Possessive Pronouns in Hindi
This is a detailed guide to help you understand possessive pronouns in Hindi.
What is pronoun?
What is a possessive pronoun?
Possessive Pronouns and Noun Gender
Possessive pronouns vs. Possessive Adjectives
What is a Pronoun?
A pronoun is a type of word. It replaces a noun or a noun phrase. Its purpose is to make speaking and writing more interesting and clearer. Here’s an example:
I asked my friend if she’s going to our friend’s big, Indian wedding this summer and invited her to go shopping with me on Pioneer Boulevard to buy some new outfits to wear.
The groom is gonna show up for his baraat via zipline before he mounts the elephant where we will all dance along the waterfront to the gorgeous outdoor venue where the mandap will be set up.
If pronouns didn’t exist this is how these paragraphs would read:
Samta asked Kanika if Kanika is going to Ishani’s big, Indian wedding this summer and invited Kanika to go shopping with Samta on Pioneer Boulevard to buy some new outfits to wear.
The groom is gonna show up for the groom’s baraat via zipline before the groom mounts the elephant where the wedding guests will all dance along the waterfront to the gorgeous outdoor venue where the mandap will be set up.
What is a noun?
A person, place, thing, animal, or idea
What is a noun phrase?
A group of words consisting of a noun plus any words that describe or modify that noun. Words that describe nouns are called adjectives. Other types of words that can modify nouns are:
- other nouns – wedding invitation. Wedding and invitation are both nouns. But in this use case, wedding functions as an adjective describing the invitation.
- different types of pronouns can modify nouns, such as demonstrative pronouns: this, that, these, those – these books or that chair. Possessive pronouns, the topic of this article such as my book or their book.
- Prepositions, (the individual words) such as “on” as well as prepositional phrases, such as “on the table” can modify nouns too.
For example: The ladoos on the table look delicious. “On” is an individual preposition that modifies ladoos by communicating where they are. On + table create the prepositional phrase “on the table” which also modifies ladoos.
So in this example “on” is an individual preposition that modifies ladoos without being part of a prepositional phrase; and “on the table” is a prepositional phrase that also modifies ladoos.
There are several different types of pronouns such as:
- Personal pronouns: I, me, you, he, him, she, her, we, us, they, them, it – these can be used as subject or objects in a sentence.
- Subject pronouns: I, you, he, she, it, we, they are a subset of personal pronouns and have a specific function – to replace the noun subject of a sentence – the person/thing performing the action of a sentence.
- Object Pronouns are also a subset of personal pronouns: me, you, him, her, it, us, them. These pronouns replace the object of the verb and can also be used as prepositions.
There are many more types of pronouns. I’m not going to address all of them in this article as our focus here is to explore possessive pronouns.
What is a Possessive Pronoun?
It’s another type of pronoun – a word that replaces a noun or a noun phrase. This type of pronoun indicates ownership and/or possession of something.
These are the possessive pronouns in English:
- Mine – This packet of Chota Bheem Parle G is mine.
- Yours – The pop up Ramayan book is yours.
- His – He did his “Mogambo khush hua” impression and nailed it!
- Hers – that swanky new tiffin with 6 layers is hers!
- Its – Vande Mataram is its signature slogan!
- Ours – These pretty boxes of kaju katli and boondi ke ladoo are ours.
- Theirs – The Jai Sholay costume is theirs.
