Imperative Mood in Hindi

In Brief

Hindi command forms reflect how you address the listener: जा goes with intimate तू, जाओ with familiar तुम, and जाइए with respectful आप. Pronouns are usually omitted, so the verb ending itself signals the relationship. Put मत before the verb for a negative command: मत जाओ means “don’t go.”

Overview

The imperative mood is the verb form used to tell or ask someone to do something. It covers much more than forceful orders: directions, recipes, warnings, invitations, advice, and polite requests all regularly use imperatives. Hindi calls this area आज्ञा काल or आज्ञार्थक रूप.

This A2 topic builds on personal pronouns. English normally uses the same bare verb in “Go!”, “Go, please,” and “Go, sir.” Hindi chooses a different verb form according to the level of address: तू, तुम, or आप. That choice communicates intimacy, familiarity, or respect, even when the pronoun is not spoken.

The safest beginner strategy is to learn the तुम and आप forms first. Use तुम forms such as बैठो with friends and people you normally address as तुम. Use आप forms such as बैठिए for respectful or polite interaction. Recognize तू forms, but do not use them casually with strangers: depending on context, तू can express extreme closeness, devotion, contempt, or anger.

How It Works

Start from the verb stem

The infinitive (the dictionary form of a verb) normally ends in -ना. Remove -ना to find the stem (the basic part to which endings are added):

• जाना “to go” → जा-
• बोलना “to speak” → बोल-
• बैठना “to sit” → बैठ-

The simplest command pattern is:

Level of address	Basic formation	जाना “to go”	Typical use
तू	stem	जा	very intimate, devotional, poetic, or insulting
तुम	usually stem + ओ	जाओ	familiar and informal
आप	respectful form, often stem + इए	जाइए	polite, formal, or respectful

The subject pronoun is usually unnecessary. जाओ already tells the listener that the sentence uses the तुम level; जाइए signals आप. Add the pronoun mainly for contrast or emphasis: तुम रुको, आप आइए — “You wait; you, sir/ma’am, come in.”

The three forms side by side

Regular consonant-final stems make the pattern especially clear. Vowel-final stems and a few very common verbs need forms learned as whole units.

Infinitive	तू form	तुम form	आप form	Meaning
जाना	जा	जाओ	जाइए	go
आना	आ	आओ	आइए	come
बोलना	बोल	बोलो	बोलिए	speak; say
बैठना	बैठ	बैठो	बैठिए	sit
सुनना	सुन	सुनो	सुनिए	listen
पढ़ना	पढ़	पढ़ो	पढ़िए	read; study
लिखना	लिख	लिखो	लिखिए	write
खाना	खा	खाओ	खाइए	eat
पीना	पी	पियो	पीजिए	drink
करना	कर	करो	कीजिए / करिए	do
लेना	ले	लो	लीजिए	take
देना	दे	दो	दीजिए	give
रखना	रख	रखो	रखिए	put; keep

Forms such as लो, दो, कीजिए, लीजिए, and दीजिए are extremely frequent. Memorizing them as chunks is more useful than trying to derive them during conversation. For करना, both कीजिए and करिए occur, but कीजिए is a particularly common respectful command.

You may see respectful spellings in -इये, such as जाइये and बैठिये, alongside जाइए and बैठिए. The forms in -इए are a common modern standard and are used consistently here.

Negative commands with मत

Place मत before the command form to say “do not” or “don’t.” The formality level remains visible in the verb.

Address level	Positive	Negative	Meaning
तू	जा।	मत जा।	Go. / Don’t go.
तुम	जाओ।	मत जाओ।	Go. / Don’t go.
आप	जाइए।	मत जाइए।	Please go. / Please don’t go.

Hindi does not require an equivalent of English auxiliary “do” in “don’t go.” Avoid building a negative command from नहीं by analogy with an ordinary statement. नहीं negates statements such as मैं नहीं जाता (“I don’t go”); मत is the normal marker for a direct prohibition.

