रूपए पैसे (Money)
Indian currency is expressed in rupees called 'rupiyaa'. The currency symbol in Hindi is 'þ' (Rs.). India adopted 'Decimal' system of currency in 1957. There are 100 'nayaa paisaa' (nayaa paisaa) to a rupee. Before 1957 the rupee consisted of 'solah aane' (1/16th of a rupee), one 'aanaa' consisted of 'chaar paise' (1/64 of a rupee) and one paisaa consisted of 'tteen paayee' (1/192 of a rupee). These expressions are still popular in colloquial Hindi. For example:
'aath aane' (half a rupee = 50 nayaa paisaa) | |
mai.n paaee paaee kaa hissaab doo.nga (I will account for the smallest unit of the currency) | |
yah baatt solah aane sach hai (it is 100% true) |
In the table we have shown every day usages of some number and money-related sentences. For practice please change these sentences by substituting the nouns and numbers taken from the above table.
यह कमीज़ कितने की है | yeh (kameez) kittane kee hai? | How much for this (shirt)? |
इसका क्या दाम है | isakaa kyaa ddaam hai? | What's the price of this? |
यह तीन सौ पचास रुपये की है | yah tteen sau pachaas rupaye kee hai | It is of three hundred fifty rupees |
कुल कितना पैसा हुआ | kul kittanaa paisaa huaa | What is the total (cost). |
सब मिलाकर पांच सौ हुये | sab milaakar paa.nch sau huye | That will be five hundred altogether. |
यह तो बहुत महंगा है | yah tto bahutt maha.ngaa hai. | This is very costly |
दाम भाव बढ़् गये हैं। | ddaam (bhaav) ba.rdh gaye hai.n. | The prices have gone up. |
कुछ रियायत करेंगे | kuchh riyaayatt kare.nge? | Would you give some discount? |
आज नकद कल उधार | aaj nakkadd kal uddhaar | No credit. (we will take cash today, come tomorrow for credit) |
मैंने सात रुपये में पंच सेव खरीदे। | mai.nne saatt rupaye me.n pa.nch sev khareedde. | I bought five apples for seven rupees. |
एक और एक ग्यारह होते हैं - एकता में बल होता है। | ek aur ek gayaarah hotte hai.n, ekttaa me.n bal hottaa hai. | One and one becomes eleven. There is strength in unity, |
यहां से नौ दो ग्यारह हो जओ। | yahaa.n se nau ddo gayaarah ho jao. | Run away from here. |
वह चौदहवीं का चांद लग रही थी | vah chauddahvee.n ka chaa.ndd lag rahee tthee | She looked beautiful (like moon of the fourteenth night). |
उसने छतीस घात् क पानी पीया है। | usane chhattees ghat ka paanee peeyaa hai. | He is very clever (lit: he has drunk water of 36 river banks). |
Indian currency notes are in the denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 500 and 1000 rupees. Coins start at 10, 20, (not used so much these days) 25, 50 paise and 1, 2, 5 and 10 rupees. U.S. dollars are the easiest currency to change in Indian rupees. The current rate of exchange is Rs.48 to a dollar. A growing number of hotels, restaurants and shops accept travelers checks and credit cards like American Express, Visa and Mastercard.