English have is the misleading cue in this choice. Hindi has no single everyday verb that covers every English have. का/के/की makes a possessor into a modifier of a noun—रीना की कार “Reena's car”—and therefore identifies ownership, kinship, part–whole relations, authorship, or another defining association. के पास + होना places something in someone's sphere—रीना के पास कार है “Reena has a car”—and asserts current possession, custody, access, or availability. The core genitive guide and के पास guide give their complete internal patterns.
The two constructions can describe the same real-world object, but they answer different questions. Full agreement forms of का/के/की and pronoun paradigms belong on the linked core pages; this page develops the choice in context.
Two different syntactic pictures
| Construction | Structure | Core question | Typical meanings |
|---|---|---|---|
| का/के/की | [possessor + agreeing linker] + noun | Whose/which associated noun? | ownership, relation, family, body part, origin, authorship |
| के पास + होना | [possessor + के पास] + possessed subject + copula | Who has access or custody now? | physical possession, resources, time, information, availability |
यह आदित्य की बाइक है।
yah āditya kī bāik hai.
This is Aditya's bike.
अभी आदित्य के पास बाइक है।
abhī āditya ke pās bāik hai.
Aditya has a bike available right now.
In the first sentence, आदित्य की identifies the bike. In the second, आदित्य के पास is a locative-like possessor phrase and बाइक is the subject of है. The second sentence does not prove legal ownership; the bike may be rented or borrowed.
A compact decision tree
- Are you modifying a following noun to identify its owner or relation? Use agreeing का/के/की.
- Are you asserting that someone currently has, holds, can use, or can supply something? Use के पास + होना.
- Is the relation kinship, a body part, authorship, origin, or another defining association? Normally use का/के/की, not के पास.
- Is English have part of an event or condition—have breakfast, have a fever, have to leave? Use the relevant Hindi predicate, not either possession construction automatically.
This choice depends on semantic relation and clause structure. Animacy matters indirectly: people and organizations make natural access-holders, but inanimate possessors freely occur with genitives—घर की छत “the house's roof.”
का/के/की identifies a relation
The linker agrees with the possessed head, not the possessor: रवि का फ़ोन, रवि की चाबी, रवि के जूते. It forms one noun phrase and can occur wherever that noun phrase belongs.
रवि की चाबी मेज़ पर पड़ी है।
ravi kī cābī mez par paṛī hai.
Ravi's key is lying on the table.
क्या आपने मीरा के नए लेख पढ़े हैं?
kyā āpne mīrā ke nae lekh paṛhe haiṃ?
Have you read Meera's new articles? (respectful)
मीरा के लेख can mean articles authored by Meera or associated with her, according to context. Genitive possession is broader than legal property. It naturally marks family and part–whole relations:
मेरी एक बड़ी बहन है और उसके दो बच्चे हैं।
merī ek baṛī bahan hai aur uske do bacce haiṃ.
I have an older sister, and she has two children.
उसका दायाँ हाथ अभी भी दुख रहा है।
uskā dāyā̃ hāth abhī bhī dukh rahā hai.
His/Her right hand still hurts.
Hindi conceptualizes the sister, children, and body part as relational nouns. मेरे पास एक बहन है is not the neutral equivalent of “I have a sister”; it can sound as though she were in one's custody or physically present.
के पास asserts possession or access
के पास is historically and still literally spatial: “near.” In possessive clauses it locates an item in a person's practical sphere. The item controls है/हैं.
मेरे पास अभी केवल पाँच सौ रुपये हैं।
mere pās abhī keval pā̃c sau rupaye haiṃ.
I have only five hundred rupees right now.
क्या आपके पास थोड़ा समय है?
kyā āpke pās thoṛā samay hai?
Do you have a little time? (respectful)
हमारे पास इस सवाल का पूरा जवाब नहीं है।
hamāre pās is savāl kā pūrā javāb nahīṃ hai.
We don't have a complete answer to this question.
Money, time, a ticket, a charger, evidence, and an answer can all be available to someone without being permanent property. This availability meaning makes के पास especially useful in questions and negatives.
The possessor does not control number:
उनके पास एक ही कमरा है, लेकिन चार कुर्सियाँ हैं।
unke pās ek hī kamrā hai, lekin cār kursiyā̃ haiṃ.
They have only one room but four chairs.
Singular कमरा takes है; plural कुर्सियाँ takes हैं. Plural उनके belongs inside the possessor phrase.
Minimal pairs: ownership versus custody
Holding vocabulary constant shows what changes.
यह मेरा फ़ोन है।
yah merā fon hai.
This is my phone.
यह फ़ोन मेरे पास है।
yah fon mere pās hai.
I have this phone with me.
The first identifies the owner. The second identifies the current custodian. Both may be true, but neither entails the other.
कार रीना की है, पर इस हफ़्ते कार मोहन के पास है।
kār rīnā kī hai, par is hafte kār mohan ke pās hai.
The car belongs to Reena, but Mohan has it this week.
The predicate genitive रीना की है contains an understood feminine head कार; की still agrees with it. मोहन के पास reports temporary custody.
There is genuine overlap when the speaker introduces owned objects:
मेरी एक छोटी कार है।
merī ek choṭī kār hai.
I own/have a small car.
मेरे पास एक छोटी कार है।
mere pās ek choṭī kār hai.
