Hindi का kā, के ke, की kī link a possessor or related expression to a following head: रीना का घर rīnā kā ghar “Reena's house,” रीना के दोस्त rīnā ke dost “Reena's friends,” and रीना की किताब rīnā kī kitāb “Reena's book.”
The crucial rule is that the ending agrees with the possessed head, not with the possessor. The possessor stands before the linker and is oblique when its form can show the difference.
The agreement rule
Use का with a masculine singular direct head, के with a masculine plural or masculine oblique head, and की with a feminine head in any number or case.
| Possessed expression | Genitive phrase | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| नया कमरा nayā kamrā | रीना का नया कमरा rīnā kā nayā kamrā | masculine singular direct |
| नए कमरे nae kamre | रीना के नए कमरे rīnā ke nae kamre | masculine plural direct |
| नए कमरे में nae kamre meṃ | रीना के नए कमरे में rīnā ke nae kamre meṃ | masculine singular oblique |
| नई किताब naī kitāb | रीना की नई किताब rīnā kī naī kitāb | feminine singular |
| नई किताबें naī kitābeṃ | रीना की नई किताबें rīnā kī naī kitābeṃ | feminine plural |
| नई किताबों में naī kitāboṃ meṃ | रीना की नई किताबों में rīnā kī naī kitāboṃ meṃ | feminine plural oblique |
यह रीना का नया कमरा है।
yah rīnā kā nayā kamrā hai.
This is Reena's new room.
रीना के नए कमरे ऊपर हैं।
rīnā ke nae kamre ūpar haiṃ.
Reena's new rooms are upstairs.
रीना की नई किताबें अभी पैकेट में हैं।
rīnā kī naī kitābeṃ abhī paikeṭ meṃ haiṃ.
Reena's new books are still in the package.
English uses the same Reena's in all three sentences. Hindi makes the linker behave like a marked adjective: का/के/की anticipates the grammatical features of what follows.
The possessor is an oblique complement
The genitive linker follows its possessor, so a changeable noun becomes oblique before it. Masculine लड़का laṛkā changes to लड़के laṛke.
लड़के का बैग बस में छूट गया।
laṛke kā baig bas meṃ chūṭ gayā.
The boy's bag was left on the bus.
बच्चों के खिलौने दूसरे कमरे में रखे हैं।
baccoṃ ke khilaune dūsre kamre meṃ rakhe haiṃ.
The children's toys are kept in the other room.
In लड़के का, लड़के is singular oblique and का agrees with masculine singular बैग. In बच्चों के खिलौने, बच्चों is plural oblique and के agrees with plural खिलौने. These are two separate decisions.
Proper names and many singular nouns do not change visibly: रीना की किताब, मोहन का फ़ोन, शहर का नक्शा. They are still complements of the genitive postposition.
Case on the possessed phrase can change का to के
के does not always mean that the possessed item is plural. A masculine singular head also takes के when a later postposition makes it oblique.
हम रीना के नए घर में पहली बार गए।
ham rīnā ke nae ghar meṃ pahlī bār gae.
We went to Reena's new house for the first time.
Outside the locative phrase, the same house is रीना का नया घर. Before में, the entire possessed phrase becomes oblique: रीना के नए घर में. The invariant noun घर does not visibly change, but both के and नए reveal its case.
मैंने रीना की नई किताबों में अपना नाम देखा।
maĩne rīnā kī naī kitāboṃ meṃ apnā nām dekhā.
I saw my name in Reena's new books.
Feminine की remains की even though किताबों is plural oblique. Gender outranks any temptation to turn every plural or oblique phrase into के.
Possessive pronouns use special forms
Hindi does not say मैं का or वह का. Personal and demonstrative possessors have established agreeing forms.
| Possessor | Masculine singular | Masculine plural/oblique | Feminine |
|---|---|---|---|
| मैं maĩ | मेरा merā | मेरे mere | मेरी merī |
| हम ham | हमारा hamārā | हमारे hamāre | हमारी hamārī |
| तुम tum | तुम्हारा tumhārā | तुम्हारे tumhāre | तुम्हारी tumhārī |
| आप āp | आपका āpkā | आपके āpke | आपकी āpkī |
| यह/वह yah/vah | इसका/उसका iskā/uskā | इसके/उसके iske/uske | इसकी/उसकी iskī/uskī |
आपकी सीट खिड़की के पास है, और मेरी आगे है।
āpkī sīṭ khiṛkī ke pās hai, aur merī āge hai.
Your seat is by the window, and mine is at the front.
Both आपकी and elliptical मेरी are feminine because the head is सीट. The full possessive paradigms belong on मेरा, तेरा, हमारा.
Layered possession
Possessive phrases can be nested. Start with direct मेरा भाई merā bhāī “my brother.” When that whole phrase becomes the possessor of किताब, it stands before की and becomes oblique मेरे भाई.
मेरे भाई की किताब मेज़ पर खुली पड़ी है।
mere bhāī kī kitāb mez par khulī paṛī hai.
My brother's book is lying open on the table.
मेरे agrees with masculine singular oblique भाई, while की agrees with feminine किताब. One phrase therefore displays two separate agreement relationships.
मेरे भाई के पुराने दोस्तों ने हमें खाना खिलाया।
mere bhāī ke purāne dostoṃ ne hameṃ khānā khilāyā.
My brother's old friends fed us.
Here के agrees with plural दोस्तों. The final ने makes that plural head oblique, which is visible in दोस्तों.
