संस्कृत → हिन्दी
Sanskrit to Hindi
Hindi grew out of Sanskrit, so the two share thousands of words — some unchanged, some worn into new shapes. This page shows how Sanskrit words became Hindi words, gives everyday sentences with their Hindi meaning, and explains how to translate on your own.
Tatsam and tadbhav: how Sanskrit words became Hindi
Hindi grammarians sort its vocabulary into four groups. तत्सम (tatsama, "same as that") words came into Hindi from Sanskrit unchanged — पुस्तक, विद्यालय, नदी, सूर्य. तद्भव (tadbhava, "born from that") words also come from Sanskrit, but were reshaped over many centuries of everyday speech, through Prakrit and Apabhramsha, before reaching modern Hindi. The other two groups are देशज (local words) and विदेशी (borrowed from Persian, Arabic, English and others).
The changes follow recognisable patterns: conjunct consonants simplify (हस्त → हाथ, दुग्ध → दूध), kṣ often becomes kh (क्षेत्र → खेत), and nasal sounds slide into the vowel (दन्त → दाँत, ग्राम → गाँव). Once you spot the pattern, you can often guess the Sanskrit original of an everyday Hindi word.
Sanskrit word → Hindi word (tatsam → tadbhav)
| Sanskrit (तत्सम) | Hindi (तद्भव) | English |
| अग्नि | आग | fire |
| कर्म | काम | work, action |
| हस्त | हाथ | hand |
| दुग्ध | दूध | milk |
| दधि | दही | curd |
| क्षेत्र | खेत | field |
| ग्राम | गाँव | village |
| सूर्य | सूरज | sun |
| चन्द्र | चाँद | moon |
| कर्ण | कान | ear |
| मुख | मुँह | mouth |
| दन्त | दाँत | tooth |
| ओष्ठ | होंठ | lip |
| गृह | घर | house |
| दीपक | दीया | lamp |
| मयूर | मोर | peacock |
| उष्ट्र | ऊँट | camel |
| कूप | कुआँ | well |
| रात्रि | रात | night |
| अद्य | आज | today |
| सप्त | सात | seven |
| अष्ट | आठ | eight |
| शत | सौ | hundred |
| भ्रातृ | भाई | brother |
| श्वशुर | ससुर | father-in-law |
| आम्र | आम | mango |
| पुष्प | फूल | flower |
20 everyday Sanskrit sentences with Hindi meaning
Simple present-tense sentences — the kind you meet in the first weeks of learning.
| Sanskrit | Hindi |
| अहं गच्छामि। | मैं जाता/जाती हूँ। |
| त्वं कुत्र गच्छसि? | तुम कहाँ जा रहे हो? |
| भवतः नाम किम्? | आपका नाम क्या है? |
| मम नाम रामः। | मेरा नाम राम है। |
| सः पुस्तकं पठति। | वह किताब पढ़ता है। |
| बालिका गीतं गायति। | लड़की गीत गाती है। |
| वयं विद्यालयं गच्छामः। | हम विद्यालय जाते हैं। |
| माता भोजनं पचति। | माँ खाना पकाती है। |
| गौः दुग्धं ददाति। | गाय दूध देती है। |
| वृक्षात् पत्रं पतति। | पेड़ से पत्ता गिरता है। |
| छात्राः पठन्ति। | छात्र पढ़ते हैं। |
| अहं संस्कृतं वदामि। | मैं संस्कृत बोलता/बोलती हूँ। |
| कृपया उपविशतु। | कृपया बैठिए। |
| जलं पिबतु। | पानी पीजिए। |
| सः मम मित्रम् अस्ति। | वह मेरा मित्र है। |
| अद्य अहं गृहे अस्मि। | आज मैं घर पर हूँ। |
| रामः वनं गच्छति। | राम वन जाता है। |
| एषः मम भ्राता। | यह मेरा भाई है। |
| भवान् कथम् अस्ति? | आप कैसे हैं? |
| अहं कुशली अस्मि। | मैं ठीक हूँ। |
Where Sanskrit and Hindi grammar differ
| Sanskrit | Hindi | |
| Genders | 3 — पुंलिङ्ग, स्त्रीलिङ्ग, नपुंसकलिङ्ग (neuter) | 2 — पुल्लिंग, स्त्रीलिंग |
| Numbers | 3 — एकवचन, द्विवचन (dual), बहुवचन | 2 — एकवचन, बहुवचन |
| Cases | 8 vibhaktis, shown by word endings (रामेण, रामाय) | Postpositions after the word (राम ने, राम के लिए) |
| Verb | Ending shows person and number (गच्छामि, गच्छसि, गच्छति) | Helper verbs (जाता हूँ, जाते हो, जाता है) |
| Word order | Free — endings carry the meaning | Mostly fixed: subject – object – verb |
How to translate Sanskrit into Hindi, step by step
- Find the verb first. It is usually at the end, and its ending tells you who is doing the action: -āmi = मैं, -asi = तुम, -ati = वह.
- Read the endings of the nouns. The ending tells you the role — -ḥ/-m for the doer or object, -ena = से/के द्वारा, -āya = के लिए, -āt = से (from), -e = में/पर. The full chart is on the Vibhakti page.
- Split joined words. Sanskrit runs words together by sandhi: नास्ति = न + अस्ति ("is not"), विद्यालयः = विद्या + आलयः ("house of learning").
- Rebuild the sentence in Hindi order — subject, object, verb — and add the postpositions Hindi needs.
For individual words, use the Sanskrit dictionary on this site, which gives Hindi and English meanings side by side. The same comparison for other languages: Sanskrit to Gujarati, Marathi, Bengali.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between tatsam and tadbhav words?
Tatsam words entered Hindi from Sanskrit unchanged (पुस्तक, नदी). Tadbhav words also come from Sanskrit but changed shape over time (हस्त → हाथ, दुग्ध → दूध).
Is Hindi derived from Sanskrit?
Hindi descends from Sanskrit through the Prakrit and Apabhramsha stages of Indo-Aryan, and draws a large part of its vocabulary from Sanskrit. It also borrowed heavily from Persian, Arabic and English.
How do you say 'What is your name?' in Sanskrit?
भवतः नाम किम्? (bhavataḥ nāma kim?) to a man, and भवत्याः नाम किम्? (bhavatyāḥ nāma kim?) to a woman.
Why does Sanskrit have a dual number?
Sanskrit keeps a separate form for exactly two of something (द्विवचन), inherited from older Indo-European. Hindi, like most modern languages, lost it and uses only singular and plural.