A Door Into Hindi: Lesson 18

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18.2	Hopes, fears, beliefs, feelings

Hindi has several ways of expressing hope:

The rest of the sentence will most likely be in the subjunctive (optative) or future tense.

Likewise, Hindi has several ways of expressing fear or worry:

The rest of the sentence will most likely be in the future tense.

The word कहीं (literally “somewhere”) can also be used in a negated sentence with the sense of “I’m afraid…”

कहीं लोग हमें देख न लें।	[I’m afraid] people will see us.
कहीं अम्मी मेरा इन्तज़ार न कर रही हों ।	[I’m afraid] Mom may be waiting for me.
कहीं ऐसा न हो कि …	[I’m afraid] that …

Note that the verb in such sentences is normally in subjunctive, and the negation particle is shortened to न .

Learn these expressions for belief:

To express “believing in X,” use “X पर” with any of the above expressions.

मुझे तुम पर भरोसा है।

I believe in you.

Note also the following expressions for feelings:

मुझे महसूस हो रहा है कि …	I am feeling that...
मुझे महसूस होता है कि …	I feel that...
कौन मेरी दुख का महसूस कर सकता है?	Who can feel my pain?
मेरे प्यार को महसूस करो।	Feel my love.