Sentence Structure
Hard Rule
In Hindi, the verb always goes at the end of the sentence.
Soft Rule
Sentences in Hindi are generally in the form SOV (Subject + Object + Verb).
This is unlike sentences in English which take the form SVO (Subject + Verb + Object).
Let’s illustrate the difference with an example.
English:
(Subject + Verb + Object)
“Ken read the book.”
Annotated with the parts of speech:
Ken (S) read (V) the book (O).
Hindi:
(Subject + Object + Verb)
“Ken ne kitaab parhee.”
Annotated with the parts of speech:
Ken (S) ne kitaab (O) parhee (V).
Subjects, Objects, and Verbs
Subject
The subject identifies the person or thing that is being discussed in a sentence. The subject can be a noun or a pronoun. Every sentence has one main subject, and it is used at the beginning of the sentence. It controls the verb in the sentence and conveys who or what the sentence is about.
Object
The object identifies the person or thing that the subject is performing the verb action upon. The subject is the ‘doer’ of the action, and the object is acted upon. Similar to the subject, the object can be a noun or pronoun.
Verb
The verb is the action being performed by the subject.