Hindi has three common second-person levels: intimate singular तू tū, familiar तुम tum, and respectful or plural आप āp. The choice expresses a relationship and simultaneously selects agreement, imperative, possessive, and postpositional forms.
There is no context-free translation of English you. For a learner addressing an unfamiliar adult, आप is the safest neutral-respectful starting point; तुम becomes natural in many peer, friend, family, and youth settings; तू requires a relationship or stance that licenses strong intimacy.
The three-way paradigm
| Level | Direct | “is/are” | को form | से form | Possessive |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| intimate singular | तू tū | है hai | तुझे tujhe | तुझसे tujhse | तेरा/तेरी/तेरे terā/terī/tere |
| familiar | तुम tum | हो ho | तुम्हें tumheṃ | तुमसे tumse | तुम्हारा/तुम्हारी/तुम्हारे tumhārā/tumhārī/tumhāre |
| respectful/plural | आप āp | हैं haiṃ | आपको āpko | आपसे āpse | आपका/आपकी/आपके āpkā/āpkī/āpke |
तू अभी कहाँ है?
tū abhī kahā̃ hai?
Where are you right now? (intimate singular)
तुम अभी कहाँ हो?
tum abhī kahā̃ ho?
Where are you right now? (familiar)
आप अभी कहाँ हैं?
āp abhī kahā̃ haiṃ?
Where are you right now? (respectful or plural)
Changing only the pronoun while keeping है would be ungrammatical. Honorificity is realized across the clause.
तू: intimacy, devotion, or deliberate disrespect
तू is singular. It occurs naturally between some very close friends, lovers, siblings, and when adults address small children; it also appears in devotional language to a deity (devotional/literary). In an unlicensed relationship it can sound belittling, angry, or insulting.
तू चिंता मत कर, मैं तेरे साथ हूँ।
tū cintā mat kar, maĩ tere sāth hū̃.
Don't worry; I'm with you. (intimate)
The same sentence to an unfamiliar adult would be socially marked. Region, community, family habits, and momentary emotion change its force. “Always rude” is false; “safe with everyone” is also false.
तुम: familiar and number-flexible
तुम is common among friends, classmates, siblings, and many peers. It may address one person or multiple familiar people. Agreement uses हो and familiar plural-like predicate forms.
तुम आज जल्दी आ गए।
tum āj jaldī ā gae.
You arrived early today. (familiar, male or mixed-group reference)
तुम दोनों मेरे साथ चलोगे?
tum donoṃ mere sāth caloge?
Will both of you come with me? (familiar)
दोनों makes actual plurality explicit. With one woman, तुम आज जल्दी आ गईं is widespread respectful-familiar agreement; regional and speaker variation exists in feminine agreement, so learn the pattern used by your community.
आप: respect and ordinary plural address
आप can be one respected individual or any group addressed politely. It always triggers plural agreement.
आप कल कितने बजे आएँगे?
āp kal kitne baje āẽge?
What time will you come tomorrow? (respectful to a man, or to a masculine/mixed group)
Use आप with adult strangers and in institutional encounters unless the local relationship clearly favors another choice. It can also express warmth within a family or marriage; it is not inherently distant.
Formal and informal minimal pair
तुम बैठो, मैं चाय लाता हूँ।
tum baiṭho, maĩ cāy lātā hū̃.
Sit down; I'll bring tea. (familiar, male speaker)
आप बैठिए, मैं चाय लाता हूँ।
āp baiṭhie, maĩ cāy lātā hū̃.
Please sit down; I'll bring tea. (respectful, male speaker)
The pronoun and imperative both change. Adding कृपया can soften either request, but it does not replace the grammatical honorific contrast.
Relationship can change the choice
Speakers sometimes move from आप to तुम as a relationship becomes closer, or from तुम to आप to create distance, irony, or pointed respect. Such switching is meaningful and should not be copied casually.
