For my Week 4 and 5 tasks about transportation, there are many different language structures that I will need to learn in order to successfully ask for directions, hail a taxi, describe a location, etc.
The first is word order in statements and questions. I know that in Hindi, statements follow a subject-object-verb order. I am unsure about questions, although I know that the question word always begins the sentence. For this, I have been using online Hindi grammar sites and hope to use the grammar reference book in the Global Studio when it is available.
Second, I will need to remember to pluralize sentences when talking about quantities of money, kilometers, etc. Hindi is different than English in that verbs and adjectives must be pluralized when talking about multiple things. I know that this usually means ending each word in "eh", but for exceptions I will need to look them up online or in the reference book. This will be important when I am trying to describe the place I need to go, as addresses and street names are used less often.
Eventually, I will need to learn the prefixes and suffixes involved in changing verb tense. I remember that verb stems generally stay the same in Hindi while new syllables are added to them to change the tense of the verb. It may be important to become familiar with these changes in order to understand the answers given to me in a conversation, even if I can't use them fluently myself.
I think understanding grammar rules will be essential for me to remember phrases and words. I don't have the best memory for vocabulary, so I prefer to know the grammar rules involved in a phrase so I can reconstruct the sentence during a conversation - or deconstruct a phrase that I hear and deduce its meaning.
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