Read chapter 1 free

चौक का छोटा कैफ़े

The Little Café in Chowk

A newcomer inherits a tiny family café and plans to leave. A stubborn local recipe and the regulars slowly turn it into home. Start from absolute zero Hindi.

Chapter 1A1

दरवाज़ा खुला है

The Door Is Open

Before you read
है, हैं, and हूँ

है means 'is', used for one thing or one person, like a café or a door. हूँ means 'am', used only with मैं (I). हैं means 'are', and it is also the respectful form for आप or an elder, like दादी or शांता जी, even when there is only one of them.

में and पर

में means 'in', for something inside a place: कैफ़े में, रसोई में. पर means 'on', for something on top of a surface: मेज़ पर. Both come right after the word for the place, never before it.

का, की, and के

का, की, and के all mean 'of' or show that something belongs to someone, like the English 's. Use का before a masculine singular word (दादी का कैफ़े), की before a feminine word (दादी की मेज़), and के before a masculine plural word (दादी के कप).

जी shows respect

Add जी after someone's name to show respect, especially for an elder: शांता जी, not just शांता. A person with जी after their name also takes हैं, the respectful form of 'is': शांता जी यहाँ हैं।

Chapter 1 complete

Keep reading The Little Café in Chowk in Storyglot.

The app adds the rest of the story, saved words, reading progress, and synchronized Azure narration.

Download on the App Store Not available in your region yet? Get a launch email.

About this story

The Little Café in Chowk is an A1 Hindi reader.

A newcomer inherits a tiny family café and plans to leave. A stubborn local recipe and the regulars slowly turn it into home. Start from absolute zero Hindi.

This free chapter contains 58 learner-friendly sentences. The complete book has 10 chapters.

Browse all Hindi stories