FAQ
Dictionary & Definitions
Where do definitions come from? The most common ~11,000 words have hand-curated Desi Lingo definitions (marked "Desi Lingo" in the popup). These exist because freely available sources often have low-quality or missing definitions for everyday words. The remaining words come from Wiktionary (36K entries with inflected forms), FreeDict (25K entries), and an open-source Hindi-English dataset (100K+ entries). The goal is to gradually replace all entries with curated Desi Lingo definitions over time. A small badge on each definition shows its source.
Why do some words show multiple definitions? Many Hindi words mean different things depending on part of speech. For example, सीना can be a verb ("to sew") or a noun ("chest"). The popup shows all valid definitions so you can pick the right one.
What's the frequency number? It tells you how common a word is in Hindi. #137 means it's the 137th most used word. Lower means more common. The top 2,000 words cover most everyday Hindi. Some words show two numbers: one for the exact form and one for the dictionary lemma. The current list comes from wordfreq, an open-source dataset built from subtitles and Wikipedia. We plan to eventually replace it with our own list built from aggregated usage data across Desi Lingo users.
Why does clicking a word show a different form? Hindi verbs and adjectives change shape for tense, gender, and number. Click खाता (khaataa) and the popup shows खाना (khaanaa, "to eat") with an arrow between them. That arrow means it resolved the inflected form back to the dictionary entry.
Grammar
What are grammar tags? Colored chips that show up below some words with grammatical info. Click one to see a full explanation with examples. Over 100 grammar points are covered.
Why don't all words have grammar tags? Tags appear when the grammar can be confidently identified from the inflection table. Ambiguous forms may not show tags.
What do the labels mean? They use plain English instead of linguistic jargon. "Completed" means the action is finished. "Ongoing" means in progress. "Command" means telling someone to do something. No linguistics background needed.
Word Status & Learning
What do the colored underlines mean? Red means unknown, blue means seen, green means known. After parsing a page, every Hindi word gets a colored underline. It's a quick way to gauge how much of a text you already understand.
How do I change a word's status? Click a word, then use the status buttons at the bottom of the popup: Known (green), Seen (blue), Unknown (red), Hidden (no underline). Changes sync everywhere instantly.
What is sentence mining? It's saving real sentences from things you're reading or watching. Hit Mine in the popup to capture the sentence, word, definition, and source. Then export to Anki for spaced repetition review. See the Anki Integration page for details.
Data & Privacy
How accurate is the dictionary? The hand-written definitions and Wiktionary entries are reliable. The open-source CSV adds breadth with slightly lower per-entry quality. For common words (top 2,000) accuracy is very high.
Is my data private? All language processing runs entirely in your browser. No text you read or watch is sent to any server. Your account data (word statuses, mined cards, stats) is stored securely in your account database.
Can I report a wrong definition? Not yet, but a feedback system is planned. Definitions are regularly improved through audits and hand-written overrides for common words.
Account & Syncing
Should I use the same account on all devices? Yes! Word statuses, mined sentences, and stats are all tied to your account. Different accounts on different devices means your progress will diverge, and there's no way to merge them later.
How does syncing work? Sign in to both the extension and web dashboard with the same account. Word statuses, mined sentences, and settings sync automatically. Changes in the extension show on the dashboard and vice versa.
FAQ
Dictionary & Definitions
Where do definitions come from? The most common ~11,000 words have hand-curated Desi Lingo definitions (marked "Desi Lingo" in the popup). These exist because freely available sources often have low-quality or missing definitions for everyday words. The remaining words come from Wiktionary (36K entries with inflected forms), FreeDict (25K entries), and an open-source Hindi-English dataset (100K+ entries). The goal is to gradually replace all entries with curated Desi Lingo definitions over time. A small badge on each definition shows its source.
Why do some words show multiple definitions? Many Hindi words mean different things depending on part of speech. For example, सीना can be a verb ("to sew") or a noun ("chest"). The popup shows all valid definitions so you can pick the right one.
What's the frequency number? It tells you how common a word is in Hindi. #137 means it's the 137th most used word. Lower means more common. The top 2,000 words cover most everyday Hindi. Some words show two numbers: one for the exact form and one for the dictionary lemma. The current list comes from wordfreq, an open-source dataset built from subtitles and Wikipedia. We plan to eventually replace it with our own list built from aggregated usage data across Desi Lingo users.
Why does clicking a word show a different form? Hindi verbs and adjectives change shape for tense, gender, and number. Click खाता (khaataa) and the popup shows खाना (khaanaa, "to eat") with an arrow between them. That arrow means it resolved the inflected form back to the dictionary entry.
Grammar
What are grammar tags? Colored chips that show up below some words with grammatical info. Click one to see a full explanation with examples. Over 100 grammar points are covered.
Why don't all words have grammar tags? Tags appear when the grammar can be confidently identified from the inflection table. Ambiguous forms may not show tags.
What do the labels mean? They use plain English instead of linguistic jargon. "Completed" means the action is finished. "Ongoing" means in progress. "Command" means telling someone to do something. No linguistics background needed.
Word Status & Learning
What do the colored underlines mean? Red means unknown, blue means seen, green means known. After parsing a page, every Hindi word gets a colored underline. It's a quick way to gauge how much of a text you already understand.
How do I change a word's status? Click a word, then use the status buttons at the bottom of the popup: Known (green), Seen (blue), Unknown (red), Hidden (no underline). Changes sync everywhere instantly.
What is sentence mining? It's saving real sentences from things you're reading or watching. Hit Mine in the popup to capture the sentence, word, definition, and source. Then export to Anki for spaced repetition review. See the Anki Integration page for details.
Data & Privacy
How accurate is the dictionary? The hand-written definitions and Wiktionary entries are reliable. The open-source CSV adds breadth with slightly lower per-entry quality. For common words (top 2,000) accuracy is very high.
Is my data private? All language processing runs entirely in your browser. No text you read or watch is sent to any server. Your account data (word statuses, mined cards, stats) is stored securely in your account database.
Can I report a wrong definition? Not yet, but a feedback system is planned. Definitions are regularly improved through audits and hand-written overrides for common words.
Account & Syncing
Should I use the same account on all devices? Yes! Word statuses, mined sentences, and stats are all tied to your account. Different accounts on different devices means your progress will diverge, and there's no way to merge them later.
How does syncing work? Sign in to both the extension and web dashboard with the same account. Word statuses, mined sentences, and settings sync automatically. Changes in the extension show on the dashboard and vice versa.