This original dialogue takes place between a traveler and a shopkeeper. It shows how Hindi speakers establish an orientation point with यहाँ से, build a route through successive commands, and use a visible landmark to identify a destination. The exchange is polite but ordinary, not ceremonially formal; the core route frames are collected on travel, directions, and transport.
Directions are especially sensitive to information order. Hindi normally gives a starting point, a path, a turning point, and then a landmark. English speakers must also resist moving postpositions before their nouns: Hindi says बैंक के सामने, literally “bank of-front,” not an English-order equivalent of in front of the bank.
The complete original dialogue
यात्री: माफ़ कीजिए, ज़रा बताइए, मेट्रो स्टेशन किस तरफ़ है? — दुकानदार: यहाँ से सीधे जाइए। दूसरे चौराहे पर बाएँ मुड़िए। — यात्री: क्या वह पैदल दूर है? — दुकानदार: नहीं, बस पाँच मिनट लगेंगे। चौराहा पार करने के बाद दाईं ओर एक बैंक दिखेगा। — यात्री: बैंक के सामने? — दुकानदार: नहीं। बैंक के ठीक बगल में स्टेशन का प्रवेश-द्वार है। — यात्री: क्या मुझे सड़क पार करनी होगी? — दुकानदार: हाँ, लेकिन सिग्नल से पार कीजिएगा। — यात्री: बहुत-बहुत धन्यवाद। — दुकानदार: कोई बात नहीं।
yātrī: māf kījie, zarā batāie, meṭro sṭeśan kis taraf hai? — dukāndār: yahā̃ se sīdhe jāie. dūsre caurāhe par bāẽ muṛie. — yātrī: kyā vah paidal dūr hai? — dukāndār: nahīṃ, bas pā̃c minaṭ lageṅge. caurāhā pār karne ke bād dāīṃ or ek baiṅk dikhegā. — yātrī: baiṅk ke sāmne? — dukāndār: nahīṃ. baiṅk ke ṭhīk bagal meṃ sṭeśan kā praveś-dvār hai. — yātrī: kyā mujhe saṛak pār karnī hogī? — dukāndār: hā̃, lekin signal se pār kījiegā. — yātrī: bahut-bahut dhanyavād. — dukāndār: koī bāt nahīṃ.
Traveler: Excuse me, could you tell me which way the metro station is? — Shopkeeper: Go straight from here. Turn left at the second intersection. — Traveler: Is it far on foot? — Shopkeeper: No, it will take only five minutes. After crossing the intersection, you'll see a bank on the right. — Traveler: Opposite the bank? — Shopkeeper: No. The station entrance is right next to the bank. — Traveler: Will I have to cross the road? — Shopkeeper: Yes, but please cross at the signal. — Traveler: Thank you very much. — Shopkeeper: You're welcome.
The speakers do not name every subject. The shopkeeper's commands have an understood respectful आप, and बैंक के सामने? inherits “the station entrance is” from the question being resolved. These omissions make the exchange efficient without making it abrupt.
Lines 1–2: opening and anchoring the route
माफ़ कीजिए, ज़रा बताइए, मेट्रो स्टेशन किस तरफ़ है?
māf kījie, zarā batāie, meṭro sṭeśan kis taraf hai?
Excuse me, could you tell me which way the metro station is? (polite neutral)
माफ़ कीजिए literally asks someone to forgive the interruption, but in public interaction it functions like excuse me. ज़रा बताइए softens the request by presenting the telling as a small favor. The respectful imperatives match the social distance between strangers. किस तरफ़ asks “on which side/in which direction”; unlike कहाँ, it invites a route orientation rather than only a place name.
The word order is मेट्रो स्टेशन | किस तरफ़ | है: known destination, requested direction, copula. No equivalent of English is moves before the subject.
यहाँ से सीधे जाइए।
yahā̃ se sīdhe jāie.
Go straight from here. (respectful)
यहाँ से identifies the deictic source: the route begins “from here.” सीधे is the conventional adverb with जाना; masculine-looking सीधा would be adjectival in a phrase such as सीधा रास्ता “a straight road.” Polite जाइए has an understood आप. Stating आप would be grammatical—आप यहाँ से सीधे जाइए—but needlessly contrastive when there is only one addressee.
दूसरे चौराहे पर बाएँ मुड़िए।
dūsre caurāhe par bāẽ muṛie.
Turn left at the second intersection. (respectful)
The masculine noun चौराहा takes oblique चौराहे before पर, and the ordinal agrees in oblique masculine singular: दूसरे चौराहे पर. बाएँ specifies the direction of turning. Hindi packages the instruction as landmark + पर + direction + verb, so पर means “at” the decision point rather than motion onto its surface.
