A Door Into Hindi: Lesson 3

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3.4

Possessive Pronouns


A possessive pronoun functions just like an adjective: it agrees with the noun it modifies in gender and number.

Here is a table of the possessive pronouns (in their masculine singular forms):

Singular

Plural

Pronoun

English

Possessive

Pronoun

English

Possessive

मैं

my

मेरा

हम

our

हमारा

तू

your

तेरा

तुम

your

तुम्हारा

---

---

आप

your

आपका

वह

his, her, its (far)

उसका

वे

their (far)

उनका

यह

his, her, its (near)

इसका

ये

their (near)

इनका

कौन

whose?

किसका

कौन कौन

whose?

किनका

---

one’s own

अपना

---

one’s own

अपना

Note that in Hindi, the possessive pronouns reflect the gender of the thing possessed rather than the gender of the possessor. This is different than in English, where the possessive pronouns "his" and "her" reflect the gender of the possessor. For example, in the Hindi phrase उसकी माता you cannot tell if it means "his mother" or "her mother"; the possessive pronoun is feminine to reflect the gender of माता .

Examples with मेरा:

Possessive plus noun

Singular

Plural

Masculine (Type 1)

मेरा संतरा

मेरे संतरे

Masculine (Type 2)

मेरा फल

मेरे फल

Feminine (Type 1)

मेरी रोटी

मेरी रोटियाँ

Feminine (Type 2)

मेरी दुकान

मेरी दुकानें

 

See Snell's Teach Yourself Hindi (2000)
Section 6.2 page 77