The postposition से se marks a starting point or source: दिल्ली से dillī se “from Delhi,” कमरे से kamre se “out of/from the room,” सोमवार से somvār se “from Monday onward.” The same source schema extends to separation, removal, distance, and the person from whom something is obtained.
This page isolates source and separation. Instrumental से “with/by,” comparative से “than,” and other functions have their own pages. All share the same morphology: से follows an oblique complement.
Motion away from a place
With motion verbs, से identifies the departure point or origin.
हम सुबह जयपुर से निकले।
ham subah jaypur se nikle.
We left Jaipur in the morning.
वह कमरे से बाहर आ रही है।
vah kamre se bāhar ā rahī hai.
She is coming out of the room.
Masculine कमरा becomes oblique कमरे. A proper place name such as जयपुर remains unchanged, but it is still the oblique complement of से.
| Direct form | Source/separation phrase |
|---|---|
| कमरा kamrā | कमरे से kamre se |
| रास्ता rāstā | रास्ते से rāste se |
| शहर śahar | शहर से śahar se |
| कमरे kamre | कमरों से kamroṃ se |
| गाड़ियाँ gāṛiyā̃ | गाड़ियों से gāṛiyoṃ se |
Source of transfer or information
The source can be a person or institution from whom something comes.
मैंने पड़ोसी से सीढ़ी माँगी।
maĩne paṛosī se sīṛhī mā̃gī.
I asked the neighbor for a ladder.
हमें यह जानकारी दफ़्तर से मिली।
hameṃ yah jānkārī daftar se milī.
We received this information from the office.
English alternates from and of/from someone depending on the verb. Hindi keeps the source phrase after the source noun. The exact verb frame matters: किसी से माँगना “ask someone for,” किसी से मिलना can mean “meet someone,” not “receive from someone” unless the transferred item is the subject.
Physical separation and removal
Use से when one entity is detached, removed, distinguished, or kept apart from another.
पेड़ से एक सूखी डाल टूटकर गिर गई।
peṛ se ek sūkhī ḍāl ṭūṭkar gir gaī.
A dry branch broke off the tree and fell.
कच्चे आमों को पके आमों से अलग रखो।
kacce āmoṃ ko pake āmoṃ se alag rakho.
Keep the unripe mangoes separate from the ripe ones. (informal)
अलग होना/रखना alag honā/rakhnā conventionally selects से for the comparison/separation base. The relationship is still intelligible as separation, but the predicate frame must be learned.
Related expressions include दूर होना dūr honā “be far from,” छुटकारा पाना chuṭkārā pānā “get rid of,” and हटाना haṭānā “remove from.” Their natural complements are lexical choices, not licenses to translate every English from with से.
दवा बच्चों की पहुँच से दूर रखिए।
davā baccoṃ kī pahũc se dūr rakhie.
Keep the medicine out of children's reach.
Starting points in time
Temporal से marks the beginning of a continuing interval: सोमवार से “from/since Monday,” दो बजे से “from two o'clock,” पिछले साल से “since last year.”
मैं पिछले साल से यहाँ काम कर रहा हूँ।
maĩ pichle sāl se yahā̃ kām kar rahā hū̃.
I've been working here since last year.
दुकान सोमवार से फिर खुलेगी।
dukān somvār se phir khulegī.
The shop will reopen starting Monday.
Hindi often combines से with a present or progressive form for a situation continuing into the present. English instead uses a present perfect construction. Do not copy English tense mechanically.
Pronoun forms
Personal pronouns use oblique stems: मुझसे mujhse, तुझसे tujhse, तुमसे tumse, आपसे āpse, हमसे hamse. Demonstratives form इससे isse, उससे usse, इनसे inse, उनसे unse.
आपसे मिलकर बहुत ख़ुशी हुई।
āpse milkar bahut xuśī huī.
It was a pleasure meeting you. (respectful)
यह चाबी उससे ले लो और मुझे दे दो।
yah cābī usse le lo aur mujhe de do.
Take this key from him and give it to me. (informal)
मैं से is not neutral standard Hindi; use मुझसे. In आपसे मिलना, से is lexically selected by मिलना “meet,” even though English has no preposition.
Source versus route, endpoint, and location
से identifies an origin, but it can also mark a route in expressions such as इस रास्ते से जाओ “go by/through this route.” Pure endpoint uses तक tak; destination may be unmarked or use के लिए.
हम दिल्ली से आगरा तक बस से गए।
ham dillī se āgrā tak bas se gae.
We went from Delhi to Agra by bus.
The first से marks source, तक marks endpoint, and the second से marks means. Identical form does not imply identical semantic role.
Productive source versus lexical government
Physical origin is productive: almost any plausible place can combine with से. Predicate-selected relations require memorization. डरना ḍarnā commonly takes से—कुत्ते से डरना “be afraid of the dog”—but fear is not literal movement from a source.
बच्चा तेज़ आवाज़ से डर गया।
baccā tez āvāz se ḍar gayā.
The child was frightened by the loud noise.
Learn से डरना, से मिलना, and से अलग as frames while retaining the broader source/separation network.
A natural exchange
यह ट्रेन कहाँ से आती है? — भोपाल से; यहाँ से आगे इंदौर जाएगी।
yah ṭren kahā̃ se ātī hai? — bhopāl se; yahā̃ se āge indaur jāegī.
Where does this train come from? — Bhopal; from here it goes on to Indore.
Both phrases establish successive source points.
Common Mistakes
1. Placing से before the noun
❌ से दिल्ली ट्रेन आई।
Incorrect: से follows its complement.
✅ दिल्ली से ट्रेन आई।
dillī se ṭren āī.
The train came from Delhi.
2. Keeping a masculine -ā noun direct
❌ वह कमरा से बाहर आया।
Incorrect: कमरा becomes oblique कमरे before से.
✅ वह कमरे से बाहर आया।
vah kamre se bāhar āyā.
He came out of the room.
3. Using direct plural before से
❌ इन शहर से बसें आती हैं।
Incorrect: plural शहर must become oblique शहरों before से.
✅ इन शहरों से बसें आती हैं।
in śahroṃ se baseṃ ātī haiṃ.
Buses come from these cities.
4. Using citation-form pronouns
❌ मैं से यह बात मत कहो।
Incorrect: the standard pronoun form is मुझसे.
✅ मुझसे यह बात मत कहो।
mujhse yah bāt mat kaho.
Don't say this to me. (informal)
Key Takeaways
- Source से marks origins in space, transfer, and time.
- Separation predicates extend the same boundary-away schema.
- Nouns are oblique before से; pronouns use मुझसे, उससे, उनसे, and related forms.
- से…तक can frame source and endpoint.
- Verb-selected uses such as से मिलना and से डरना must be learned with the predicate.
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Start learning Hindi →Related Topics
- से as instrument and meansA2 — Use से for tools, body parts, transport, communication channels, methods, and selected causes while distinguishing accompaniment and agency.
- से as comparison standardA2 — Use से to set the standard in unequal comparisons, from ordinary adjective contrasts to pronouns, quantities, and सबसे superlatives.
- 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.
- तक for endpoints and limitsA2 — Use तक for spatial destinations, deadlines, ranges, measurable limits, and the lexicalized expression यहाँ तक कि.
- Pronouns with से and मेंA2 — Form मुझसे, उससे, हममें, उनमें and related fused forms while preserving person, number, deixis, and honorific reference.
- 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.