A Hindi request is not made polite by one magic word. Speakers coordinate an address relationship—तू, तुम, or आप—with a matching verb form, a direct or indirect sentence shape, particles such as ज़रा and ना, a completion verb such as देना, and an appropriate tone. A grammatically correct request can therefore still sound too intimate, too official, or too forceful for its setting.
This page focuses on what those choices do in interaction. For the forms themselves, see the imperative overview and choosing तू, तुम, or आप.
One action, three relationships
The imperative normally reveals the address level even when the pronoun is omitted.
| Relationship | Request | Usual setting |
|---|---|---|
| intimate singular | दरवाज़ा बंद कर | a relationship that licenses तू; also potentially harsh outside it |
| familiar singular/plural | दरवाज़ा बंद करो | friends, siblings, peers, familiar children or groups |
| respectful singular/plural | दरवाज़ा बंद कीजिए | adult strangers, customers, seniors, formal or respectful encounters |
निकलते समय दरवाज़ा बंद कर देना।
nikalte samay darvāzā band kar denā.
Close the door when you leave. (intimate/familiar household reminder)
निकलते समय दरवाज़ा बंद कर देना, ठीक है?
nikalte samay darvāzā band kar denā, ṭhīk hai?
Close the door when you leave, all right? (familiar, gently checking cooperation)
निकलते समय कृपया दरवाज़ा बंद कर दीजिए।
nikalte samay kripyā darvāzā band kar dījie.
Please close the door when you leave. (respectful/formal)
The first two use the infinitive-shaped directive कर देना, common in reminders among people with an established relationship. The third uses respectful दीजिए. The completion vector देना presents the closing as a bounded favor to be carried out; it does not by itself make the request respectful.
Directness is separate from honorificity
A respectful imperative can be direct yet courteous. A question can be less direct because it asks about ability or willingness instead of simply naming the desired action.
ज़रा यह फ़ॉर्म भर दीजिए।
zarā yah form bhar dījie.
Please fill out this form. (respectful, ordinary spoken request)
क्या आप यह फ़ॉर्म भर सकते हैं?
kyā āp yah form bhar sakte haiṃ?
Could you fill out this form? (respectful, addressing a man or mixed group)
क्या आप मेरे लिए यह फ़ॉर्म भर सकेंगी?
kyā āp mere lie yah form bhar sakeṅgī?
Would you be able to fill out this form for me? (respectful, addressing a woman)
The क्या आप... सकते हैं? pattern is grammatically a question about ability, but context normally lets it function as a request. Future सकेंगी can sound more tentative in a careful service exchange. That extra indirectness is useful when the favor is substantial; for a tiny routine transaction, an elaborate question may sound unnecessarily ceremonious.
English speakers often avoid imperatives because bare English Fill this in can sound blunt. Hindi does not map that judgment mechanically. ज़रा भर दीजिए with respectful morphology and an even, non-barking contour is an ordinary courteous request.
A formal exchange: keep agreement aligned
यात्री: माफ़ कीजिए, क्या आप ज़रा बता सकते हैं कि प्लेटफ़ॉर्म तीन किधर है? कर्मचारी: जी, थोड़ा आगे जाकर बाएँ मुड़ जाइए।
yātrī: māf kījie, kyā āp zarā batā sakte haiṃ ki pleṭform tīn kidhar hai? karmacārī: jī, thoṛā āge jākar bāẽ muṛ jāie.
Passenger: Excuse me, could you please tell me where platform three is? Employee: Certainly; turn left up ahead. (respectful public exchange)
The passenger distributes deference across माफ़ कीजिए, आप, plural सकते हैं, ज़रा, and a question. The employee responds with जी and respectful मुड़ जाइए. Removing any one element does not necessarily make the exchange rude; together they establish a coherent respectful frame.
Compare a shorter version:
भाई साहब, प्लेटफ़ॉर्म तीन किधर है?
bhāī sāhab, pleṭform tīn kidhar hai?
Excuse me, which way is platform three? (respectful everyday question)
This is polite without कृपया. The respectful address term, ordinary question, and neutral tone do the work. Hindi often leaves an obvious request implicit: asking where the platform is already invites an answer.
Familiar requests: warmth, not failed formality
Among friends and close colleagues, तुम + -ओ is often the socially right choice. Overusing आप can create distance, although some families, couples, and colleagues use आप warmly and permanently.
मीरा, घर पहुँचकर मुझे संदेश भेज देना।
mīrā, ghar pahũckar mujhe sandeś bhej denā.
Meera, send me a message when you get home. (familiar, caring reminder)
यार, ज़रा अपना चार्जर देना।
yār, zarā apnā cārjar denā.
