A Door Into Hindi: Lesson 22

By itself, the word याद is a feminine noun meaning “memory”:

मेरे कमरे में सिर्फ़ तुम्हारी ही यादें हैं। = In my room are memories of only you. (Lesson 7)

याद also appears in a number of verb constructions:

“To remember” or “to miss (someone)” is a dative construction with याद होना :

मुझे याद आ रही है। = I’m remembering [something]. = I’m missing [someone].

मुझे उस रात की एक एक बात याद है। = I remember every single thing of (about) that night.

क्या मैं तुमको याद हूँ? = Do you remember me?

The verb agrees with the thing remembered.

To experience a memory, or to miss someone, we may also use the verb याद आना. This is also a dative construction where the verb agrees with the thing remembered or the person missed.

मुझे एक काम याद आया। = I remembered a work (something I was supposed to do).

मुझे एक बात याद आई। = I remembered something.

(मुझको) याद नहीं आ रही है। = (I) don’t remember.

(आपको) हमारी याद आयेगी। = You will miss us. = You will remember us.

तुम्हारी याद बहुत आ रही थी। = I was missing you a lot.

If the thing remembered is not specified, the verb (as usual) will be in masculine singular form:

मुझे याद आ रहा है कि मुझे आज बहुत ज़रूरी काम है।

= I’m remembering that today I have very important work.

The verbs above are used mostly for passive or involuntary memories. To actively remember something, we may use याद करना or याद रखना. With these two verbs, the subject is the person remembering and the object is the thing remembered.

याद करो, वह हमारी पहली मुलाक़ात थी। = Remember, it was our first meeting. (Lesson 7)

मैं याद करने की कोशिश कर रही हूँ। = I’m trying to remember.

मैंने तुमको याद किया। = I remembered you. = I missed you.

यह गाना याद कीजिये। = Memorize this song.

मेरी बात याद रखो! = Remember (keep the memory of) what I say!

“To remind someone” is expressed by the verb याद दिलाना :

उसको याद दिलाइये कि आज मेरा जन्म-दिन है। = Remind her that today is my birthday.