A1 · Requests, wishes and conditions
Telling a friend: जाओ, and the blunt जा
the familiar imperative
For तुम add ओ to the stem: बैठो, आओ, लिखो. For तू the bare stem is the command: बैठ, आ.
At a glance
- Remember
- For tum: stem plus -o; and de, le shrink to do, lo.
- Form
- बैठो, लिखो, आओ, खाओतुम: stem + -ओ
- Signal words
- ज़रा
- जल्दी
- इधर
- -ओ
- दो
- लो
- Trap
- Wrong:मुझे पानी देओ।Right:मुझे पानी दो।
Your turn
10 exercises on this topic. Your answers are checked in the browser; none of them leaves your device.
The form
The patterns at a glance
Each row first says when or what the pattern is used for, then gives an example in Hindi.
| तुम: stem + -ओ | बैठो, लिखो, आओ, खाओ |
| देना, लेना | दो, लो |
| करना, जाना | करो, जाओ |
| तू: bare stem | बैठ, आ, दे, ले, कर |
| softened | ज़रा सुनो |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is aboutThe word that calls for it
For तुम, add -ओ to the stem.
राहुल, यहाँ बैठो।Rahul, sit here.
देना and लेना become दो and लो.
मुझे वह किताब दो।Give me that book.
The command has no gender.
सीमा, जल्दी आओ!Seema, come quickly!
For तू, the bare stem is the command.
बेटा, इधर आ।Come here, love.
ज़रा in front softens the request.
ज़रा दरवाज़ा खोलो।Could you open the door?
Example sentences
यहाँ बैठो।Sit here.
जल्दी आओ, खाना तैयार है!Come quickly, the food is ready!
मुझे अपना फ़ोन नंबर दो।Give me your phone number.
ज़रा खिड़की खोलो।Could you open the window?
पहले अपना होमवर्क करो।Do your homework first.
बेटा, इधर आ।Come here, love.
6 more example sentences
ध्यान से सुनो।Listen carefully.
ये पैसे लो और दूध ले आओ।Take this money and fetch some milk.
अपना नाम यहाँ लिखो।Write your name here.
अब घर चलो, देर हो गई है।Let’s go home now, it’s late.
थोड़ा और खाओ।Have a bit more.
बत्ती बंद करो, मुझे नींद आ रही है।Turn the light off, I am getting sleepy.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
The rule “stem + -ओ” would give देओ, but देना and लेना shorten: दो, लो. They are two of the most frequent commands in the language, which is why they wore down.
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
Speaking to someone you call तुम — a friend, a younger relative, a classmate — the command is the stem plus -ओ: बैठना → बैठो, लिखना → लिखो, आना → आओ, खाना → खाओ. There is no gender: a girl and a boy are told बैठो alike.
Two verbs shorten: देना → दो, लेना → लो. करना is regular here, करो, and so is जाना, जाओ. The pronoun is usually left out; adding तुम gives it a little edge, as “you sit here” does in English.
For तू the bare stem is the command: बैठ, आ, दे, ले, कर. Said to a small child, to a very close friend or in a prayer it is warm; said to a stranger it is rude. Learners are safest recognising it rather than using it.
A bare imperative can sound sharp in Hindi too. Words like ज़रा (“just”) and प्लीज़ soften it: ज़रा दरवाज़ा खोलो, “could you open the door”. Between friends that is quite enough politeness.
A closer look
The infinitive as a gentle command
Hindi has a second familiar command: the plain infinitive. कल ज़रूर आना, “do come tomorrow”; समय पर दवाई लेना, “take your medicine on time”. It points to later rather than now, and it sounds like advice or a reminder rather than an order. Parents use it constantly.
Its negative is मत before it: देर मत करना, “don’t be late”. That is the next area’s subject.
Worth knowing (1)
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चलो: let’s go
चलो, the command of चलना, “to walk, to move”, is also the everyday “come on” and “let’s go”: चलो, देर हो रही है, “come on, it’s getting late”. It is said to a group as well as to one friend.
चलो, खाना खाते हैं।Come on, let’s eat.
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