Possessive Postposition in Hindi

In Brief

Hindi places का, के, or की after the possessor: राम का घर means “Ram’s house.” Choose the form by looking at the possessed noun, not the owner: use का with a masculine singular direct noun, के with a masculine plural or oblique noun, and की with a feminine noun.

Overview

The Hindi forms का / के / की connect a possessor to something associated with it. A possessor can be an owner, but the relationship may also be family, origin, material, purpose, or a part of a whole. Thus, the same pattern appears in सीमा की किताब “Seema’s book,” भारत की राजधानी “India’s capital,” and घर का दरवाज़ा “the door of the house.”

A noun is a word for a person, place, thing, or idea. Hindi nouns have grammatical gender: they are masculine or feminine. The possessive postposition changes to agree with the noun being possessed. In राम की किताब, the owner राम is male, but की is required because किताब “book” is feminine. This agreement is the central rule at A1.

English speakers often focus on the owner because English adds ’s to that word. Hindi asks you to look in the other direction. First identify the following noun, then choose the matching form. The related concept of Grammatical Gender is therefore an important foundation for this topic.

How It Works

Basic word order

The usual pattern is:

possessor + का / के / की + possessed noun

• मोहन का कमरा — Mohan’s room
• मोहन की चाबी — Mohan’s key
• मोहन के जूते — Mohan’s shoes

The possessor comes first, just as it does with English ’s. Unlike English of, however, Hindi does not normally put the possessed item first: the color of the car becomes गाड़ी का रंग, literally “car + possessive marker + color.”

Choosing का, के, or की

Agreement means that one word changes form to match features of another word. Here, का / के / की agrees with the possessed noun.

Possessed noun	Form	Example	Meaning
Masculine singular, direct	का	लड़के का कमरा	the boy’s room
Masculine plural, direct	के	लड़के के कमरे	the boy’s rooms
Masculine, oblique	के	लड़के के कमरे में	in the boy’s room
Feminine, singular or plural	की	लड़के की किताब / किताबें	the boy’s book / books

The direct form is the ordinary noun form when no later postposition controls it. The oblique form is the form used before a postposition such as में “in,” पर “on,” or से “from/with.” This explains an important contrast:

• रवि का घर बड़ा है। — Ravi’s house is big.
• रवि के घर में दो कमरे हैं। — There are two rooms in Ravi’s house.

घर is masculine singular in both sentences. In the second sentence, में puts the whole phrase रवि का घर into an oblique setting, so का changes to के. Many masculine nouns do not visibly change themselves in the oblique singular, but the change from का to के still shows the grammar.

For feminine nouns, number and oblique status do not change की:

• अनु की बेटी — Anu’s daughter
• अनु की बेटियाँ — Anu’s daughters
• अनु की बेटी से — from Anu’s daughter

The possessor also takes an oblique form

Because का / के / की is a postposition, an ordinary noun immediately before it is put into the oblique form. This is easy to miss because proper names and many nouns show no visible change.

Basic noun	Before का / के / की	Example
लड़का “boy”	लड़के	लड़के की साइकिल — the boy’s bicycle
लड़के “boys”	लड़कों	लड़कों का स्कूल — the boys’ school
सीता “Sita”	सीता	सीता का भाई — Sita’s brother
शहर “city”	शहर	शहर की सड़कें — the city’s roads

Notice that the ending on the possessor and the choice of का / के / की answer different questions. In लड़कों का स्कूल, लड़कों reflects the plural possessor “boys,” while का agrees with masculine singular स्कूल “school.”

Possessive pronouns

With pronouns, Hindi normally uses special possessive forms rather than simply adding का to the everyday subject form. These forms still change to match the possessed noun.

Person	Masculine singular	Masculine plural/oblique	Feminine	English base meaning
मैं	मेरा	मेरे	मेरी	my
तू	तेरा	तेरे	तेरी	your (very intimate)
तुम	तुम्हारा	तुम्हारे	तुम्हारी	your (familiar)
आप	आपका	आपके	आपकी	your (polite/respectful)
यह / वह	इसका / उसका	इसके / उसके	इसकी / उसकी	this person’s / his, her, its
हम	हमारा	हमारे	हमारी	our
ये / वे	इनका / उनका	इनके / उनके	इनकी / उनकी	these people’s / their

For example, मेरा does not mean “my masculine self.” It means that the following possessed noun is masculine singular: मेरा नाम “my name.” Compare मेरी बहन “my sister” and मेरे दोस्त “my friends.” Hindi does not distinguish “his” from “her” in these forms: उसका can mean “his,” “her,” or sometimes “its,” depending on context.

Questions with किसका

To ask “whose?”, use किसका / किसके / किसकी. The same agreement rule applies:

• यह किसका फोन है? — Whose phone is this?
• ये किसके जूते हैं? — Whose shoes are these?
• यह किसकी चाबी है? — Whose key is this?

