2.7 Personal Pronouns with Verb “To be”

Dr AVINASH K

16 2.7 Personal Pronouns with Verb “To be”

Verb “To be”

Instructor Video: Verb “to be”

Singular pronouns and verb “to be.”

Plural pronouns and verb “to be.”

Hindi

Transliteration

English

Hindi

Transliteration

English

मैं __हूँ

main __hoon

I am __.

हम __हैं

hum __hain

We are __.

तू __है

tu __hai

You are __.

तुम __हो

tum __ho

You are __.

तुम __हो

tum __ho

You are __.

आप __हैं

aap __hain

You are __.

आप __हैं

aap __hain

You are __.

यह/वह __है

ye/wo __hai

S/he, This/That is __.

ये/वे __हैं

ye/we __hain

They, These/Those are __.

Table 3. List of Personal pronouns with the forms of verb होना “to be.”

Summary

Verb “to be”

Pronouns

Examples

हूँ hoon

मैं

मैं अध्यापक हूँ | main adhyaapak hoon. I am a teacher.

हो ho

तुम

तुम छात्र हो | tum chhaatr ho. You are a student

है hai

तू, यह, वह (Singular pronouns)

तू लड़का है | tu laRakaa hai. You are a boy.

यह एक किताब है | ye ek kitaab hai. This is a book.

वह एक मेज़ है | wo ek mez hai. That is a table.

पीटर एक दोस्त है | Peter ek dost hai. Peter is a friend.

हैं hain

हम, आप, ये, वे (Plural pronouns/honorific)

हम छात्र हैं | hum chhaatr hain. We are students.

आप अच्छे हैं | aap achchhe hain. You are good.

ये/वे किसान हैं | ye/we kisaan hain. They are farmers.

ये सब्ज़ियाँ हैं | ye sabziyaan hain. These are vegetables.

वे फल हैं | we phal hain. Those are fruits.

फ़िलिप जी अध्यापक हैं | Philip ji adhyaapak hain. Philip ji is my teacher.

Table 4. List of verb होना “to be,” with personal pronouns.

Positive Sentence and the Verb होना “to be”

Unlike English, the standard word order of Hindi is: Subject-Object-Verb (SOV).

Structure 1:

English Structure

Subject

Verb

Object

This

is

a pen

Hindi Structure

Subject

Object

Verb

This

a pen

is

यह

एक कलम

है |

Negative Sentence in Hindi and the Verb होना “to be”

Structure 2:

English structure

Subject

Verb

Negative

Object

This

is

not

a pen

Hindi structure

Subject

Object

Negative

Verb

This

a pen

not

is

यह

एक कलम

नहीं

है |

Yes/No question and the Verb होना “to be”

In English, we move auxiliary verb at the beginning of a sentence to form a yes/no question. Whereas, in Hindi, the word क्या kyaa is used at the beginning of a sentence to form a yes/no question. Please note that here the word क्या kyaa does not mean “what.

Structure 3:

English structure

Auxiliary verb

Subject

Object

Is

this

a pen

Hindi structure

क्या kyaa

Subject

Object

Verb

Kyaa

this

a pen

is

क्या

यह

एक कलम

है ?

Yes/No question + Negative and the Verb होना “to be”

Structure 4:

English structure

Auxiliary verb

(negative)

Subject

(Negative)

Object

Is

(not)

this

(not)

a pen

Isn’t this a pen? / Is this not a pen?

Hindi structure

क्या kyaa

Subject

Object

Negative

Auxiliary Verb

kyaa

this

a pen

not

is

क्या

यह

एक कलम

नहीं

है ?

Activities

Now as you know how to change a simple Hindi sentence into Negative, yes/no question, and yes/no question + negative, please fill the following table as instructed.

Positive

Negative

Yes/No Question

Yes/No Question + Negative

मैं अध्यापक हूँ |

हम दोस्त नहीं हैं |

क्या वे छात्र हैं?

क्या आप हिन्दुस्तानी नहीं हैं ?

तू भाई है |

तुम छात्रा नहीं हो |

क्या यह आलू है ?

क्या वह टमाटर नहीं है ?

Please fill in the blanks with suitable object to form five sentences with each pronoun given below. You can use the vocabulary list in this chapter or dictionary for any help that you need to complete this activity.

Subject

Object

Verb “to be.”

English

मैं

एक अध्यापक

हूँ |

I am a teacher.

मैं

हम

दोस्त

हैं |

We are friends.

हम

तू

होशियार

है |

You are smart.

तू

तुम

एक लड़के

हो |

You are a boy.

तुम

आप

अच्छी

हैं |

You (female) are good.

आप

यह

एक किताब

है |

This is a book.

यह

वह

आपका तौलिया

है |

That is your towel.

वह

ये

सब्ज़ियाँ

हैं |

These are vegetables.

ये

वे

क्या

हैं ?

What are those?

वे

Test Yourself

धन्यवाद !

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16 2.7 Personal Pronouns with Verb “To be”

Verb “To be”

Summary

Positive Sentence and the Verb होना “to be”

Negative Sentence in Hindi and the Verb होना “to be”

Yes/No question and the Verb होना “to be”

Yes/No question + Negative and the Verb होना “to be”

Activities

Test Yourself

Study Abroad Reading/Listening Activity

Pre-Reading/Listening Activities

Reading

Listening

Post-Reading/Listening Activities:

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