स्वाद मीठा नहीं, तीखा है।

Because मीठा is agreeing with स्वाद, which is a masculine singular noun.

In Hindi, many adjectives change form to match the gender and number of the noun they describe.

• masculine singular: मीठा
• feminine singular: मीठी
• masculine plural: मीठे

Since स्वाद is masculine singular, Hindi uses:

• स्वाद मीठा है
• not स्वाद मीठी है

The same thing happens with तीखा.

For the same reason: तीखा agrees with स्वाद.

Both मीठा and तीखा are adjective forms matching a masculine singular noun.

So:

• स्वाद मीठा है
• स्वाद तीखा है

If the noun were feminine, the adjectives would change:

• चटनी तीखी है
• चाय मीठी है

Hindi often omits repeated words when the meaning is already clear.

The full sentence could be:

स्वाद मीठा नहीं है, तीखा है।

But because है would be repeated, speakers often shorten it to:

स्वाद मीठा नहीं, तीखा है।

This is very natural and means something like:

• The taste is not sweet, (it is) spicy.

So the first है is understood, even though it is not spoken.

In Hindi, नहीं usually comes before the verb, not necessarily before the English-equivalent adjective.

In a sentence like:

स्वाद मीठा नहीं है

the structure is roughly:

• स्वाद = subject
• मीठा = predicate adjective
• नहीं = negation
• है = is

So नहीं appears just before है, which is the verb.

When है is omitted in the shortened version, नहीं stays in the same place:

स्वाद मीठा नहीं, तीखा है।

That is why it does not move to the front.

Yes. स्वाद is the thing being described.

The sentence structure is basically:

• स्वाद = taste / flavor
• मीठा नहीं = not sweet
• तीखा है = is spicy/pungent

So स्वाद is the topic or subject, and the rest tells you what kind of taste it is.

In English, we often say:

• The taste is not sweet; it is spicy.

Hindi does the same kind of thing here.

तीखा often means spicy, hot, pungent, or sharp-tasting, depending on context.

In food-related contexts, it usually means something like:

• spicy
• hot
• pungent

So in this sentence, it contrasts with मीठा (sweet).

A few examples:

• यह सब्ज़ी तीखी है। = This vegetable dish is spicy.
• मिर्च बहुत तीखी है। = The chili is very hot/spicy.

So तीखा is a good general word for a sharp, spicy taste.

Yes. That is also correct, and it is a bit more explicit.

• स्वाद मीठा नहीं, तीखा है। = not sweet, spicy
• स्वाद मीठा नहीं है, बल्कि तीखा है। = it is not sweet; rather, it is spicy

बल्कि adds a stronger contrast, like rather or but rather in English.

All of these are natural:

• स्वाद मीठा नहीं है, तीखा है।
• स्वाद मीठा नहीं, तीखा है।
• स्वाद मीठा नहीं है, बल्कि तीखा है।

Yes, it is normal.

Hindi often follows a pattern like:

subject + description + verb

So:

• स्वाद मीठा है = The taste is sweet.
• स्वाद तीखा है = The taste is spicy.

With negation and contrast:

• स्वाद मीठा नहीं, तीखा है।

This is a natural Hindi way to say:

• It’s not sweet; it’s spicy.

Hindi word order is often different from English, so it is best to think of this as a standard Hindi pattern rather than trying to match each word one-for-one.

Yes. स्वाद can mean both taste and flavor, depending on context.

For example:

• इसका स्वाद अच्छा है। = It tastes good / Its flavor is good.
• स्वाद मीठा है। = The taste/flavor is sweet.

In many cases, English could use either word, and Hindi still uses स्वाद.

A simple pronunciation guide is:

• मीठा ≈ mee-thaa
• तीखा ≈ tee-khaa

A couple of useful points:

• मी and ती have a long ee sound.
• ठ in मीठा is a retroflex aspirated sound, not exactly like English th.
• ख in तीखा is an aspirated k sound, like k with a strong puff of air.

So roughly:

• मीठा = mee-thaa
• तीखा = tee-khaa

Even if your pronunciation is not perfect at first, learners are usually understood if they keep the long vowels clear.

Yes, if the context already makes it clear what यह refers to.

Compare:

• स्वाद मीठा नहीं, तीखा है। = The taste is not sweet, it is spicy.
• यह मीठा नहीं, तीखा है। = This is not sweet, it is spicy.

The second sentence is more context-dependent. It could refer to food, sauce, candy, tea, etc.

So:

• use स्वाद when you specifically want to talk about the taste
• use यह when the item itself is already obvious from context