A1 · Postpositions
Having things: मेरे पास … है
possession with के पास
Hindi has no verb “to have”: things are “near” you, relatives are “yours”, and illnesses are “to” you.
At a glance
- Remember
- You do not have things in Hindi — they are near you: mere paas.
- Form
- मेरे पास गाड़ी है।I have a car
- Signal words
- के पास
- मेरे पास
- आपके पास
- Trap
- Wrong:मैं एक गाड़ी है।Right:मेरे पास एक गाड़ी है।
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.
| I have a car | मेरे पास गाड़ी है। |
| do you have time? | क्या आपके पास समय है? |
| Ram has a pen | राम के पास पेन है। |
| I have two brothers | मेरे दो भाई हैं। |
| I have a fever | मुझे बुख़ार है। |
| near the station | स्टेशन के पास |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is about
For things you have, Hindi says “near me is”: मेरे पास … है.
मेरे पास एक साइकिल है।I have a bicycle.
The verb agrees with the thing owned.
मेरे पास दो टिकट हैं।I have two tickets.
Relatives and parts of the body take का instead.
उसकी दो बेटियाँ हैं।She has two daughters.
Illnesses and feelings take को.
मुझे सिरदर्द है।I have a headache.
के पास on its own means “near”.
बैंक स्टेशन के पास है।The bank is near the station.
Example sentences
क्या आपके पास छुट्टे पैसे हैं?Do you have any change?
मेरे पास समय नहीं है।I don’t have time.
राम के पास दो गाड़ियाँ हैं।Ram has two cars.
हमारे पास एक कुत्ता है।We have a dog.
उसके पास कोई काम नहीं है।He has no work.
मेरा घर पार्क के पास है।My house is near the park.
6 more example sentences
तुम्हारे पास पेन है?Have you got a pen?
मेरे पास दो टिकट हैं।I have two tickets.
दादाजी के पास बहुत किताबें हैं।Grandpa has a lot of books.
उनके पास बड़ा घर था।They had a big house.
मेरे तीन बच्चे हैं।I have three children.
मुझे बुख़ार है।I have a fever.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
Looking for “have”, learners take “I” as the subject and add है. In Hindi the car is the subject and you are the place where it is: मेरे पास एक गाड़ी है.
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
There is no verb “to have” in Hindi. For things you own or carry, Hindi says they are “near” you: मेरे पास एक साइकिल है, “near me a bicycle is” — “I have a bicycle”. के पास follows the owner, who takes the oblique (राम के पास), and with a pronoun it becomes मेरे पास, आपके पास, उसके पास.
The verb agrees with the thing, not with the owner, because the thing is the subject: मेरे पास एक गाड़ी है, मेरे पास दो गाड़ियाँ हैं. In the past it is था or थी, again agreeing with the thing.
Two other kinds of “having” use other means. Relatives and parts of the body take का: मेरे दो भाई हैं(I have two brothers)उसके दो बच्चे हैं(she has two children) Illnesses and feelings take को: मुझे बुख़ार है(I have a fever)मुझे सिरदर्द है(I have a headache)
On its own, के पास simply means “near”: बैंक स्टेशन के पास है, “the bank is near the station”. With a verb of going it means “to” a person: डॉक्टर के पास जाना, to go to the doctor.
A closer look
Three kinds of having
Things you could hand over take के पास: a car, money, time, a pen. What belongs to you by nature takes का: brothers, children, eyes, a name. What happens to you takes को: a fever, a headache, joy. The test is roughly whether the thing could be with someone else instead.
Having it on you
मेरे पास पैसे नहीं हैं can mean “I have no money” or “I have no money on me”, because के पास literally means “near”. Context decides; अभी (right now) makes the second meaning clear.
Worth knowing (2)
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Had: था agrees with the thing
In the past the verb still agrees with what was owned: मेरे पास पैसे नहीं थे, plural for the money.
कल मेरे पास पैसे नहीं थे।Yesterday I didn’t have any money.
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Going to a person
With a verb of going, के पास means “to” a person: to the doctor, to a friend.
मुझे डॉक्टर के पास जाना है।I have to go to the doctor.
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