Lines 3–4: distance and expected duration
क्या वह पैदल दूर है?
kyā vah paidal dūr hai?
Is it far on foot?
Initial क्या marks a yes/no question; it does not mean “what” here. Demonstrative वह refers to the metro station, not to a grammatically gendered English it. पैदल narrows the measure to walking distance. Hindi can predicate the indeclinable adjective दूर directly with है.
नहीं, बस पाँच मिनट लगेंगे।
nahīṃ, bas pā̃c minaṭ lageṅge.
No, it will take only five minutes.
Here बस means “only,” not the vehicle bus. Plural पाँच मिनट controls future लगेंगे. The route or journey that takes the time is omitted because it is obvious. English makes it obligatory in it will take five minutes; Hindi normally needs no dummy subject.
The future does not promise exact timing. It offers an ordinary estimate. Present पाँच मिनट लगते हैं would describe the route's usual duration; लगेंगे projects the traveler's upcoming walk.
Lines 5–7: sequence, viewpoint, and a landmark
चौराहा पार करने के बाद दाईं ओर एक बैंक दिखेगा।
caurāhā pār karne ke bād dāīṃ or ek baiṅk dikhegā.
After crossing the intersection, you'll see a bank on the right.
This line contains a compact sequence:
| Form | Morpheme-level value | Discourse job |
|---|---|---|
| चौराहा पार करने के बाद | intersection cross-INF.OBL after | sets the completed first step |
| दाईं ओर | right side/direction | orients the traveler's view |
| एक बैंक | a bank | introduces a new landmark |
| दिखेगा | appear/be-visible-FUT.M.SG | predicts what will enter view |
करने के बाद uses the oblique infinitive because के बाद is a postpositional expression. The subject of crossing is the traveler, while masculine दिखेगा agrees with बैंक. Hindi presents the bank as becoming visible; a literal English-style transitive “you will see” is not required.
बैंक के सामने?
baiṅk ke sāmne?
Opposite the bank? (confirming fragment)
The traveler proposes a location and seeks confirmation. The recoverable full question is क्या स्टेशन बैंक के सामने है? Nothing in the fragment itself names the station. Its referent comes from the dialogue's shared goal.
The shopkeeper corrects that proposed relation gently by giving a more exact one:
नहीं। बैंक के ठीक बगल में स्टेशन का प्रवेश-द्वार है।
nahīṃ. baiṅk ke ṭhīk bagal meṃ sṭeśan kā praveś-dvār hai.
No. The station entrance is right next to the bank. (polite neutral)
The initial नहीं corrects the proposed relation without rejecting the larger landmark, while ठीक बगल में supplies the usable precision. बैंक के links the reference landmark to बगल, and में locates the entrance in that adjacent region. In स्टेशन का प्रवेश-द्वार, masculine का agrees with masculine प्रवेश-द्वार, not with स्टेशन.
Lines 8–10: necessity and a softened safety instruction
क्या मुझे सड़क पार करनी होगी?
kyā mujhe saṛak pār karnī hogī?
Will I have to cross the road?
Hindi expresses obligation with dative-marked मुझे plus infinitive + होना. Here मुझे marks the person under obligation. Feminine करनी agrees with the unmarked feminine object सड़क, and होगी follows the feminine form करनी; neither form agrees with the traveler. English instead makes I the nominative subject of have to.
हाँ, लेकिन सिग्नल से पार कीजिएगा।
hā̃, lekin signal se pār kījiegā.
Yes, but please cross at the signal. (respectful, gently insistent)
In this route context सिग्नल से means crossing by way of the signal-controlled point. कीजिएगा is a respectful future-shaped imperative often used for a considerate reminder or instruction. It can sound gentler and more solicitous than plain कीजिए, while still conveying that the advice matters. This is a register choice, not a future prediction.
बहुत-बहुत धन्यवाद। — कोई बात नहीं।
bahut-bahut dhanyavād. — koī bāt nahīṃ.
Thank you very much. — You're welcome / No problem.
Reduplication intensifies बहुत. The response कोई बात नहीं literally denies that there is any matter/problem; here it conventionally minimizes the favor. In a highly formal setting, आपका स्वागत है can translate “you're welcome,” but it is often less conversational than कोई बात नहीं in this everyday exchange.
