20 Easy Sanskrit Words With Hindi Meaning
Twenty everyday Sanskrit words with transliteration, Hindi and English meaning, their gender, and simple sample sentences for beginners.
By Sanskritam Academy Editorial TeamPublished 4 min read
A beginner does not need thousands of words. A small set of common nouns, learnt properly with their gender and used in sentences, is enough to start reading and speaking simple Sanskrit. The twenty words below are all things you see or use every day, and most of them will look familiar if you know Hindi.
The 20 words
The words are given in the form in which they appear in a dictionary or textbook, the nominative singular. The gender is shown in brackets after the transliteration: m. for masculine, f. for feminine and n. for neuter.
| Sanskrit | Transliteration | Hindi meaning | English meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| जलम् | jalam (n.) | पानी | water |
| फलम् | phalam (n.) | फल | fruit |
| पुस्तकम् | pustakam (n.) | किताब | book |
| गृहम् | gṛham (n.) | घर | house, home |
| विद्यालयः | vidyālayaḥ (m.) | विद्यालय, स्कूल | school |
| माता | mātā (f.) | माँ | mother |
| पिता | pitā (m.) | पिता | father |
| मित्रम् | mitram (n.) | मित्र, दोस्त | friend |
| सूर्यः | sūryaḥ (m.) | सूरज | sun |
| चन्द्रः | candraḥ (m.) | चाँद | moon |
| वृक्षः | vṛkṣaḥ (m.) | पेड़ | tree |
| पुष्पम् | puṣpam (n.) | फूल | flower |
| नदी | nadī (f.) | नदी | river |
| अग्निः | agniḥ (m.) | आग | fire |
| वायुः | vāyuḥ (m.) | हवा | wind, air |
| हस्तः | hastaḥ (m.) | हाथ | hand |
| नेत्रम् | netram (n.) | आँख | eye |
| दुग्धम् | dugdham (n.) | दूध | milk |
| नगरम् | nagaram (n.) | शहर | city, town |
| गुरुः | guruḥ (m.) | गुरु, शिक्षक | teacher |
What the endings tell you
Look at how the words end. This is the most useful habit a beginner can form, because the ending usually shows the gender.
- Words ending in -अः (-aḥ), such as सूर्यः, वृक्षः and हस्तः, are masculine.
- Words ending in -अम् (-am), such as जलम्, फलम् and पुस्तकम्, are neuter.
- Words ending in -ई (-ī), such as नदी, are generally feminine.
- अग्निः ends in -इः and वायुः and गुरुः end in -उः. These are masculine too, but they change their endings differently from words like सूर्यः.
- माता and पिता come from the stems मातृ (mātṛ) and पितृ (pitṛ). Family words of this kind follow their own pattern.
मित्रम् is a well-known surprise. When it means 'friend' it is neuter, whether the friend is a boy or a girl. The masculine मित्रः (mitraḥ) is a name of the sun.
From Sanskrit to Hindi
Many Hindi words are Sanskrit words used unchanged, with only the case ending dropped: फलम् becomes फल, नदी stays नदी. Others have changed shape over the centuries as they passed through the Prakrit languages into modern speech.
| Sanskrit | Hindi | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| हस्तः (hastaḥ) | हाथ | hand |
| दुग्धम् (dugdham) | दूध | milk |
| गृहम् (gṛham) | घर | house |
| अग्निः (agniḥ) | आग | fire |
| चन्द्रः (candraḥ) | चाँद | moon |
Noticing such pairs makes new Sanskrit words much easier to remember. The relationship between Sanskrit and the Prakrits is discussed in Sanskrit vs Prakrit.
Sample sentences
A word is only really learnt when you can use it. Here are short sentences using the words above. Notice that the object of the action often ends in -म् (written as an anusvāra before a consonant): पुस्तकम् stays as it is, while विद्यालयः becomes विद्यालयम्.
| Sanskrit | Transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| अहं जलं पिबामि। | ahaṃ jalaṃ pibāmi | I drink water. |
| बालकः पुस्तकं पठति। | bālakaḥ pustakaṃ paṭhati | The boy reads a book. |
| अहं विद्यालयं गच्छामि। | ahaṃ vidyālayaṃ gacchāmi | I go to school. |
| एतत् मम गृहम् अस्ति। | etat mama gṛham asti | This is my house. |
| मम माता गृहे अस्ति। | mama mātā gṛhe asti | My mother is at home. |
| रामः मम मित्रम् अस्ति। | rāmaḥ mama mitram asti | Rāma is my friend. |
| बालिका दुग्धं पिबति। | bālikā dugdhaṃ pibati | The girl drinks milk. |
| वृक्षे फलानि सन्ति। | vṛkṣe phalāni santi | There are fruits on the tree. |
| नदी वहति। | nadī vahati | The river flows. |
| गुरुः पाठयति। | guruḥ pāṭhayati | The teacher teaches. |
In गृहे (in the house) and वृक्षे (on the tree) the ending -ए shows location. In फलानि the ending -आनि shows the plural of a neuter word. These changes are case endings, the first big topic of Sanskrit grammar.
How to remember new words
- Say each word aloud three times while looking at the object or a picture of it.
- Write the word once in Devanagari and once in transliteration.
- Make one sentence of your own with it, however simple.
- Revise the list the next day and again after a week.
- Group words by gender when you revise; it makes the grammar easier later.
Where to go next
Once these twenty words are comfortable, add another set by theme: food, animals, parts of the body, numbers. A longer themed list is given in Sanskrit Vocabulary for Everyday Learning. If you would like to practise using words in conversation with a teacher, the Spoken Sanskrit course is built around exactly this kind of everyday vocabulary.