| Subject (Who owns it?) | Possessive Pronoun (English) | Masculine Singular | Feminine Singular + Plural | Masculine Plural Mixed Gender Plural Respectful form (male) Oblique case |
| I (Main) | Mine | Mera This big, blue house is mine. Yeh bada, neela ghar mera hai. | Meri Harry Potter ki kithaab meri hai. The Harry Potter book is mine. | Mere All of these dupattas are mine. Yeh saare dupatte mere hain. |
| You informal (Tu) | Yours | Tera That dark red apple is yours. Vo gehra laal seb tera hai. | Teri That long, heavy and black wand is yours. Vo lambi, bhaari aur kaali chadi teri hai. | Tere Those blue and green socks are yours. Vo neelay aur haray mozay tere hain. |
| You familiar (Tum) | Yours | Tumhara The big, dark red apple is yours. Bada, gehra laal seb tumhaara hai. | Tumhari That long, heavy, black wand is yours. Vo lambi, bhaari aur kaali chadi tumhari hai. | Tumhare Those blue socks are yours. Vo neelay sur haray mozay tumhare hain. |
| You formal (Aap) | Yours | Aapka That dark red apple is yours. Vo gehra laal seb Aapka hai. | Aapki That long, heavy, black wand is yours. Vo lambi, bhaari aur kaali chadi Aapki hai. | Aapke Those blue socks are yours. Vo neelay sur haray mozay Aapke hain. |
| He/She/It | His/Hers/Its (proximal) Proximal derives from this/these; think of times when you’d say, “this person” or these <objects>. The words “this/these” imply that the object is nearby, in your proximity. | Iska This is her water. Yeh iska paani hai. | Iski This is his cat. Yeh iski billi hai. These bracelets are hers. Yeh chudiyan iski hain. | Iske These shoes are his. Yeh joothe iske hain. |
| He/She/It (Vo) | His, Hers, Its (distal) Distal derives from that/those; think of times when you’d say, “that person” or those <objects>. The words “that/those” imply that the object/place is not nearby (meaning you can’t touch the object/you’re not at that location. | Uska This is her water. Yeh uska paani hai. | Uski This is his cat. Yeh uski billi hai. These bracelets are hers. Yeh chudiyan uski hain. | Uske These are his black and green shoes. Yeh uske kaale aur hare joothe hain. |
| We (Hum) | Ours | Hamaara The blue, red, and pink pillow is ours. Neela, laal aur gulabi takiya hamaara hai. | Hamaari This book is ours. Yeh kitaab hamaari hai. These books are ours. Yeh kitaabein hamaari hain. | Hamaare The blue, red, and pink pillows are ours. Neelay, laal aur gulabi takiye hamaare hain. |
| They (Vo) Also respectful form for: his hers theirs (proximal). | Theirs, (proximal) Proximal derives from this/these; think of times when you’d say, “this person” or these <objects>. The words “this/these” imply that the object is nearby, in your proximity. | Inka This is their house. Yeh ghar inka hai. | Inki All of these decorations are theirs. Yeh saare sajaawatein inki hain. (Below) Singular respectful form. This is her dress. Yeh inki frock hain. | Inke These sweet oranges are theirs. Yey meethay santarein inke hain. |
| They (Vo) Also respectful form for: his hers theirs (distal). | Theirs (distal) Distal derives from that/those; think of times when you’d say, “that person” or those <objects>. The words “that/those” imply that the object/place is not nearby (meaning you can’t touch the object/you’re not at that location. | Unka The small Mac computer is theirs. Chota Mac ka computer unka hai. This house is mine and that one is his/theirs. Yeh ghar mera hai, aur vo unka. How do you know whether “unka” refers to his or theirs? Context | Unki The book is theirs. Kithaab unki hai. Rangeen gaajaray unki hain. | Unke The red spoons are theirs. Laal chamach unke hain. Also, singular male respectful form. The glass is his. Gilaas unke hai. (respectful form). |
Possessive Pronouns and
Noun Gender
You probably noticed that each possessive pronoun has 3 variations (Seriously?! that’s not confusing at all!). Each variation corresponds to:
- One for masculine nouns (Mera, tera, tumhaara etc.)
- One for feminine nouns (Meri, teri, tumhaari etc.)
- One for plural masculine nouns and the respectful form (Mere, tere, tumhaare etc.)
Like many languages, such as Spanish, German, and French, Hindi has gendered nouns — nouns that are categorized as either masculine or feminine.
The noun gender has a direct impact on possessive pronouns. The gender of the noun determines the possessive pronoun, NOT the gender of the speaker.
This house is mine. Yeh ghar mera hai. ghar = masculine noun, therefore the possessive pronoun is “mera”.
Whether the speaker is male or female doesn’t matter – regardless of the speaker’s gender, everyone says, “Yeh ghar mera hai”.
This car is mine. Yeh gaadi meri hai. Gaadi = feminine noun, therefore the possessive pronoun is “meri”.
This can be confusing so it takes some practice. And it means that knowing the gender of nouns is pretty important. That’s why we created the short video below.
Possessive Pronouns vs. Possessive Adjectives
For anyone learning Hindi, this topic and section might blow your mind a little We’re gonna dig into a bit of a grammar review first. It’ll pay off as by the end you’ll have a better understanding of grammar in general and definitely Hindi grammar.
Ok so, possessive pronouns and possessive adjectives are two different things. They both indicate ownership/possession but they function differently in a sentence.
Possessive Pronouns replace nouns.
Possessive Adjectives modify nouns.
This house is mine. Mine = possessive pronoun
This is my house. My = possessive adjective.
How would you say these in Hindi?