अगर तुम्हें ठीक लगे, तो अब हम एक-दूसरे को तुम कह सकते हैं।
agar tumheṃ ṭhīk lage, to ab ham ek-dūsre ko tum kah sakte haiṃ.
If you're comfortable with it, we can use तुम with each other now. (familiar negotiation)
There is no universal moment when a relationship “must” switch. This page describes grammar and broad social values, not a complete etiquette code.
Reflexives stay tied to the subject
All three pronouns normally use अपना for the subject's own possession.
तू अपना काम कर, तुम अपना काम करो, और आप अपना काम कीजिए।
tū apnā kām kar, tum apnā kām karo, aur āp apnā kām kījie.
Do your own work: intimate, familiar, and respectful forms.
English yourself as emphasis uses खुद or स्वयं, not possessive अपना: आप खुद देखिए “see for yourself.”
A dialogue: relationship and number
मैडम, क्या आप हमारी नई अध्यापिका हैं? — हाँ। तुम दोनों किस कक्षा में हो?
maiḍam, kyā āp hamārī naī adhyāpikā haiṃ? — hā̃. tum donoṃ kis kakṣā meṃ ho?
Ma'am, are you our new teacher? — Yes. Which class are you two in?
The students use respectful singular आप ... हैं for the teacher. She addresses two pupils with familiar plural तुम दोनों ... हो. The choices encode both relationship and number.
Third-person honorificity is related but distinct
Plural demonstrative pronouns may respectfully refer to one person: वे हमारे प्रधानाचार्य हैं “he/she is our principal.” This resembles आप in taking plural agreement. It does not mean वे is another word for second-person “you”; demonstratives and second-person pronouns keep different deictic roles.
Common Mistakes
1. Using तू as a universal translation of “you”
❌ तू मेरी मदद करेगा, सर?
Inappropriate default to an unfamiliar respected adult: use आप and plural agreement.
✅ आप मेरी मदद करेंगे, सर?
āp merī madad kareṅge, sar?
Will you help me, sir?
2. Mixing pronoun and auxiliary
❌ तुम कहाँ है?
Incorrect: तुम takes हो.
✅ तुम कहाँ हो?
tum kahā̃ ho?
Where are you? (familiar)
3. Treating आप as singular grammar
❌ आप कब आएगा?
Incorrect: आप requires plural future agreement.
✅ आप कब आएँगे?
āp kab āẽge?
When will you come? (respectful to a man, or plural)
4. Using a demonstrative for English “you”
❌ क्या वे तैयार हैं, मैडम?
Incorrect when speaking directly to the woman: वे is third person, not “you.”
✅ क्या आप तैयार हैं, मैडम?
kyā āp taiyār haiṃ, maiḍam?
Are you ready, ma'am?
Key Takeaways
- तू is intimate singular and can also signal devotion or deliberate disrespect.
- तुम is familiar and may be singular or plural; आप is respectful singular or ordinary plural.
- Agreement changes with the level: है, हो, हैं and कर, करो, कीजिए.
- Relationship and local norms matter; आप is the safest default with unfamiliar adults.
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Start learning Hindi →Related Topics
- तू intimate singular youA1 — Use singular तू with its intimate agreement, oblique forms, commands, and relationship-dependent social meanings.
- तुम familiar youA1 — Use familiar तुम for one or more addressees with its characteristic agreement, case forms, commands, and social range.
- आप respectful youA1 — Use आप for respectful singular and ordinary plural address, with plural agreement, postpositional forms, and socially appropriate contrasts with तुम.
- Social shifts and deliberate pronoun switchingC2 — Understand how shifts among तू, तुम, आप and third-person forms reframe relationships and require matching grammatical agreement.
- तुम्ह and आप oblique formsA2 — Build familiar तुम and respectful आप forms before simple and compound postpositions, distinguishing productive stems from तुम्हें, तुम्हारा, आपको, and आपका.
- Reflexive possessive अपनाB1 — Use अपना for possession that returns to a clause's subject while making it agree with the possessed noun.