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
मैं
मैं
मैं
हम दोस्त हैं | We are friends.
हम
हम
हम
हम
तू होशियार है | You are smart.
तू
तू
तू
तू
तुम एक लड़के हो | You are a boy.
तुम
तुम
तुम
तुम
आप अच्छी हैं | You (female) are good.
आप
आप
आप
आप
यह एक किताब है | This is a book.
यह
यह
यह
यह
वह आपका तौलिया है | That is your towel.
वह
वह
वह
वह
ये सब्ज़ियाँ हैं | These are vegetables.
ये
ये
ये
ये
ये
वे क्या हैं ? What are those?
वे
वे
वे
वे

Test Yourself

धन्यवाद !

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