This house is mine. Yeh ghar mera hai. Mera = possessive pronoun
This is my house. Yeh mera ghar hai. Mera = possessive adjective
The two sentences are SO similar right? And, yes I am going to address the fact that “mine” and “my” are the same word in Hindi…in a minute. First let’s unpack these two sentences, they are very similar but they are different.
| Possessive Pronoun (PP) | Possessive Adjective (PA) |
| This house is mine. Yeh ghar mera hai. | This is my house. Yeh mera ghar hai. |
| Mera can stand alone. We can remove the word “ghar” and the sentence still works: “yeh mera hai”. Possessive pronoun is a word that replaces a noun that has already been mentioned in a sentence. Possessive pronouns can stand alone. You can remove the noun and the sentence still works. | Mera cannot stand alone. It modifies the noun “ghar”. If we remove “ghar” we are left wondering, “mera…what?” Possessive adjectives are a word or words that communicate who or what something belongs to. They ALWAYS come right before the noun they modify. |
| This house is mine. Yeh ghar mera hai. PP can stand alone: Yeh mera hai. | This is my house. Yeh mera ghar hai. PA “mera” modifies ghar. |
| That is your auto rickshaw. Vo auto rickshaw aapka hai. PP can stand alone: Vo aapka hai. | That is your auto rickshaw. Vo aapka auto hai. PA “aapka” modifies auto rickshaw. |
| These are his tickets to Chandigarh. Yeh Chandigarh ke ticktein uske hain. PP can stand alone: Yeh uske hai. | These are his tickets to Chandigarh. Yeh uske Chandigarh ke ticktein hain. PA “uske” modifies ticktein. |
Possessive Pronouns and Possessive Adjectives Are The Same Words in Hindi
You read that right. They’re the same words:
Mera, Meri, Mere
Tera, Teri, Tere
Tumhara, Tumhari, Tumhare
Aapka, Aapki, Aapke
Iska, Iski, Iske
Uska, Uski, Uske
Hamara, Hamari, Hamare
Inka, Inki, Inke
Unka, Unki, Unke
You can tell whether it’s a possessive pronoun or a possessive adjective based on the characteristics described above – namely possessive adjectives are directly before the nouns they modify such as:
Mera ghar
Meri gaadi/Meri gaadiyan
Mere joothe
But what if I have a sentence such as, “The house is mine.” Mine = mera = possessive pronoun. Earlier we did, “This house is mine”.
“This is house is mine” translates to “Yeh ghar mera hai”. “Mera” is a possessive pronoun as it can stand alone – we can drop “ghar” and it still makes sense.
This, that, these, those are called demonstrative pronouns and demonstrative adjectives. Similar to possessive pronouns and possessive adjectives, their function in a sentence determines which one they are.
This is how to say them in Hindi.
| This | Yeh |
| That | Vo |
| These | Yeh |
| Those | Vo |
“The” is a part of speech called a definite article. There are no definite nor indefinite articles (a, an) in Hindi. So, “The house in mine” would be: Ghar mera hai.
In this example, we cannot drop “ghar”. because the sentence wouldn’t make sense. So technically in this case, “mera” functions as a possessive adjective NOT a possessive pronoun.
This is a lot of grammar. It can be confusing and my hope is that I explained in a simple and easy-to-understand way, as honestly, I found this stuff really really confusing when I learned it in school.
Summary and Take Aways
At first, possessive pronouns in Hindi can seem confusing. Hopefully this guide led you to make more sense out of it. We reviewed what a pronoun is, what a possessive pronoun is, the possessive pronouns in Hindi with examples of how to use each of them; understanding nouns and noun genders in Hindi as well as how possessive pronouns differ from possessive adjectives.
Key Take Aways:
- There are 3 ways to say each possessive pronoun. They correspond to the noun gender + quantity, NOT the speaker. The respectful form is a unique case.
- Possessive pronouns replace nouns; possessive adjectives modify nouns.
- Possessive pronouns can stand alone in a sentence whereas possessive adjectives cannot.
- In Hindi, possessive pronouns and possessive adjectives are the same words. How they function in a sentence determines which they are.
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About Samta Aunty
Growing up in Orange County, California, I learned Hindi and Indian culture from my parents and the community. At one point, in addition to understanding Hindi, I developed an interest in speaking, and my parents encouraged me.
Friday night was date-night with my mom. We would eat parathas and watch Hindi movies together. I asked lots of questions and switched to speaking in Hindi at home.
That day, in high school, when my Chachi in Delhi said, “Tumhari Hindi bahut achi hain” is one of my favorite memories.
I started Virtual PreSkool to pay it forward. It’s fulfilling when a student comes to class and excitedly shares that they successfully connected with grandparents/relatives or when they were in India and knew how to ask for directions.
After completing undergrad at UC Irvine, I did my MBA at the USC Marshall School of Business. I’ve been an entrepreneur my entire career.
When I’m not teaching and creating lessons, I’m usually exercising, cooking vegan meals, or traveling. I love writing about travel on my blog PassportPages.
Dhanyavaad!
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