Ten forms worth reusing
| Form | Function | Register |
|---|---|---|
| माफ़ कीजिए | open an interaction with a stranger | polite neutral |
| किस तरफ़ है? | ask which way something is | neutral |
| यहाँ से सीधे जाइए | give the first route step | respectful |
| दूसरे चौराहे पर | identify a turning point | neutral |
| बाएँ मुड़िए | tell someone to turn left | respectful |
| पैदल दूर | far on foot | neutral |
| X करने के बाद | after doing X | neutral |
| दाईं ओर | on/to the right | neutral |
| के ठीक बगल में | right next to | neutral |
| पार कीजिएगा | polite, gently insistent direction | respectful spoken |
Common Mistakes
Moving the postposition before its landmark
❌ सामने बैंक स्टेशन है।
Incorrect for ‘the station is opposite the bank’ — सामने does not precede बैंक in an English-style prepositional phrase.
✅ स्टेशन बैंक के सामने है।
sṭeśan baiṅk ke sāmne hai.
The station is opposite the bank.
Marking the addressee with को
❌ आपको सीधे जाइए।
Incorrect — the addressee of a direct imperative is आप, not dative आपको.
✅ आप सीधे जाइए।
āp sīdhe jāie.
Please go straight. (respectful)
Forgetting the oblique form before पर
❌ दूसरा चौराहा पर बाएँ मुड़िए।
Incorrect — the masculine -आ phrase becomes oblique before पर.
✅ तीसरे मोड़ पर दाएँ मुड़िए।
tīsre moṛ par dāẽ muṛie.
Turn right at the third bend. (respectful)
Treating लगना like English transitive “take”
❌ वह पाँच मिनट लेगा।
This normally means ‘he/that will take five minutes’ in another sense; route duration idiomatically uses लगना.
✅ वहाँ पहुँचने में पाँच मिनट लगेंगे।
vahā̃ pahũcne meṃ pā̃c minaṭ lageṅge.
It will take five minutes to get there.
Key Takeaways
- Anchor the route with यहाँ से, then mark a decision point with पर.
- Use respectful imperatives such as जाइए, मुड़िए, and gently insistent कीजिएगा with strangers.
- Put spatial expressions after their landmark: बैंक के सामने, बैंक के बगल में.
- Let context recover the subject of commands and the destination in a confirming fragment.
- Keep viewpoint consistent when using दाईं ओर and बाएँ.
From dialogue order to neutral prose
The dialogue reveals the route one landmark at a time. The questions क्या वह पैदल दूर है?, बैंक के सामने?, and क्या मुझे सड़क पार करनी होगी? each isolate the traveler's immediate uncertainty. That question–answer rhythm also makes the instructions easier to remember.
A neutral prose version removes the turns and makes the traveler the understood actor throughout:
मेट्रो स्टेशन यहाँ से पैदल पाँच मिनट की दूरी पर है। यात्री को सीधे जाकर दूसरे चौराहे पर बाएँ मुड़ना है। चौराहा पार करने के बाद दाईं ओर एक बैंक दिखाई देगा। स्टेशन का प्रवेश-द्वार बैंक के ठीक बगल में है। सड़क सिग्नल से पार करनी है।
meṭro sṭeśan yahā̃ se paidal pā̃c minaṭ kī dūrī par hai. yātrī ko sīdhe jākar dūsre caurāhe par bāẽ muṛnā hai. caurāhā pār karne ke bād dāīṃ or ek baiṅk dikhāī degā. sṭeśan kā praveś-dvār baiṅk ke ṭhīk bagal meṃ hai. saṛak signal se pār karnī hai.
The metro station is a five-minute walk from here. The traveler must go straight and turn left at the second intersection. After crossing the intersection, a bank will appear on the right. The station entrance is right next to the bank. The road should be crossed at the signal. (neutral instructional prose)
The prose is complete and reusable, but it loses the dialogue's interactive checks. Those fragments are not defective sentences: they show which spatial relation is currently at issue.
Related Topics
- Travel directions and transportA2 — Ask for routes and combine destinations, vehicles, boarding, and arrival with their natural Hindi case frames.
- Irregular polite imperativesB1 — Master high-frequency respectful forms such as कीजिए, दीजिए, लीजिए, and पीजिए, including their regular alternatives and vector uses.
- कहाँ किधर and कहाँ सेA2 — Distinguish कहाँ for location or destination, किधर for direction, and कहाँ से for source, origin, or starting point.
- के सामने opposite and in frontB1 — Use के सामने for positions in front of or opposite a landmark, presence before a person, and abstract confrontation, while distinguishing आगे and सामना करना.
- के पास possession and proximityA2 — Use के पास for physical nearness and possessive existence, distinguishing what someone has from what belongs to them.