A2 · Pronouns
मुझे, तुम्हें, उसे: pronouns with को
pronouns in the को form
मुझे is “to me”, and it is the form behind I like, I need, I know and I have to.
At a glance
- Remember
- In Hindi you do not like or need things — they please you and are needed by you: mujhe pasand hai.
- Form
- मुझे = मुझकोto me
- Signal words
- मुझे
- हमें
- तुम्हें
- आपको
- उसे
- उन्हें
- पसंद
- चाहिए
- Trap
- Wrong:मैं भूख लगी है।Right:मुझे भूख लगी है।
Your turn
10 exercises on this topic. Your answers are checked in the browser; none of them leaves your device.
The form
| to me | मुझे = मुझको |
| to us | हमें = हमको |
| to you (तुम) | तुम्हें = तुमको |
| to you (आप) | आपको |
| to him, her, it (near / far) | इसे, उसे |
| to them | इन्हें, उन्हें |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is about
मुझे is मुझको in one word; both are correct.
मुझे एक कप चाय दीजिए।Please give me a cup of tea.
It marks the person who receives something.
मैं उसे किताब दूँगा।I will give him the book.
It marks a person as the object of the verb.
उन्हें बुलाइए।Please call them.
Liking, needing and knowing happen “to” the person, and the verb agrees with the thing.
मुझे हिंदी पसंद है।I like Hindi.
Example sentences
मुझे भूख नहीं है।I am not hungry.
हमें देर हो गई।We are late.
आपको क्या चाहिए?What do you need?
तुम्हें पता है?Do you know?
उसे ज़ुकाम है।He has a cold.
मैंने उन्हें फ़ोन किया।I phoned them.
6 more example sentences
मुझे ये किताबें पसंद हैं।I like these books.
उसे गाना आता है।She knows how to sing.
आपको कौन-सा रंग पसंद है?Which colour do you like?
माँ ने हमें खाना दिया।Mother gave us food.
तुम्हें कल आना है।You have to come tomorrow.
इसे मेज़ पर रखिए।Please put it on the table.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
English “I am hungry” makes I the subject, and learners start with मैं. In Hindi, hunger happens to you: मुझे भूख लगी है. The same goes for पसंद, चाहिए, पता and many more.
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
A pronoun with को has a short form that is used far more often than the long one: मुझे (= मुझको, to me), हमें (to us), तुम्हें (to you), इसे and उसे (to him, her, it), इन्हें and उन्हें (to them, or to him and her with respect). आपको has only the long form.
It does what को does. It marks the person who receives something — उसे किताब दीजिए, “give him the book” — and a person who is the object of the verb: मैं उसे जानता हूँ, “I know her”.
Its most important job has no English equivalent. Many things that English says with “I” as the subject — I like, I need, I know, I am hungry — Hindi says as things that happen to a person: मुझे हिंदी पसंद है, “to me Hindi is pleasing”; मुझे पानी चाहिए, “to me water is needed”; मुझे पता है, “to me it is known”.
In these sentences the person in the को form is not the subject, and the verb does not agree with it. It agrees with the thing: मुझे यह किताब पसंद है, but मुझे ये किताबें पसंद हैं.
A closer look
The person who is not the subject
Sentences like मुझे पसंद है are called dative constructions: the person stands in the को form, and the thing liked or needed is the grammatical subject. That is why the verb follows the thing: मुझे आम पसंद हैं, “I like mangoes”, with हैं for the mangoes.
मुझे or मुझको
The short and long forms mean exactly the same. The short ones are more common in both speech and writing; the long ones sound a little more emphatic or colloquial. Both are standard.
Worth knowing (2)
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उसे for things
इसे and उसे are not only for people. With a particular thing as object they mean “it”.
यह दवा है, इसे रात को लीजिए।This is the medicine; take it at night.
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आपको has no short form
Every pronoun has a short को form except आप: it is always आपको.
आपको कब जाना है?When do you have to go?
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