Examples in Context

Hindi	English	Note
राम का घर पास में है।	Ram’s house is nearby.	घर is masculine singular: का
राम की किताब मेज़ पर है।	Ram’s book is on the table.	किताब is feminine: की
राम के दोस्त दिल्ली में रहते हैं।	Ram’s friends live in Delhi.	दोस्त is masculine plural: के
मेरी चाय ठंडी हो गई है।	My tea has gone cold.	चाय is feminine: मेरी
आपका नाम क्या है?	What is your name?	Respectful “your”; नाम is masculine singular
हमारे बच्चे स्कूल में हैं।	Our children are at school.	बच्चे is masculine plural: हमारे
उसकी बहन डॉक्टर है।	His/Her sister is a doctor.	उसकी can mean “his” or “her”
यह भारत की राजधानी है।	This is the capital of India.	A relationship, not literal ownership
लकड़ी की मेज़ बहुत भारी है।	The wooden table is very heavy.	Material: “table of wood”
मेरे कमरे में एक खिड़की है।	There is one window in my room.	कमरे is oblique before में, so मेरे
बच्चों का खाना तैयार है।	The children’s food is ready.	बच्चों marks a plural possessor; खाना requires का
बच्चों की किताबें यहाँ हैं।	The children’s books are here.	किताबें is feminine plural: की
यह किसकी छतरी है?	Whose umbrella is this?	छतरी is feminine: किसकी
नेहा के पिता घर पर हैं।	Neha’s father is at home.	पिता commonly takes plural agreement as a respectful kinship term

Common Mistakes

Matching the marker to the owner

• Wrong: राम का किताब
• Right: राम की किताब
• Why: राम is the owner, but किताब is the noun that controls agreement. किताब is feminine, so use की.

Using का for every English possessive

• Wrong: मेरा बहन
• Right: मेरी बहन
• Why: Forms such as मेरा also agree. बहन “sister” is feminine, so “my sister” is मेरी बहन.

Forgetting masculine plural agreement

• Wrong: सीमा का दोस्त when you mean “Seema’s friends”
• Right: सीमा के दोस्त
• Why: दोस्त is plural here, so masculine का changes to के.

Missing the oblique change before another postposition

• Wrong: मेरा घर में
• Right: मेरे घर में
• Why: में places the masculine noun phrase in the oblique form. Therefore मेरा changes to मेरे.

Keeping an -आ possessor in its direct form

• Wrong: लड़का की साइकिल
• Right: लड़के की साइकिल
• Why: लड़का changes to oblique लड़के before the postposition की. The feminine noun साइकिल then determines the choice of की.

Translating “have” with का / के / की alone

• Wrong: मेरी एक कार है for a neutral “I have a car”
• Right: मेरे पास एक कार है।
• Why: Hindi commonly expresses possession of an available object with के पास “near/in someone’s possession.” मेरी कार means “my car,” but a complete “I have…” statement usually needs a different construction.

Usage Notes

का / के / की covers much more than legal ownership. It naturally expresses family relationships (रीना का भाई, “Reena’s brother”), parts (मेज़ का पैर, “the table leg”), places and institutions (दिल्ली की मेट्रो, “Delhi’s metro”), and substances (सोने की अंगूठी, “a gold ring”). English may use ’s, of, a compound noun, or an adjective where Hindi uses the same possessive pattern.

In everyday speech, context can allow the possessed noun to be omitted. If someone asks यह किसकी किताब है? “Whose book is this?”, the answer may simply be मेरी है। “It’s mine.” The form still reflects the omitted feminine noun किताब. With a masculine object, one might answer मेरा है।

The choice among तू, तुम, and आप expresses social relationship as well as grammar. तेरा can sound intimate, rough, or insulting outside a close relationship. तुम्हारा is familiar, while आपका is the safe respectful choice with strangers and in formal situations. All three sets follow the same agreement pattern.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

You do not need to master all of the following at A1, but these patterns are common and help explain forms you will meet later.

अपना: possession referring back to the subject

Hindi often uses अपना / अपने / अपनी when the possessor is the subject of the same clause. This is a reflexive possessive, meaning that it points back to the person doing the action.

• रीना अपनी किताब पढ़ रही है। — Reena is reading her own book.
• अमित अपने दोस्त से बात कर रहा है। — Amit is talking to his own friend.
• मैं अपना काम कर रहा हूँ। — I am doing my work.

The form agrees with किताब, दोस्त, or काम—not with रीना, अमित, or मैं. Compare रीना उसकी किताब पढ़ रही है, which normally means that Reena is reading another woman’s or man’s book, not her own.

Agreement can reveal an omitted noun

Possessive forms can stand on their own when the noun is understood:

• कौन-सा बैग आपका है? — Which bag is yours?
• नीली गाड़ी हमारी है। — The blue car is ours.
• ये जूते मेरे हैं। — These shoes are mine.

The ending still follows the understood or stated item: बैग gives आपका, गाड़ी gives हमारी, and जूते gives मेरे.

Nested possessive phrases

Possessive groups can be placed inside larger possessive groups:

• मेरे दोस्त की बहन — my friend’s sister
• मेरी बहन के दोस्त का घर — my sister’s friend’s house

Work from the inside out. In मेरे दोस्त की बहन, मेरे agrees with oblique दोस्त because दोस्त is followed by की, while की agrees with feminine बहन. In long phrases, each possessive form agrees with the noun immediately governed by that relationship, not with every noun in the chain.

के पास and abstract possession

Hindi uses several constructions where English uses “have.” के पास is common for concrete, available possessions: मेरे पास पैसे हैं “I have money.” Other relationships may use different patterns, such as मुझे समय चाहिए “I need time” or मुझे बुखार है “I have a fever.” Do not assume that every English “have” sentence can be rebuilt with का / के / की.

Practice Tips

1. Sort nouns before building phrases. Make three columns headed का, के, and की. Put familiar nouns such as घर, दोस्त, किताब, चाबी, and जूते in the correct column, then add one possessor to each.
2. Practice one possessor across all forms. Say मेरा कमरा, मेरे कमरे, मेरी कुर्सी, then repeat with आपका, उसका, and हमारा. This trains agreement instead of memorizing isolated phrases.
3. Look for a second postposition. When you see में, पर, से, or को after a masculine possessive phrase, check whether का must become के: मेरे घर में, उसके भाई से.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Grammatical Gender — gender and number determine whether the possessive form is का, के, or की.