Making a request polite

The आप form is respectful, but wording and tone determine whether it feels like a courteous request or a formal command. Common softeners include:

• कृपया — “please,” especially in formal notices, instructions, and careful speech
• ज़रा — literally “a little”; softens a small request, like “just” in “just have a look”
• एक मिनट — “one minute,” often used before asking someone to wait
• क्या आप … सकते हैं? — “Could you …?”; an indirect question rather than an imperative

Compare दरवाज़ा बंद कीजिए (“Close the door”) with कृपया दरवाज़ा बंद कीजिए (“Please close the door”) and क्या आप दरवाज़ा बंद कर सकते हैं? (“Could you close the door?”). All may be polite, but the last is more indirect.

Do not assume that कृपया is needed in every friendly request. In everyday conversation, ज़रा सुनिए, बैठिए, or a warm tone may sound more natural than repeatedly adding formal कृपया.

Instructions often omit both subject and object

Context can supply information that English may state explicitly. A recipe can say तेल डालिए और मिलाइए — “Add the oil and mix.” A teacher can say ध्यान से सुनो — “Listen carefully.” These are complete Hindi sentences even though no “you” appears.

Examples in Context

Hindi	English	Note
जा!	Go!	तू form; intimate or potentially rude
जाओ।	Go.	familiar तुम form
जाइए।	Please go.	respectful आप form
यहाँ बैठो।	Sit here.	informal instruction
आइए, अंदर बैठिए।	Please come in and sit down.	welcoming, respectful forms
ध्यान से सुनिए।	Please listen carefully.	respectful classroom or formal instruction
अपना नाम लिखो।	Write your name.	familiar instruction
कृपया यहाँ हस्ताक्षर कीजिए।	Please sign here.	formal service language
थोड़ा पानी पी लो।	Have some water.	friendly suggestion; लो adds a natural “go ahead and” sense
यह किताब ले लीजिए।	Please take this book.	respectful लेना form with लीजिए
मुझे रास्ता बताइए।	Please tell me the way.	polite request
दरवाज़ा मत खोलो।	Don’t open the door.	negative तुम command
चिंता मत कीजिए।	Please don’t worry.	respectful reassurance
धीरे बोलो।	Speak slowly.	familiar request or instruction
चलो, घर चलते हैं।	Come on, let’s go home.	चलो invites the listener into joint action

The translation “please” does not always correspond to a separate Hindi word. It often represents the respectful ending, the situation, and the speaker’s tone together.

Common Mistakes

Using the infinitive as every kind of command

• Wrong: आप यहाँ बैठना।
• Right: आप यहाँ बैठिए।
• Why: बैठना is the dictionary form “to sit.” A direct respectful command normally needs बैठिए. Infinitives do appear in impersonal instructions and notices, but that is a separate pattern, not the default way to address आप.

Mixing a pronoun with the wrong command level

• Wrong: आप जाओ।
• Right: आप जाइए।
• Why: आप takes respectful agreement, while जाओ belongs to the familiar तुम level. In some communities people may combine forms in nonstandard or regionally marked ways, but learners should keep the standard pairings consistent.

Treating तू as a neutral equivalent of “you”

• Risky: तू इधर आ। to an unfamiliar adult
• Safer: आप इधर आइए।
• Why: English “you” does not force a social choice, but Hindi does. तू can be loving among intimates or in devotional language, yet insulting in an unsuitable relationship.

Negating a command with नहीं

• Wrong: नहीं जाओ।
• Right: मत जाओ।
• Why: Direct negative commands normally use मत. Use नहीं for ordinary negative statements, not as the beginner default for “don’t.”

Overregularizing common forms

• Awkward or wrong as the standard target: लेओ, देओ, करिए as the only forms learned
• Natural core forms: लो, दो, कीजिए
• Why: Very common verbs preserve high-frequency command forms. करिए is also used, but कीजिए should be part of your core vocabulary.

Assuming respectful grammar automatically sounds warm

• Too abrupt in context: फॉर्म भरिए।
• Better for a courteous request: कृपया यह फॉर्म भरिए।
• Why: The आप form marks respect, but an order can still sound firm. Add कृपया, ज़रा, an indirect question, or a friendly tone when the situation calls for extra softness.

