Every evening, in every home, someone tells a story: what happened at the shop, on the bus, at school, at work. Learners can often build single past sentences, but a story is more than that. It needs an opening that grabs attention, linking words that move events along, a mix of tenses for the background and the main action, and the little reactions that listeners give to keep the teller going. In this episode: • Opening the story • Moving the story along • Mixing tenses in one story • What people said • The listener's job • Ending the story • Scene: the watermelon at the shop • Practice • Self-check questions with answers Key Hindi from this episode: पता है आज क्या हुआ (pata hai aaj kya hua) = You know what happened today? सुनो ना (suno na) = Listen, listen! The ना (na) makes it warm and pleading. आज एक मज़ेदार बात हुई (aaj ek mazedaar baat hui) = Something funny happened today. तुम्हें यक़ीन नहीं होगा (tumhen yakeen nahin hoga) = You won't believe it. फिर (phir) = then. The most common story word in Hindi, used again and again. फिर मैं घर आई (phir main ghar aayi) = Then I came home. उसके बाद (uske baad) = after that. उसके बाद हम खाना खाने गए (uske baad ham khaana khaane gaye) = After that we went to eat. पहले (pehle) = first. अचानक (achaanak) = suddenly. अचानक बत्ती चली गई (achaanak batti chali gayi) = Suddenly the power went off. तभी (tabhi) = just then, at that very moment. तभी दरवाज़े पर घंटी बजी (tabhi darwaaze par ghanti baji) = Just then the doorbell rang. इतने में (itne mein) = meanwhile, in the middle of all that. आख़िर में (aakhir mein) = in the end. बारिश हो रही थी (baarish ho rahi thi) = It was raining. Season 3 · Spoken Hindi at Home: the complete self-study course for English speakers. Every Hindi item is given in Devanagari, Hinglish and English. Take the 52-question quiz after listening. Audio voiced with AI from an original script by Dr. Rashmi R Nair.