More than legal ownership
The genitive covers many relations that English expresses with 's, of, or a noun modifier:
- part–whole: घर की छत ghar kī chat “the roof of the house”
- kinship: रीना की बहन rīnā kī bahan “Reena's sister”
- authorship: प्रेमचंद की कहानी premcand kī kahānī “a story by Premchand”
- material: सोने की अंगूठी sone kī aṅgūṭhī “a gold ring”
- measure: दो घंटे का रास्ता do ghaṇṭe kā rāstā “a two-hour journey”
- time association: आज की बैठक āj kī baiṭhak “today's meeting”
Quantified measure modifiers deserve special notice. In दो घंटे का रास्ता, the unit phrase दो घंटे is a single measurement and keeps the ordinary counting form, rather than becoming oblique plural दो घंटों. An oblique plural such as दो घंटों का विवरण “an account of the two hours” is possible when the hours are treated as a particular set instead of merely specifying a measure.
आज की बैठक का समय बदल गया है।
āj kī baiṭhak kā samay badal gayā hai.
The time of today's meeting has changed.
The nested phrase first forms आज की बैठक, then relates that feminine phrase to masculine समय with का.
Possession versus के पास
रीना की कार नई है identifies a particular car as Reena's and describes it. रीना के पास नई कार है asserts that Reena has a new car. The first is an agreeing modifier; the second is a possessive-existential construction.
रीना की कार बाहर खड़ी है, लेकिन उसके पास आज चाबी नहीं है।
rīnā kī kār bāhar khaṛī hai, lekin uske pās āj cābī nahīṃ hai.
Reena's car is parked outside, but she doesn't have the key today.
The two constructions can occur in one situation but answer different questions: “whose car?” versus “who has the key?”
Spatial compounds and lexical government
In घर के सामने ghar ke sāmne “in front of the house,” के is the fixed linker inside a compound postposition. It does not freely agree with some omitted feminine or masculine object.
घर के सामने एक बड़ा नीम का पेड़ है।
ghar ke sāmne ek baṛā nīm kā peṛ hai.
There is a large neem tree in front of the house.
Some nouns and predicates also require a genitive complement: बस का इंतज़ार bas kā intazār “waiting for the bus,” मदद की ज़रूरत madad kī zarūrat “need for help.” The linker agrees with the relational head इंतज़ार or ज़रूरत, not mechanically with the complement.
मुझे आपकी मदद की ज़रूरत है।
mujhe āpkī madad kī zarūrat hai.
I need your help.
The first की agrees with feminine मदद; the second occurs in the lexical frame X की ज़रूरत because ज़रूरत is feminine. Productive possession and lexical government use the same forms, but lexical frames must be learned with their heads.
A natural exchange
ये चाबियाँ किसकी हैं? — नीली वाली मेरी है; बाकी रीना की हैं।
ye cābiyā̃ kiskī haiṃ? — nīlī vālī merī hai; bākī rīnā kī haiṃ.
Whose keys are these? — The blue one is mine; the rest are Reena's.
किसकी, मेरी, and रीना की are feminine because the understood head is चाबी/चाबियाँ. Singular नीली वाली ... है contrasts with plural बाकी ... हैं.
Common Mistakes
1. Agreeing with the possessor
❌ यह रीना का किताब है।
Incorrect: किताब is feminine, so the linker must be की.
✅ यह रीना की किताब है।
yah rīnā kī kitāb hai.
This is Reena's book.
2. Missing masculine plural agreement
❌ मोहन का दोस्त बाहर हैं।
Incorrect for plural 'friends': use के and plural दोस्त.
✅ मोहन के दोस्त बाहर हैं।
mohan ke dost bāhar haiṃ.
Mohan's friends are outside.
3. Leaving a changeable possessor direct
❌ लड़का का बैग भारी है।
Incorrect: लड़का becomes oblique लड़के before का.
✅ लड़के का बैग भारी है।
laṛke kā baig bhārī hai.
The boy's bag is heavy.
4. Building a pronoun as citation form plus का
❌ मैं का फ़ोन बंद है।
Incorrect: first-person possession uses मेरा/मेरे/मेरी.
✅ मेरा फ़ोन बंद है।
merā fon band hai.
My phone is switched off.
5. Changing the fixed linker in a compound postposition
❌ दुकान बैंक की सामने है।
Incorrect: के सामने has a fixed के linker.
✅ दुकान बैंक के सामने है।
dukān baiṅk ke sāmne hai.
The shop is opposite the bank.
Key Takeaways
- का/के/की agrees with the possessed head, not the possessor.
- Use का for masculine singular direct, के for masculine plural or oblique, and की for all feminine forms.
- A noun possessor is oblique before the genitive linker.
- Pronouns use forms such as मेरा, आपकी, उसका, and उनके, not citation form plus का.
- Compound postpositions and lexical frames may contain fixed or governed genitives that must be learned as constructions.
Related Topics
- Postpositions and oblique complementsA1 — Build Hindi relational phrases by placing a postposition after an oblique noun or special pronoun form instead of translating English prepositions word for word.
- के पास possession and proximityA2 — Use के पास for physical nearness and possessive existence, distinguishing what someone has from what belongs to them.
- The oblique before simple postpositionsA2 — Apply oblique case consistently to complete noun phrases before simple Hindi postpositions such as को, ने, से, में, पर, and तक.
- Possessive मेरा तेरा हमाराA2 — Make मेरा, तेरा, and हमारा agree with the possessed noun while distinguishing intimate ownership, plural हमारा, and reflexive अपना.
- Demonstrative possessives इसका उसकाA2 — Form third-person possessives from proximal and distal oblique stems while tracking possession, number, deixis, and honorific reference.
- Possessive का phrases as adjectival modifiersB2 — Treat का/के/की possession phrases as agreeing modifiers whose ending follows the possessed head noun.