Personal Pronouns in Hindi

In Brief

Hindi has three common ways to say “you”: तू for exceptional intimacy, तुम for familiar or informal address, and आप for respectful or formal address. वह can mean “he,” “she,” or “that,” while यह can mean “he,” “she,” or “this”; their plural counterparts are वे and ये. The pronoun you choose controls the form of the verb.

Overview

A personal pronoun is a short word used instead of a person’s name or another noun: “I,” “you,” “she,” and “they” are English examples. Hindi personal pronouns are introduced at A1 because they appear in almost every basic exchange: introducing yourself, addressing another person, and talking about someone who is not present.

The first-person forms are straightforward: मैं means “I” and हम means “we.” The main challenge for an English-speaking learner is the second person. English uses “you” regardless of familiarity, number, or respect. Hindi makes social distance visible through तू, तुम, and आप. Choosing among them is not merely a grammar exercise; it also communicates your relationship with the listener.

The third-person forms work differently from English too. Hindi normally does not distinguish “he” from “she” in the pronoun. Instead, it distinguishes someone or something relatively near—यह/ये—from someone or something relatively distant—वह/वे. Context and verb or adjective agreement may reveal gender, but the pronoun itself does not.

How It Works

The core subject pronouns

A subject is the person or thing that performs the action or is being described. Use these forms when the pronoun is the subject of the sentence.

Person	Hindi	Basic meaning	Typical verb pattern with होना “to be”
First-person singular	मैं	I	मैं हूँ
First-person plural	हम	we	हम हैं
Second-person intimate singular	तू	you	तू है
Second-person familiar	तुम	you; you all	तुम हो
Second-person respectful	आप	you; you all	आप हैं
Third-person near, singular	यह	he, she, it; this	यह है
Third-person distant, singular	वह	he, she, it; that	वह है
Third-person near, plural	ये	they; these	ये हैं
Third-person distant, plural	वे	they; those	वे हैं

Unlike many European languages, Hindi has no separate subject pronouns for “he” and “she.” वह डॉक्टर है। can mean either “He is a doctor” or “She is a doctor.” The situation tells you which meaning is intended.

Hindi often keeps a subject pronoun where English would keep one, so beginners should not try to drop it automatically. Verb endings do provide information, but forms such as करता है can still have several possible third-person subjects. In ordinary conversation, a known subject can be omitted when the context makes it obvious, but stating the pronoun is always a useful beginner default.

Three ways to address someone

The simple beginner rule is:

Pronoun	Relationship and register	Number	Agreement
तू	extremely intimate; also potentially rude	one person	singular, third-person-style ending: है, करता/करती
तुम	friends, relatives, children, peers; informal	one or several people	हो, करते/करती हो
आप	strangers, customers, elders, teachers, professional settings; respectful	one or several people	plural/honorific: हैं, करते/करती हैं

आप is the safest choice when meeting an adult for the first time. तुम is common once a relationship is familiar, but the point at which people switch depends on age, setting, region, and personal preference. तू should not be treated as an ordinary equivalent of singular “you.” It can express deep closeness, as in some family relationships, prayers, songs, and intimate speech, but it can sound belittling or insulting when used without that relationship.

The three pronouns require different verb forms:

• तू कहाँ है? — Where are you? (intimate)
• तुम कहाँ हो? — Where are you? (familiar)
• आप कहाँ हैं? — Where are you? (respectful)

This agreement continues beyond होना. With many present-habitual forms, gender is also visible:

• to a male friend: तुम क्या करते हो?
• to a female friend: तुम क्या करती हो?
• respectfully to a man: आप क्या करते हैं?
• respectfully to a woman: आप क्या करती हैं?

The respectful pronoun takes plural agreement even when it refers to one person. That is why आप है is not standard: use आप हैं.

Near and distant third person

Hindi uses the same forms for personal pronouns and demonstratives (words that point out “this” or “that”):

Distance	Singular	Plural	Possible personal meaning
Near the speaker or current focus	यह	ये	he/she/it; they
Farther away or previously mentioned	वह	वे	he/she/it; they

Thus यह मेरी बहन है। can naturally mean “This is my sister” or “She is my sister,” especially while introducing someone nearby. वह मेरा भाई है। can mean “That is my brother” or “He is my brother.” English forces a choice between “he/she” and “this/that”; Hindi often lets context make the distinction.