I have a small car available to me.
In many contexts both translate as “I have a small car.” The genitive version more readily profiles the car as part of what is mine; the के पास version more readily answers a practical question about transport or availability. Speaker stance and discourse purpose decide the choice.
Defining relations versus temporary resources
Some nouns strongly favor genitive relation: मेरे पिता, उसकी पत्नी, बच्चे की आँखें, कंपनी का निदेशक, लेखक की शैली. These are not normally treated as portable inventory.
By contrast, temporary resources favor के पास: मेरे पास छुट्टे पैसे हैं, उसके पास टिकट है, पुलिस के पास सबूत हैं. Organizations and institutions can be possessors when access or control is meaningful.
अस्पताल के पास अभी दो खाली बिस्तर हैं।
aspatāl ke pās abhī do khālī bistar haiṃ.
The hospital currently has two available beds.
This sentence treats the hospital as an institution controlling a resource. Spatial अस्पताल के पास दो दुकानें हैं can instead mean “There are two shops near the hospital.” Context and the kinds of nouns involved disambiguate; when necessary, add उपलब्ध “available” or state the location more explicitly.
English “have” often requires neither
English uses have in many predicate types that Hindi lexicalizes differently.
मुझे बुख़ार है, इसलिए मैं आज घर पर रहूँगा।
mujhe buxār hai, islie maĩ āj ghar par rahū̃gā.
I have a fever, so I'll stay home today. (male speaker)
हमने आठ बजे नाश्ता किया।
hamne āṭh baje nāśtā kiyā.
We had breakfast at eight.
मुझे कल जल्दी निकलना है।
mujhe kal jaldī niklnā hai.
I have to leave early tomorrow.
None of these uses का or के पास. The English verb does not determine the Hindi construction: fever is a dative state, breakfast is an event with करना, and obligation uses a dative infinitival predicate.
A dialogue: correcting an unintended claim
अमन: क्या यह तुम्हारा लैपटॉप है? — नील: नहीं, मेरे पास है, लेकिन यह दफ़्तर का है।
aman: kyā yah tumhārā laipaṭop hai? — nīl: nahīṃ, mere pās hai, lekin yah daftar kā hai.
Aman: Is this your laptop? — Neel: No, I have it, but it belongs to the office. (informal)
If Neel answered हाँ, मेरा है, he would claim ownership. मेरे पास है corrects precisely that social implication: he has custody, not title. The contrast can therefore matter in borrowing, lost-property, and workplace conversations.
Common Mistakes
Using के पास for kinship
❌ मेरे पास दो छोटे भाई हैं।
Unnatural as a neutral family statement — it treats the brothers like people currently in one's keeping.
✅ मेरे दो छोटे भाई हैं।
mere do choṭe bhāī haiṃ.
I have two younger brothers.
Using a genitive when current availability is the point
❌ क्या तुम्हारा पेन है?
Wrong for ‘Do you have a pen?’ — this asks whether a particular pen is yours.
✅ क्या तुम्हारे पास पेन है?
kyā tumhāre pās pen hai?
Do you have a pen? (informal)
Making the copula agree with the possessor
❌ हमारे पास एक कार हैं।
Incorrect — singular कार controls है.
✅ हमारे पास एक कार है।
hamāre pās ek kār hai.
We have one car.
Forgetting genitive agreement
❌ यह रवि का चाबी है।
Incorrect — feminine चाबी requires की.
✅ यह रवि की चाबी है।
yah ravi kī cābī hai.
This is Ravi's key.
Translating an idiomatic English “have” literally
❌ मेरे पास बुख़ार है।
Nonstandard for the ordinary health statement — fever is experienced with मुझे.
✅ मुझे बुख़ार है।
mujhe buxār hai.
I have a fever.
Diagnostic checklist
- Does the phrase answer “whose?” or identify a defining association? Use agreeing का/के/की.
- Does the clause assert custody, access, resources, or availability? Use के पास + होना.
- Could ownership and custody differ in this situation? State both if the distinction matters.
- Is the possessed expression singular or plural? It—not the possessor—controls है/हैं after के पास.
- Is English have really describing health, an event, or obligation? Choose the Hindi predicate for that meaning.
The reliable distinction is noun modification versus possessive existence: रीना की चाबी identifies Reena's key, while रीना के पास चाबी है says a key is presently within Reena's practical sphere.
Key Takeaways
- का/के/की identifies ownership or another defining relation and agrees with the following head.
- के पास + होना asserts custody, access, resources, or availability; the possessed item controls है/हैं.
- English have may instead require a health, event, or obligation construction.
Related Topics
- का के की possession and agreementA1 — Choose का, के, or की by the gender, number, and case of the possessed expression while putting noun possessors in the oblique form.
- के पास possession and proximityA2 — Use के पास for physical nearness and possessive existence, distinguishing what someone has from what belongs to them.
- Locative and possessive होनाA1 — Use होना to locate entities and express possession through के पास or genitive relations, with agreement controlled by the located or possessed noun.
- Possessive and necessity predicatesB1 — Distinguish Hindi possession, need, advice, obligation, and external necessity through their case frames and agreement controllers.
- Possessive मेरा तेरा हमाराA2 — Make मेरा, तेरा, and हमारा agree with the possessed noun while distinguishing intimate ownership, plural हमारा, and reflexive अपना.