Usage Notes

Choosing between तुम and आप

There is no single rule based only on age. आप is common with strangers, customers, senior colleagues, teachers, elders, and anyone to whom the speaker wishes to show respect. तुम is common among friends, siblings, partners, classmates, and familiar peers, but preferences vary by family, region, workplace, and individual.

A relationship may shift from आप to तुम as people become closer, but do not make that switch unilaterally if you are unsure. Listen to how the other person addresses you, or ask. For a learner, polite आप is generally the safer starting point with an unfamiliar adult.

Where तू belongs

तू is not simply “more informal than तुम.” It occupies both ends of an emotional scale: exceptional closeness on one side and deliberate disrespect on the other. It is also conventional in some prayers, songs, poetry, speech to small children, and strongly emotional dialogue. Learn it for comprehension before treating it as an everyday default.

Signs, recipes, and public instructions

Hindi signs and written instructions often use an infinitive in -ना, especially as an impersonal directive: यहाँ धूम्रपान न करना (“No smoking here” / literally, “not to smoke here”). This does not address one listener as तुम or आप. Formal notices may use न rather than conversational मत. In a spoken direct command, however, मत कीजिए or मत करो remains the practical beginner pattern.

Punctuation and tone

An exclamation mark does not create the imperative; the verb form does. बैठिए। can be a calm invitation, while बैठिए! can sound urgent or forceful. Intonation, facial expression, and softeners carry much of the difference between an order and a request.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

You do not need to master the following patterns at A2, but they are common enough to recognize.

Future or deferred commands

Hindi can use forms ending in -ना for instructions about what should be done later, especially with तुम: कल समय पर आना means “Come on time tomorrow” or “Remember to come on time tomorrow.” Although it looks like the infinitive, its conversational function is a future-oriented reminder or instruction.

Respectful -इएगा forms often make a courteous request about a future action: कल फिर आइएगा (“Please come again tomorrow”) and मुझे बताइएगा (“Please let me know”). They can sound considerate, but tone still matters; they are not mechanically “more polite” in every sentence.

चलो and inclusive suggestions

Hindi has no ordinary first-person imperative exactly parallel to the second-person forms above. चलो often works as “come on” or “let’s”: चलो, खाना खाते हैं (“Come on, let’s eat”). The following -ते हैं construction literally supplies the shared proposal. Respectful conversation may use चलिए: चलिए, शुरू करते हैं (“All right, let’s begin”).

Verb combinations can change the nuance

A command may contain a second verb that adds completion, permission, or encouragement:

• खा लो — “eat it / go ahead and eat”
• पढ़ लीजिए — “please read it” (often suggests completing it for one’s benefit)
• जाने दो — “let it go / leave it”
• कर दो — “do it” (often with a sense of getting it done)

These are compound verbs—two verbs working together as one expression. Their nuances depend on context, so learn frequent combinations from complete sentences rather than translating each part literally.

Honorific and impersonal formal styles

Very formal announcements and administrative language may avoid a direct personal imperative: कृपया ध्यान दिया जाए means roughly “May attention please be given” or, naturally, “Your attention, please.” This passive-style wording is common in announcements but is not necessary for ordinary polite conversation. कृपया ध्यान दीजिए is the clearer active request for most learners.

Practice Tips

1. Learn verbs in three-form sets. Say जा–जाओ–जाइए, बैठ–बैठो–बैठिए, and ले–लो–लीजिए aloud. This connects each form directly to its social level.
2. Rewrite one situation for two audiences. Give the same direction to a friend and to a stranger: दाएँ मुड़ो versus दाएँ मुड़िए. Then make both negative with मत.
3. Collect commands from real settings. Notice forms in recipes, station announcements, app interfaces, films, and conversations. Label each example “तुम,” “आप,” impersonal instruction, or invitation; this trains register as well as endings.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Personal Pronouns — explains the social contrast among तू, तुम, and आप that controls command forms.