Hindi Pronouns and Basic Verb Forms
Last reviewed on 9 May 2026
The fastest way to start building your own Hindi sentences is to lock in two things: the pronouns ("I", "you", "he/she/it"), and the present tense of the verb honā ("to be"). Together they handle a huge number of everyday sentences — "I am tired", "you are right", "he is at home", "where are they?". Once those click, regular verbs are just an extra agreement step on top.
This page assumes you've read the basic grammar overview, which introduces gender, formality, and Hindi's Subject-Object-Verb word order. Here we go one level deeper into the pronoun and verb tables.
The pronouns at a glance
| English | Hindi | Pronunciation | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | मैं | main | Same form for masculine and feminine — gender shows up on the verb, not the pronoun. |
| we | हम | ham | Used for "we" but also colloquially for "I" in some regions. |
| you (very informal) | तू | tū | Children, intimate friends, religious context. Otherwise rude. |
| you (informal) | तुम | tum | Friends, peers, younger family members. |
| you (formal / plural / respectful) | आप | āp | Default for strangers and elders. Always takes plural verb forms. |
| he / she / it / this (near) | यह | yah / ye | For someone or something close by. No gender distinction. |
| he / she / it / that (far) | वह | vah / vo | For someone or something further away. No gender distinction. |
| they / these | ये | ye | Plural near. Also used as a respectful singular ("she/he"). |
| they / those | वे | ve / vo | Plural far. Also used as a respectful singular. |
The other surprise is the layered "you". Picking the wrong level is the single most common politeness mistake foreigners make in Hindi. Default to āp with anyone you don't know well, and switch down to tum only after a friendship is established.
The verb "to be" in the present tense
This is the most important verb in the language. Learn the table below thoroughly and you can already build hundreds of sentences.
| Subject | Hindi form | Pronunciation | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| मैं (main, "I") | हूँ | hūn | मैं ठीक हूँ। "I am fine." |
| तू (tū, "you" v.informal) | है | hai | तू कहाँ है? "Where are you?" (very informal) |
| तुम (tum, "you" informal) | हो | ho | तुम कहाँ हो? "Where are you?" (informal) |
| आप (āp, "you" formal) | हैं | hain | आप कहाँ हैं? "Where are you?" (formal) |
| यह / वह (yah/vah, "he/she/it") | है | hai | वह घर पर है। "He/she is at home." |
| हम (ham, "we") | हैं | hain | हम तैयार हैं। "We are ready." |
| ये / वे (ye/ve, "they") | हैं | hain | वे यहाँ हैं। "They are here." |
Five forms cover everything: hūn, hai, ho, hain, plus the very-informal hai with tū. Notice that āp uses the plural hain even when only one person is meant — that's the honorific-plural at work.
Worked examples: building your first sentences
With the pronouns and "to be" in place, you can already say:
- मैं भारतीय हूँ। main bhāratīya hūn. — "I am Indian."
- मैं भूखा हूँ। main bhūkhā hūn. — "I am hungry." (male speaker; female would say bhūkhī)
- तुम मेरे दोस्त हो। tum mere dost ho. — "You are my friend."
- आप कैसे हैं? āp kaise hain? — "How are you?" (formal, addressing a man); kaisī hain? for a woman.
- वह डॉक्टर है। vah ḍākṭar hai. — "He/she is a doctor."
- यह मेरा घर है। yah merā ghar hai. — "This is my house."
- हम विद्यार्थी हैं। ham vidyārthī hain. — "We are students."
Notice the structure: subject → adjective/noun → form of "to be". That's it. No articles, no auxiliary "do" for questions, no rearranging word order to make a question — you just rise the intonation. vah doctor hai? is "Is he/she a doctor?".
Regular verbs: the present habitual
For verbs other than "to be", Hindi most often uses two forms together: a participle (which carries gender and number) plus the present-tense form of honā. The pattern is:
verb stem + tā / tī / te + present of honā
The stem comes from removing -nā from the dictionary form: khānā ("to eat") → stem khā; jānā ("to go") → stem jā; karnā ("to do") → stem kar.
The participle ending agrees with the subject:
- -tā for masculine singular subjects.
- -tī for feminine singular subjects (and feminine plural).
- -te for masculine plural subjects, and for any subject taking āp.
| Subject | "I/he/etc. eat(s)" | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| मैं (m) | मैं खाता हूँ | main khātā hūn |
| मैं (f) | मैं खाती हूँ | main khātī hūn |
| तुम (m) | तुम खाते हो | tum khāte ho |
| तुम (f) | तुम खाती हो | tum khātī ho |
| आप (m or honorific) | आप खाते हैं | āp khāte hain |
| आप (f honorific) | आप खाती हैं | āp khātī hain |
| वह (m) | वह खाता है | vah khātā hai |
| वह (f) | वह खाती है | vah khātī hai |
| हम / वे (m) | हम / वे खाते हैं | ham / ve khāte hain |
| हम / वे (f) | हम / वे खाती हैं | ham / ve khātī hain |
The same pattern works with any other regular verb. Swap khā for jā and you have "go": main jātā hūn ("I go"). Swap it for kar and you have "do": vah kartī hai ("she does").
Negation and questions
Two more pieces and you have a working spoken kit:
- Negation: insert nahīn (नहीं) before the verb. Main nahīn jātā hūn ("I don't go"). With honā alone, the present form is often dropped: main bīmār nahīn ("I am not sick").
- Questions: in casual speech, just say the statement with rising intonation. In writing, you can prefix kyā (क्या) — kyā āp hindī bolte hain? ("Do you speak Hindi?"). Information questions use the question word at the start: kahān, kab, kyā, kaun, kyon ("where, when, what, who, why").
Common mistakes when starting out
- Forgetting that āp always takes plural forms. Even if you're talking to one person, āp is paired with hain, khāte, jātī (plural), never the singular forms.
- Mixing up hai and hain. One nasal mark is the difference between singular and plural. The dot above (the anusvara) is small but it carries grammatical weight.
- Putting the verb in the middle. Hindi sentences end with the verb. "I eat rice" is main chāval khātā hūn — the verb cluster is at the end.
- Forgetting to make the verb agree with gender. A male speaker says main thakā hūn ("I am tired"); a female speaker says main thakī hūn. The pronoun main doesn't change, but the verb does.
- Skipping the agreement on adjectives too. Achchhā laṛkā ("good boy") becomes achchhī laṛkī ("good girl"). Adjectives ending in -ā change with the noun.
The page on common translation mistakes goes deeper on register and gender pitfalls.
A short practice routine
- Write five sentences about yourself using main and honā: name, nationality, profession, mood, location.
- Rewrite the same sentences as if you were addressing a stranger using āp.
- Pick three regular verbs (khānā, jānā, karnā) and conjugate them in the present habitual for each pronoun.
- Read your sentences aloud, then swap them for the negative form by inserting nahīn.
- Paste the same sentences into the English-to-Hindi translator in reverse: type the Hindi and check that the English comes back close to what you intended.
Twenty minutes of this for a week and you'll have the pronoun-and-verb skeleton at fingertip speed. Everything more advanced — past tense, future, perfect aspect, the famous ne postposition — sits on top of this foundation.
Where to go next
- The Learn Hindi guide covers the alphabet, vocabulary, and other basics.
- The Devanagari vowel signs page is the natural companion if you want to read what you're writing.
- The Hindi numbers page handles a separate but everyday block of vocabulary.
- The common phrases reference shows pronouns and verbs in real expressions.