ये and वे can also refer respectfully to one person. In that use, they take plural agreement:

• ये मेरे अध्यापक हैं। — This is my teacher. / He is my teacher. (respectful)
• वे डॉ. शर्मा हैं। — That is Dr Sharma. / He or she is Dr Sharma. (respectful)

For an A1 learner, first master यह/वह as singular and ये/वे as plural. Then learn to recognise respectful singular ये/वे.

Gender and agreement

Although the third-person pronouns do not show gender, Hindi adjectives and verbs often do. Agreement means that a word changes form to match features such as gender or number.

• वह अच्छा है। — He is good.
• वह अच्छी है। — She is good.
• मैं तैयार हूँ। — I am ready. (same adjective form for either gender here)
• मैं जाता हूँ। — I go / I am going. (said by a male speaker)
• मैं जाती हूँ। — I go / I am going. (said by a female speaker)

With मैं, the form follows the speaker’s gender—not the listener’s. With आप, plural respect changes the number of the agreement, while gender can still be shown: आप थके हैं to a man and आप थकी हैं to a woman.

Examples in Context

Hindi	English	Note
मैं दिल्ली से हूँ।	I am from Delhi.	First-person singular
हम आज घर पर हैं।	We are at home today.	First-person plural
तू मेरा सबसे अच्छा दोस्त है।	You are my best friend.	Intimate; appropriate only in a very close relationship
तुम कैसे हो?	How are you?	Familiar, addressed to a male or a mixed group
तुम कैसी हो?	How are you?	Familiar, addressed to a female
आप कैसे हैं?	How are you?	Respectful, addressed to a male or a group
आप कैसी हैं?	How are you?	Respectful, addressed to a female
यह मेरी सहकर्मी है।	This is my colleague. / She is my colleague.	Nearby singular; feminine is shown by मेरी
वह मेरा भाई है।	He is my brother. / That is my brother.	Distant or previously mentioned singular
ये मेरे दोस्त हैं।	These are my friends. / They are my friends.	Near plural
वे कल आएँगे।	They will come tomorrow.	Distant or previously mentioned plural
ये प्रोफेसर वर्मा हैं।	This is Professor Varma.	Respectful singular with plural agreement
क्या आप हिंदी बोलते हैं?	Do you speak Hindi?	Respectful; addressed to a male
हम आपसे कल मिलेंगे।	We will meet you tomorrow.	आप becomes आपसे after से
उसने मुझे बुलाया।	He/She called me.	Advanced object/case forms: उसने, मुझे

Common Mistakes

Using तू as the normal singular “you”

• Wrong: तू कहाँ रहता है? to a new adult acquaintance
• Right: आप कहाँ रहते हैं?
• Why: English singular “you” does not tell you which Hindi form to choose. तू requires exceptional closeness or a deliberately marked tone. Begin with आप when unsure.

Mixing a pronoun with the wrong form of होना

• Wrong: आप कहाँ है?
• Right: आप कहाँ हैं?
• Why: Respectful आप takes plural agreement. Use तू है, तुम हो, and आप हैं as fixed starter patterns.

Expecting separate words for “he” and “she”

• Wrong assumption: वह means only “he.”
• Right: वह can mean “he,” “she,” “it,” or “that.”
• Why: Hindi third-person pronouns mark distance and number, not masculine versus feminine gender. Look at context and agreement: वह गया suggests a male referent; वह गई suggests a female referent.

Treating यह/वह only as “this/that”

• Wrong interpretation: यह मेरी माँ है must mean only “This is my mother.”
• Right interpretation: It may also be translated naturally as “She is my mother.”
• Why: Hindi uses the same forms to point to people or things and to refer back to them.

Using singular agreement for respectful third person

• Wrong: वे मेरे शिक्षक है। when speaking respectfully about one teacher
• Right: वे मेरे शिक्षक हैं।
• Why: Respectful वे, like आप, takes plural agreement even for one person.

Copying English capitalization

• Wrong assumption: A respectful Hindi pronoun must be capitalized like a title.
• Right: Write आप, ये, or वे normally.
• Why: Devanagari has no uppercase and lowercase distinction. Respect is shown by the pronoun and agreement, not capitalization.

