माने (maane)
particle/noun
Colloquial word with two related but distinct everyday uses: (1) as a noun, the plural/oblique form of माना (maanaa, 'meaning'), used when asking or giving the meaning of something; (2) as a filler/discourse particle meaning roughly 'I mean' or 'that is to say', very common in casual spoken Hindi.
Sense
1
:
discourse filler: 'I mean', 'that is'
particle Used mid-sentence to rephrase, clarify, or buy a moment to think, much like English 'I mean' -- it does not need to attach grammatically to what follows.
Synonyms: मतलब (matlab), यानी (yaanii)
Frequency: high
Cultural Note: Very Delhi/UP-flavored casual speech: someone fumbling for the right word will often drop in माने... माने... (maane... maane..., 'I mean... I mean...') while thinking. It sits alongside मतलब (matlab) as one of the two default fillers of spoken Hindi.
Common Mistakes: 1) Learners often reach only for मतलब (matlab) as filler and don't realize माने (maane) does the same job in casual speech -- they're largely interchangeable here. 2) Because माने (maane) looks like a verb form (from मानना (maannaa)) some learners try to conjugate it or treat it as part of the sentence's grammar; as a filler it is frozen and invariant.
Sample Sentences:
वो माने, कल वाली बात भूल जा।
That, I mean, forget about yesterday's thing.
(vo maane, kal vaalii baat bhool jaa।)
Listen: F85
मैं माने... माने... क्या कहूँ, समझ नहीं आ रहा।
I mean... I mean... what should I say, I'm not getting it.
(main maane... maane... kyaa kahoon, samajh nahiin aa rahaa।)
Listen: F85
वो माने बहुत टेंशन में था, इसलिए गुस्सा हो गया।
He was, I mean, very stressed, so he got angry.
(vo maane bahut tenshan men thaa, islie gussaa ho gayaa।)
Listen: F85
यार माने ये सब इतना कॉम्प्लिकेटेड क्यों है?
Dude, I mean, why is all this so complicated?
(yaar maane ye sab itnaa kompliketed kyon hai?)
Listen: F85
अगर वो माने टाइम पर आ जाता तो सब ठीक हो जाता।
If he'd, I mean, come on time, everything would've been fine.
(agar vo maane taaim par aa jaataa to sab thiik ho jaataa।)
Listen: M85
देख, माने तू ऐसे कर, पहले फोन लगा फिर बात करते हैं।
Look, I mean, do it this way, call first and then we'll talk.
(dekh, maane too aise kar, pahle phon lagaa phir baat karte hain।)
Listen: M85
शायद माने उसको बुरा लग गया हो, पता नहीं।
Maybe, I mean, he might have felt bad, I don't know.
(shaayad maane usko buraa lag gayaa ho, pataa nahiin।)
Listen: M85
अरे माने वो पूरी बात ही अलग थी, तुझे किसने बताया?
Oh, I mean, the whole thing was different, who told you?
(are maane vo poorii baat hii alag thii, tujhe kisne bataayaa?)
Listen: M85
उसने माने ऐसा कुछ कहा था जो मुझे समझ ही नहीं आया।
She'd said something, I mean, that I just couldn't understand.
(usne maane aisaa kuchh kahaa thaa jo mujhe samajh hii nahiin aayaa।)
Listen: M85
ये जो प्रोजेक्ट है, माने इसमें बहुत मेहनत लगेगी।
This project, I mean, it's going to take a lot of effort.
(ye jo projekt hai, maane ismen bahut mehnat lagegii।)
Listen: M85
बताया तो गया था उसे, माने सब कुछ क्लियर कर दिया था।
He was told, I mean, everything had been made clear to him.
(bataayaa to gayaa thaa use, maane sab kuchh kliyar kar diyaa thaa।)
Listen: M85
Sense
2
:
meaning(s); sense
noun, masculine Functions as the oblique/plural form of माना (maanaa) in set questions like इसके माने क्या हैं (iske maane kyaa hain, 'what does this mean'); in this pattern माने (maane) is treated as plural even for a single meaning.
Synonyms: मतलब (matlab), अर्थ (arth, formal)
Frequency: medium
Cultural Note: This is the same word family as मानना (maannaa, 'to consider/believe') -- 'meaning' here is literally 'what something is taken/understood to be'. Asking इसके माने क्या हैं (iske maane kyaa hain, 'what does this mean') is a very everyday, slightly informal way to ask for a definition, more casual than अर्थ (arth).
Common Mistakes: 1) Learners sometimes use the singular form माना (maanaa) in questions where native speakers default to माने (maane), e.g. इसका माना क्या है (iskaa maanaa kyaa hai) sounds off compared to इसके माने क्या हैं (iske maane kyaa hain).
Sample Sentences:
इस शब्द के माने मुझे नहीं पता।
I don't know the meaning of this word.
(is shabd ke maane mujhe nahiin pataa।)
Listen: M85
इस मुहावरे के माने समझना थोड़ा मुश्किल है।
It's a bit hard to understand the meaning of this idiom.
(is muhaavre ke maane samajhnaa thodaa mushkil hai।)
Listen: M85
उसने इस लाइन के माने पूछे।
He asked the meaning of this line.
(usne is laain ke maane poochhe।)
Listen: F85
मुझे इस शेर के माने समझ नहीं आए।
I couldn't understand the meaning of this couplet.
(mujhe is sher ke maane samajh nahiin aae।)
Listen: F85
जब भी कोई नया शब्द मिलता है, मैं उसके माने डिक्शनरी में देखता हूँ।
Whenever I come across a new word, I look up its meaning in the dictionary.
(jab bhii koii nayaa shabd miltaa hai, main uske maane dikshanrii men dekhtaa hoon।)
Listen: F85
शायद इसके माने कुछ और हों।
Maybe its meaning is something else.
(shaayad iske maane kuchh aur hon।)
Listen: F85
अगर तुम्हें इस लफ़्ज़ के माने पता होते, तो तुम ऐसा नहीं कहते।
If you had known the meaning of this word, you wouldn't have said that.
(agar tumhen is lafz ke maane pataa hote, to tum aisaa nahiin kahte।)
Listen: F85
इस वाक्य के माने कई तरह से निकाले जा सकते हैं।
The meaning of this sentence can be drawn out in several ways.
(is vaaky ke maane kaii tarah se nikaale jaa sakte hain।)
Listen: M85
Morphology
Noun
(sg.m.direct):
माने
(maane)
(sg.m.oblique):
माने
(maane)
(pl.m.direct):
माने
(maane)
(pl.m.oblique):
मानेों
([[मानेों]])