A2 · Can, want, must
चाहिए: should, need
need and obligation with चाहिए
मुझे पानी चाहिए, “I need water”; मुझे जाना चाहिए, “I should go” — the person takes को.
At a glance
- Remember
- Mujhe … chahiye: the person takes ko, and chahiye never changes.
- Form
- मुझे … चाहिएI need …
- Signal words
- चाहिए
- चाहिए था
- मुझे
- आपको
- हमें
- Trap
- Wrong:मैं पानी चाहिए।Right:मुझे पानी चाहिए।
Your turn
10 exercises on this topic. Your answers are checked in the browser; none of them leaves your device.
The form
| I need … | मुझे … चाहिए |
| you (polite) need … | आपको … चाहिए |
| should do | मुझे … करना चाहिए |
| should, feminine object | मुझे किताब पढ़नी चाहिए |
| should have done | मुझे … करना चाहिए था |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is aboutThe word that calls for it
The person who needs takes को.
मुझे एक गिलास पानी चाहिए।I need a glass of water.
Infinitive + चाहिए means “should”.
आपको आराम करना चाहिए।You should rest.
The infinitive may agree with a feminine object.
तुम्हें यह किताब पढ़नी चाहिए।You should read this book.
चाहिए था means “should have”.
आपको मुझे पहले बताना चाहिए था।You should have told me before.
Example sentences
मुझे एक गिलास पानी चाहिए।I need a glass of water.
आपको आराम करना चाहिए।You should rest.
हमें अब चलना चाहिए।We ought to go now.
तुम्हें यह किताब पढ़नी चाहिए।You should read this book.
बच्चों को जल्दी सोना चाहिए।Children should go to bed early.
आपको मुझे पहले बताना चाहिए था।You should have told me before.
5 more example sentences
मुझे दो टिकट चाहिए।Two tickets, please.
आपको और क्या चाहिए?What else do you need?
तुम्हें डॉक्टर के पास जाना चाहिए।You should go to the doctor.
हमें पानी बचाना चाहिए।We should save water.
मुझे उसकी बात सुननी चाहिए थी।I should have listened to her.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
चाहिए is not a verb you can attach to मैं. The person in need is “to me”, मुझे. Starting with मैं is the commonest beginner’s mistake with it.
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
चाहिए does not change for person, and the person who needs is not its subject. That person takes को — or the short pronoun forms मुझे, तुम्हें, उसे, हमें, आपको — and the thing needed stands before चाहिए: मुझे एक गिलास पानी चाहिए, “I need a glass of water”, literally “to me a glass of water is wanted”.
With an infinitive instead of a noun, चाहिए means “should, ought to”: आपको आराम करना चाहिए, “you should rest”; हमें अब चलना चाहिए, “we ought to go now”. It is advice or a moral “should”, not a rule from outside.
If the infinitive has a feminine object, careful Hindi makes the infinitive agree with it: तुम्हें यह किताब पढ़नी चाहिए, with पढ़नी because किताब is feminine. In speech the plain पढ़ना is also very common. A masculine plural object can make it -ने: हमें ज़्यादा फल खाने चाहिए; here too the plain खाना is heard.
Add था for “should have”: आपको मुझे पहले बताना चाहिए था, “you should have told me before”. This is the one tense change चाहिए allows.
A closer look
चाहिए or चाहना?
मुझे चाय चाहिए is “I need / I’d like some tea”, the everyday request. मैं चाय चाहता हूँ is grammatical but sounds like a demand or a translation. For actions it is the other way round: मैं जाना चाहता हूँ is “I want to go”, while मुझे जाना चाहिए is “I ought to go” — a different meaning.
At a shop or a counter, मुझे … चाहिए is the basic request: मुझे दो टिकट चाहिए, “two tickets, please”.
Worth knowing (1)
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Not a strong “must”
चाहिए is advice. For an obligation imposed from outside — a rule, a deadline, a situation you cannot escape — Hindi uses पड़ना: मुझे जाना पड़ेगा, “I’ll have to go”.
आपको हेलमेट पहनना चाहिए।You should wear a helmet.
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