Hey, lend me your charger for a moment. (informal, familiar)
यह फ़ाइल आज भेज दोगे?
yah fāil āj bhej doge?
Will you send this file today? (familiar request, addressing a man)
The last request omits क्या and uses rising or suspended question intonation. With a flat, low ending it may instead sound like an assumption that the addressee will comply. Intonation changes the interpersonal force without changing the words.
Postposed ना can add warmth or coaxing:
आज मेरे साथ चलो ना।
āj mere sāth calo nā.
Come with me today, please. (familiar, coaxing)
Repeated with a sharp tone—चलो ना!—the same words can convey impatience. Particles guide interpretation; they do not override delivery or relationship.
Intimate तू: legitimate but high-risk for learners
इधर आ, तुझे कुछ दिखाना है।
idhar ā, tujhe kuch dikhānā hai.
Come here; I have something to show you. (intimate singular)
This can be affectionate between people who use तू. Addressed to an unfamiliar adult, the same form can sound demeaning or aggressive. Learners should not treat तू as merely a more casual version of English you. It is a relationship claim.
Repairing a request that lands too hard
Suppose a junior employee says to a new senior colleague:
❌ यह अभी भेजो।
Socially miscalibrated in this setting — the familiar imperative and clipped wording can sound like an order.
✅ क्या आप इसे आज भेज सकते हैं?
kyā āp ise āj bhej sakte haiṃ?
Could you send this today? (respectful, addressing a man or mixed group)
✅ अगर संभव हो, तो कृपया इसे आज ही भेज दीजिए।
agar sambhav ho, to kripyā ise āj hī bhej dījie.
If possible, please send this today. (formal and respectful; the deadline remains explicit)
The repair does not hide the task. It adds respectful agreement and either question-shaped indirectness or a feasibility condition. By contrast, a manager may appropriately use इसे आज भेज दीजिए to state a legitimate work instruction respectfully. Social role affects whether an utterance is heard as a request, instruction, or order.
Common Mistakes
Keeping तुम agreement after choosing आप
❌ आप ज़रा यहाँ रुको।
Incorrect in careful Standard Hindi — आप requires a respectful imperative.
✅ आप ज़रा यहाँ रुकिए।
āp zarā yahā̃ rukie.
Please wait here for a moment. (respectful)
Assuming कृपया makes any command polite
❌ सर, कृपया तू यह देख।
Incorrect and socially contradictory — कृपया cannot repair intimate तू with an unfamiliar respected addressee.
✅ सर, कृपया यह देखिए।
sar, kripyā yah dekhie.
Sir, please look at this. (respectful/formal)
Copying English Would you like to...? for a request
❌ क्या आप रिपोर्ट भेजना चाहेंगे?
Misleading for the intended request — this genuinely asks whether the listener would like to send the report.
✅ क्या आप रिपोर्ट भेज सकते हैं?
kyā āp riporṭ bhej sakte haiṃ?
Could you send the report? (respectful, addressing a man or mixed group)
Making a familiar request bureaucratically formal
❌ प्रिय मित्र, कृपया मुझे नमक प्रदान कीजिए।
Socially miscalibrated for passing salt to a friend — प्रदान करना and the whole frame are bureaucratically overformal.
✅ ज़रा नमक देना।
zarā namak denā.
Pass me the salt, please. (familiar)
Key Takeaways
- Choose the relationship first: intimate तू, familiar तुम, or respectful/plural आप.
- Keep the whole agreement package aligned, even when the pronoun is omitted.
- A respectful imperative can be courteous; ability or future questions add indirectness when useful.
- ज़रा, ना, कृपया, vector verbs, reasons, and intonation modify force, but none works independently of context.
- A natural request is calibrated to both the burden of the favor and the relationship between the speakers.
Related Topics
- Choosing तू तुम or आपA1 — Choose among intimate तू, familiar तुम, and respectful or plural आप while matching agreement, postpositional forms, and relationship-sensitive social meaning.
- Imperative overview by honorific levelB1 — Choose Hindi command forms for intimate तू, familiar तुम, and respectful or plural आप while keeping polarity and predicate layers aligned.
- Soft commands with nā and particlesB1 — Use infinitive-shaped reminders, postposed ना, ज़रा, तो, and related particles to adjust the warmth and force of Hindi commands.
- चाहना desire and polite requestsA2 — Express wants with चाहना and use its conditional and future-shaped forms to frame tactful questions, offers, and request prefaces.
- Please strategies कृपया ज़रा and तोB1 — Distinguish formal कृपया, conversational ज़रा, and appeal-marking तो so Hindi requests sound courteous without becoming stiff or pushy.