Usage Notes

Politeness is relational, not mechanical

Age matters, but it is not the only factor. A manager may use तुम with an employee while the employee uses आप in return. Close friends of the same age may use तुम, and some families use आप between spouses or for older relatives. Other speakers maintain आप with almost everyone. Listen to how people address each other and, when appropriate, follow the form used toward you.

Moving from आप to तुम can signal growing closeness. Moving in the other direction may create distance, seriousness, or deliberate respect. Because pronouns carry this social meaning, changing only the pronoun while keeping the wrong verb form sounds inconsistent.

Spoken pronunciation and written forms

In much everyday speech, यह and वह are pronounced roughly like ये (ye) and वो (vo), even when singular. Standard spelling usually remains यह and वह. Meanwhile, written ये and वे are the standard plural forms. This creates a small mismatch between spelling and casual pronunciation, so use the verb and context—not sound alone—to determine number.

People, objects, and grammatical gender

The English translations “he,” “she,” “it,” “this,” and “that” are conveniences, not one-to-one definitions. यह and वह can refer to people, animals, and objects. Hindi nouns have grammatical gender (a noun class that controls agreement), so an object may trigger masculine or feminine forms even though English calls it “it.” That agreement belongs to the noun, not to a gender distinction inside the pronoun.

Beyond the Basics: Pronouns in Other Sentence Roles

You do not need to master this section at A1, but you will see these forms very soon. A pronoun changes when it is followed by many postpositions—words placed after a noun or pronoun, such as से “from/with,” को “to,” and का “of.” The changed form is called the oblique form: simply, the form used before one of these following words.

Basic form	Common oblique base	Example	Meaning
मैं	मुझ-	मुझसे	from me; with me
हम	हम-	हमसे	from us; with us
तू	तुझ-	तुझसे	from you; with you
तुम	तुम-	तुमसे	from you; with you
आप	आप-	आपसे	from you; with you
यह	इस-	इससे	from this person/thing; with him/her/it
वह	उस-	उससे	from that person/thing; with him/her/it
ये	इन-	इनसे	from these; with them
वे	उन-	उनसे	from those; with them

Some combinations are fused or have very common special forms. मुझे means “to me” or, in many sentences, simply “me”; तुझे is its intimate counterpart. उसे can mean “to him,” “to her,” or “to it,” while उन्हें means “to them” and can also refer respectfully to one person.

Possession also uses related forms: मेरा “my,” हमारा “our,” तेरा “your” with तू, तुम्हारा “your” with तुम, and आपका “your” with आप. Third-person forms include इसका/उसका and इनका/उनका. These possessive words change to agree with the thing possessed: मेरा भाई, मेरी बहन, मेरे दोस्त.

Another later pattern is ने, used with many completed transitive actions (actions done to something). The third-person combinations are इसने, उसने, इन्होंने, and उन्होंने. First- and second-person forms include मैंने, हमने, तूने, तुमने, and आपने. This pattern affects verb agreement and belongs to later study; for now, recognise that उसने is still connected to वह.

Practice Tips

1. Learn pronoun and verb pairs together. Say the three sets aloud: तू है—तुम हो—आप हैं and तू करता/करती है—तुम करते/करती हो—आप करते/करती हैं. This prevents agreement mistakes better than memorizing isolated pronouns.
2. Build a social-distance ladder. Imagine speaking to a very close childhood friend, a friendly classmate, and a new client. Ask each one the same question using तू, तुम, and आप, then adjust the verb.
3. Track reference and distance. While watching Hindi dialogue, note whether speakers use यह/ये for someone present or newly indicated and वह/वे for someone farther away or already discussed. Also listen for conversational pronunciations such as ye and vo.

Related Concepts

• Next step: To Be — Present Tense — practise हूँ, है, हो, हैं with every pronoun.
• Next step: Imperative Mood — commands change according to तू, तुम, and आप.
• Later detail: Honorific System — explore respectful reference, titles, and plural agreement in greater depth.
• Pronoun expansion: Indefinite Pronouns — learn forms meaning “someone,” “anyone,” and “something.”