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3.4 Progressive Pronouns

3.4 Possessive Pronouns

A possessive pronoun functions just like an adjective: it agrees with the noun it modifies in gender and number.

Here is a table of the possessive pronouns (in their masculine singular forms):

Singular Plural
Pronoun English Possessive Pronoun English Possessive
मैं my मेरा हम our हमारा
तू your तेरा तुम your तुम्हारा
आप your आपका
वह his, her, its (far) उसका वे their (far) उनका
यह his, her, its (near) इसका ये their (near) इनका
कौन whose? किसका कौन कौन whose? किनका
one’s own अपना one’s own अपना

Note that in Hindi, the possessive pronouns reflect the gender of the thing possessed rather than the gender of the possessor. This is different than in English, where the possessive pronouns “his” and “her” reflect the gender of the possessor. For example, in the Hindi phrase उसकी माता you cannot tell if it means “his mother” or “her mother”; the possessive pronoun is feminine to reflect the gender of माता .

Examples with मेरा:

Possessive plus noun
Singular Plural
Masculine (Type 1) मेरा संतरा मेरे संतरे
Masculine (Type 2) मेरा फल मेरे फल
Feminine (Type 1) मेरी रोटी मेरी रोटियाँ
Feminine (Type 2) मेरी दुकान मेरी दुकानें

 

See Snell’s Teach Yourself Hindi (2000)
Section 6.2 page 77

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