Learn Japanese in Hindi: Kana, Particles and Politeness (हिंदी में जापानी सीखें)

The short answer: yes, and Hindi is one of the best places to start Japanese grammar from. Both languages put the verb at the end, and both use postpositions, little words that come after the noun: गलियों को and 路地を do the same job. Hindi speakers also already change their speech for respect (आप, तुम, तू). What's new is the writing (hiragana, katakana and kanji), a topic marker (は) that Hindi doesn't have, and politeness aimed at the person you're talking to, even when you talk about yourself. Learn kana first, which takes weeks rather than months, then build grammar through daily listening. The JLPT, Japan's language exam, is held in India in July and December.

Almost every Japanese course explains Japanese in English. But English puts its words in the opposite order, so an English-medium learner has to rebuild every sentence. A Hindi speaker doesn't. This guide explains Japanese from Hindi: what lines up, where it stops lining up, and how to start.

Same word order: the verb waits for the end

Hindi says मैं चाय पीता हूँ: subject, object, verb. Japanese says 私はお茶を飲みます (watashi wa ocha o nomimasu): subject, object, verb. English, "I drink tea", is the one out of step.

Here is the first line of the song 深夜の自販機 ("the late-night vending machine"), as Soma shows it with Hindi selected:

青白い光が路地を染める
नीली फीकी रोशनी गलियों को रंग देती है

Put them side by side:

That order holds for almost every Japanese sentence you will meet, and it is the single biggest advantage you have.

Particles and postpositions: what matches and what doesn't

Japanese particles (joshi) work like Hindi postpositions: they follow the noun and tell you its role. But they don't map one to one, and this is where most Hindi speakers go wrong, so look carefully:

What the table tells you:

• को covers two particles. It marks the object (को ↔ を) and the person you give to (दोस्त को ↔ 友達に). And Hindi often drops को on objects (चाय पीना), while Japanese keeps を (お茶を飲む).
• में splits in two. Hindi uses घर में both for being at home and for doing something at home. Japanese separates them: 家にいる (I am at home), 家で勉強する (I study at home).
• से splits in two as well: बस से becomes バスで (by bus), दिल्ली से becomes デリーから (from Delhi).
• का changes, の doesn't. राम का शहर, राम की गली, राम के दोस्त: Hindi का/की/के follow the gender and number of the next noun. の never changes.
• ने is not が. ने appears with transitive verbs in their perfective (past) forms (मैंने चाय पी), and the verb then agrees with the object unless the object takes को. が marks the subject in any tense, and Japanese verbs never change for person, number or gender.
• は has no Hindi twin. It marks what the sentence is about: 私は学生です, "as for me, (I) am a student". Soma glosses は as तो, which is close in feeling (मैं तो…), but は is far more frequent than तो.

There is a nice match in the song's second line, too:

自販機だけが起きている
सिर्फ़ वेंडिंग मशीन ही जाग रही है

だけ ("only") sits right after the noun, just like ही.

One more relief: no gender, no agreement. Japanese verbs don't change for I, you, he or she, or for masculine and feminine. 行きます (ikimasu, "go") is the same for everyone, where Hindi needs जाता, जाती or जाते.

Politeness: आप, तुम, तू and です/ます

Hindi puts respect into the pronoun and the verb: आप जाते हैं, तुम जाते हो, तू जाता है. Japanese puts it mostly into the verb ending:

• Polite: 行きます (ikimasu), with です/ます endings. This is what beginners learn first, and it's safe with everyone, like आप. The difference: it is politeness toward your listener, so you use it even about yourself. Hindi मैं जाता हूँ has no polite form; Japanese 私は行きます does.
• Plain: 行く (iku), for friends and family, roughly where तुम lives. Japanese has no exact तू.
• Names instead of "you". Japanese often avoids あなた ("you") altogether and uses the person's name with さん: シャルマさん, very much like शर्मा जी.
• Later: keigo. Special verbs raise the other person or lower yourself: いらっしゃいます (honorific "go, come, be") and 参ります (humble "go, come"). Leave these until after N5.

Sounds: mostly easy for Hindi speakers

Japanese has five vowels, close to a short आ, इ, उ, ए and ओ (Japanese あ is a full a, not the Hindi अ of कम), and most of its consonants exist in Hindi. A few tips:

• Length matters. おばさん (obasan, aunt) and おばあさん (obāsan, grandmother) differ only in length: in the second, hold the a twice as long.
• Double consonants are a short pause. きて (kite, "come") and きって (kitte, a stamp): you already do this in पक्का and बच्चा.
• Use त and द, not ट and ड. Japanese た and だ are made with the tongue against the teeth, like Hindi त and द. Many Hindi speakers use ट and ड for English t and d; don't carry that habit into Japanese.
• No aspiration needed. Japanese doesn't use ख, घ or थ to tell words apart, so a plain क, ग or त is right.
• The new ones: つ (tsu, "त्सु") and ふ (fu, between फ़ and ह, made with both lips). The ら row (ra, ri, ru, re, ro) is easy: a single light tap, like Hindi र, never rolled.
• Pitch. はし means chopsticks or bridge depending on the pitch. You'll pick it up by listening, not from a table.

