.
- मैं
- pronounpronoun 'I'
- पारंपरिक
- adjectiveadjective 'traditional'
- व्यंजन
- nounmasculine noun 'dish'
- बनाना
- verbबनाना · form: infinitive · 'to make/cook', the object of सीखना
- सीखना
- verbसीखना · form: infinitive · 'to learn', the object of चाहना
- चाहता
- verbचाहना · aspect: imperfective · gender: masculine · number: singular · 'want'; a woman would say चाहती
- हूँ
- auxiliary verbहोना · tense: present · person: 1st · number: singular · हूँ goes with मैं
What changes from one language to the other: English × Hindi
The order of the three verbs is reversed: English starts with ‘want’, Hindi ends with it. English marks infinitives with ‘to’, Hindi with the ending ‘-ना’, and the Hindi verb also shows the speaker's gender.
Example conversation
— मैं पारंपरिक व्यंजन बनाना सीखना चाहता हूँ।
— I want to learn to cook traditional dishes.
— मेरी दादी आपको दाल और रोटी बनाना सिखा सकती हैं।
— My grandmother can teach you dal and roti.