Hindi/Pronouns
In Hindi the pronouns are inflected depending on the number and case. The pronouns in Hindi may be classified into 7 categories, the most important of which is the personal pronoun category. We'd learn only about them here, reserving the rest for later chapters on pronouns.
a)Direct Case
| Person | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | मैं (I) | हम (We) |
| 2nd (intimate) | तू (You) | तुम (You) |
| 2nd (honorary) | आप (You) | आप (You) |
| 3rd (proximal) | यह (This/It/He/She) | ये (These/They) |
| 3rd (distal) | वह (That/He/She) | वे (Those/They) |
Ex: मैं खेलता हूँ - I play आप लिखते हैं - You write रमेश सुनता है - Ramesh listens
Tip - If you had followed the lessons so far then you must have noticed that there always are separate forms of intimate and honorary 2nd persons and that the honorary 2nd person uses the same the form for both sing. And plural. This originates from the practice in Sanskrit to use plural forms for a higher authority/elders/respected people to show them respect and honor.
b)Dative case The dative case is generally used to indicate the noun/pronoun to whom something is given. For example, in "John gave Mary a book". The thing being given may be a tangible object, such as "a book" or "a pen", or it may be an intangible abstraction, such as "an answer" or "help". The dative generally marks the indirect object of a verb.
"He built a snowman for me" can also be rendered as "He built [for] me a snowman". In this example, the generic objective pronoun "me" functions as a dative pronoun.
| Person | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | मुझे/मुझको | हमें/हमको |
| 2nd (intimate) | तुझे/तुझको | तुम्हें/तुमको |
| 2nd (honorary) | आपको | आपको |
| 3rd (proximal) | इसे/इसको | इन्हें/इनको |
| 3rd (distal) | उसे/उसको | उन्हें/उनको |
Ex: मुझे एक कलम चाहिए - I need a pen उसे एक खत मिला - He got a letter इन्हें पानी दो - Give them water
c)Genitive/possessive ('s/of)
| Person | Singular (masculine) | Singular (feminine) | Plural (masculine) | Plural (feminine) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | मेरा (my/mine) | मेरी (my/mine) | हमारा (our/ours) | हमारी (our/ours) |
| 2nd (intimate) | तेरा (your/yours) | तेरी (your/yours) | तुम्हारा (your/yours) | तुम्हारी (your/yours) |
| 2nd (honorary) | आपका (your/yours) | आपकी (your/yours) | आपका (your/yours) | आपकी (your/yours) |
| 3rd (proximal) | इसका (of this/Its/his) | इसकी (of this/Its/her) | इनका (their) | इनकी (theirs) |
| 3rd (distal) | उसका (his) | उसकी (her) | उनका (their) | उनकी (their) |
Ex: ये किताबें मेरी हैं - These books are mine मेरी किताबें पुरानी हैं - My books are old तुम्हारा घर बड़ा है - Your house is big उसके पेड़ हरे हैं - His trees are green
d) Ablative
Ablative pronoun/nouns in general represent a motion away from something as "ablative" is derived from the Latin ablatus, the (irregular) perfect passive participle of auferre "to carry away". Their use in Hindi sentences however can be roughly correspond to some work done by somebody/something.
| Person | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | मुझसे | हमसे |
| 2nd (intimate) | तुझसे/तुमसे | तुमसे |
| 2nd (honorary) | आपसे | आपसे |
| 3rd (proximal) | इससे | इनसे |
| 3rd (distal) | उससे | उनसे |
Ex: मुझसे गलती हो गई - I made a mistake (lit:A mistake was committed by me) मेरा तुमसे भरोसा उठ गया - I've lost faith on you आपसे यही उम्मीद थी - This was expected of you
e)Locative
Locative case indicates a location. It corresponds vaguely to the English prepositions "in", "on", "at", and "by" combined with nouns/pronouns.
| Person | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | मुझपर | हमपर |
| 2nd (intimate) | तुझपर | तुमपर |
| 2nd (honorary) | आपपर | आपपर |
| 3rd (proximal) | इसपर | इनपर |
| 3rd (distal) | उसपर | उनपर |
Ex: मुझपर भरोसा करो - Have faith in me ईश्वर तुमपर दया करे - May God have pity on you सारी उम्मीदें उसपर टिकी हैं - All hopes rest on him
f)Ergative
| Person | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | मैंने | हमने |
| 2nd (intimate) | तुने | तुमने |
| 2nd (honorary) | आपने | आपने |
| 3rd (proximal) | इसने | इन्होंने |
| 3rd (distal) | उसने | उन्होंने |
Ex: मैंने सब देख लिया - I have seen everything क्या तुने काम किया - Have you done the job सीता ने खाना खाया - Sita ate the food
Note – Often the word 'लोग' which means people is added to plural pronouns for emphasizing and/or indicating the plurality itself. Such as वे लोग खाते हैं, हम लोग खेलते हैं and so on.