Kana first

Japanese uses three scripts together, and the song shows all of them: kanji for meaning (自販機, vending machine), hiragana for grammar and native words (だけ), and katakana for borrowed words (コーヒー, coffee; ボタン, button; ビル, building).

Start with hiragana, then katakana: 46 basic characters each, about one to two weeks for each with daily practice. One thing will feel familiar: the kana chart runs a, i, u, e, o, then ka, ki, ku…, an order believed to follow the order of Sanskrit sounds: the vowels as in अ इ उ ए ओ, then the consonant rows in the order क च त न प म य र व.

Kanji come gradually, inside words you already hear. Soma shows Japanese as it is written, in kanji and kana, with no furigana or romaji, so it's for you once you can read kana.

Listen with Hindi under every line

The fastest way to build an ear is Japanese you can almost follow, with the meaning right under it. In Soma's player, tap any word for its Hindi meaning: tap 路地 and you get "गलियारा, तंग गली". Tap a particle and you get its nearest Hindi word (を gives को, の gives का, に gives में). Treat those as hints: as the table above shows, no particle maps one to one.

The songs are made with AI for learners, and every lyric is checked by people. You can slow a song down, or switch the vocals off and sing.

The JLPT in India

The Japanese-Language Proficiency Test has five levels, from N5, the easiest ("the ability to understand some basic Japanese"), to N1, the most difficult. Every level has a Listening section.

• Where: in 2026, the JLPT's list of test cities in India is New Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru and Karur, with tests in July and December, plus Santiniketan in July only.
• Free practice: the official site has sample questions organized by level, from N1 to N5.
• Soma doesn't do mock tests. What it adds is listening, the section that a grammar-only plan neglects.

A rough path to N5, about an hour a day (an estimate; your hours decide):

1. Weeks 1–4: hiragana and katakana, and greetings.
2. Months 2–4: です/ます sentences, the particles above, ten words a day in spaced repetition (see how to learn a language with spaced repetition), and daily listening.
3. Months 5–6: the official sample questions, then timed practice.

Comparing tools for each job (kana, kanji, the JLPT)? See the best app to learn Japanese.

Learn Japanese in Hindi with Soma

Choose Hindi in Soma and Japanese is explained in Hindi everywhere:

• Songs: original Japanese songs written for learners, sung word by word in karaoke, with the Hindi translation under every line and a Hindi meaning on every word you tap.
• Stories and dialogues at three levels. In a dialogue you can take a part and answer aloud.
• Shadowing: say each sentence back and get your pronunciation scored word by word against Japanese (ja-JP), on the Pro and Max plans.
• YouTube Learn: paste a Japanese YouTube video and it becomes a lesson: translate any phrase and save it.
• One review that brings back every word and line you saved before you forget it.

The menus switch to Hindi too. The free plan includes one language with every song, story and picture in it; if Japanese is your one language, you get all of its Japanese. Soma runs in any browser on your phone or computer; native iOS and Android apps are coming soon. More on learning with songs: best apps to learn a language through music.

Frequently asked questions

Kya Hindi se Japanese seekh sakte hain? Haan. Hindi aur Japanese dono mein verb sentence ke end mein aata hai, aur dono mein postpositions hote hain: "ghar mein" ki tarah Japanese mein "ie de" (家で). Pehle hiragana aur katakana seekhiye, phir grammar aur roz listening.

JLPT N5 kitne time mein ho jata hai? Yeh aapke ghanton par depend karta hai. Kana ke liye 2 se 4 hafte rakhiye, phir N5 grammar, roz ke 10 naye words aur roz listening. Jo app kuch hi hafton mein level ka vaada kare, usse saavdhaan rahiye.

Is Japanese hard for Hindi speakers? The scripts take the most time, especially kanji. The grammar is easier for Hindi speakers than for English speakers, because the word order and the postpositions line up. Watch the places where they don't: में splits into に and で, and ने is not が.

Does Soma show furigana or romaji? Not yet. Lyrics and stories are in Japanese script, kanji and kana, and a tap on any word gives its meaning in Hindi. Learn hiragana and katakana first.

Where can I take the JLPT in India? In 2026, the official list of Indian test cities is New Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Karur and Santiniketan. Most hold the test in July and December; Santiniketan holds it in July only. Check jlpt.jp for the current list.

Can I learn Japanese in Hindi for free? Yes. The JLPT's sample questions are free, and Soma is free for one language, with all its Japanese songs, stories and pictures explained in Hindi.

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Try Soma free. Hear Japanese in songs, stories and real YouTube videos, with every line and word explained in Hindi and kept with spaced repetition. Play 深夜の自販機 first, no sign-in needed, then start at app.soma.ninja; plans are on the pricing page.

Drafted with AI, edited and fact-checked by a human.