मैं maĩ “I” and हम ham “we” are the direct first-person pronouns. They identify the speaker alone or a group containing the speaker, and they determine the person and number of the verb: मैं हूँ maĩ hū̃ but हम हैं ham haiṃ. Hindi also marks the speaker's gender on many participles and future forms, something English I and we do not do.
This page concentrates on the direct forms and the agreement they control. The special forms required by ने, को, and postpositions are introduced only far enough to prevent direct-form errors; their complete paradigms belong on the oblique-stem page.
Singular मैं and plural हम
| Pronoun | Copula | Masculine habitual | Feminine habitual |
|---|---|---|---|
| मैं maĩ | मैं हूँ maĩ hū̃ | मैं करता हूँ maĩ kartā hū̃ | मैं करती हूँ maĩ kartī hū̃ |
| हम ham | हम हैं ham haiṃ | हम करते हैं ham karte haiṃ | हम करती हैं ham kartī haiṃ |
With मैं, the auxiliary is always singular हूँ, while a gender-sensitive form reveals the speaker's gender. With हम, the auxiliary is plural हैं. An all-female group can use feminine करती हैं; a male or mixed group normally uses masculine plural करते हैं.
मैं रोज़ बस से दफ़्तर जाता हूँ, लेकिन शुक्रवार को घर से काम करता हूँ।
maĩ roz bas se daftar jātā hū̃, lekin śukravār ko ghar se kām kartā hū̃.
I go to the office by bus every day, but I work from home on Fridays. (male speaker)
हम आज जल्दी निकल रही हैं क्योंकि हमारी ट्रेन छह बजे है।
ham āj jaldī nikal rahī haiṃ kyoṅki hamārī ṭren chah baje hai.
We are leaving early today because our train is at six. (all-female group)
मैं अगले महीने दिल्ली जाऊँगी और हम वहाँ एक हफ़्ता रहेंगे।
maĩ agle mahīne dillī jāū̃gī aur ham vahā̃ ek haftā raheṅge.
I will go to Delhi next month, and we will stay there for a week. (female speaker; mixed or male group)
The last sentence changes from feminine singular जाऊँगी to masculine/mixed plural रहेंगे because the subject changes from मैं to हम. Gender agreement describes the grammatical subject at each point; it is not permanently attached to the speaker.
What “we” includes
Standard Hindi हम can be inclusive—“you and I/we”—or exclusive—“I/we and someone else, but not you.” The pronoun itself does not mark the difference. Context or a fuller expression supplies it.
तुम भी चलो; हम सब साथ खाना खाएँगे।
tum bhī calo; ham sab sāth khānā khāẽge.
You come too; we'll all eat together. (inclusive हम)
तुम घर पर रहो; हम दोनों बैंक जाकर आते हैं।
tum ghar par raho; ham donoṃ baiṅk jākar āte haiṃ.
You stay at home; the two of us will go to the bank and come back. (exclusive हम)
Useful expansions include हम दोनों ham donoṃ “the two of us,” हम सब ham sab “all of us,” and हम लोग ham log “we/us as a group” (informal). These clarify the group's size or boundaries but do not create a new grammatical person.
In parts of eastern and central South Asia, speakers may use हम for an individual speaker (regional). Agreement practices vary with the variety and situation. This regional singular use should not be projected onto every Hindi speaker, and learners aiming at neutral Modern Standard Hindi should initially use मैं for one speaker and हम for more than one.
Direct forms versus case forms
मैं and हम are not copied unchanged into every case environment.
| Function | First singular | First plural |
|---|---|---|
| direct subject | मैं maĩ | हम ham |
| with ने | मैंने maĩne | हमने hamne |
| with को | मुझे mujhe / मुझको mujhko | हमें hameṃ / हमको hamko |
| with से | मुझसे mujhse | हमसे hamse |
| possessive | मेरा/मेरी/मेरे merā/merī/mere | हमारा/हमारी/हमारे hamārā/hamārī/hamāre |
मुझे/मुझको and हमें/हमको are both standard; register and regional preference affect frequency. They often mark an object, recipient, or experiencer. मैंने/हमने occur in ergative environments, especially with many perfective transitive clauses; they are not decorative variants of direct मैं/हम.
मैंने नीलम को फ़ोन किया, पर उसने मुझे बाद में बुलाया।
maĩne nīlam ko fon kiyā, par usne mujhe bād meṃ bulāyā.
I called Neelam, but she invited me over later.
हमें यह कमरा पसंद है, इसलिए हमने इसे बुक कर लिया।
hameṃ yah kamrā pasand hai, islie hamne ise buk kar liyā.
We like this room, so we booked it.
In हमें... पसंद है, first person plural is an experiencer marked by को through the fused form हमें. In हमने... बुक कर लिया, ने marks the agent of a perfective transitive clause. English uses subject we in both, so English word order cannot predict the Hindi case.
Formality changes the addressee, not the speaker
First-person forms themselves have no respectful counterpart in ordinary Standard Hindi. A speaker says मैं regardless of whether the addressee is तुम or आप. What changes is the second-person pronoun and its agreement.
मैं तुमसे कल स्टेशन पर मिलूँगा।
maĩ tumse kal sṭeśan par milū̃gā.
I'll meet you at the station tomorrow. (informal, male speaker)
मैं आपसे कल स्टेशन पर मिलूँगा।
maĩ āpse kal sṭeśan par milū̃gā.
I'll meet you at the station tomorrow. (respectful, male speaker)
This minimal pair keeps मैं... मिलूँगा constant. The social contrast lies in तुमसे versus आपसे. तू belongs only in an established intimate relationship or a marked expressive context; it is not a general equivalent of English you.
The grammatical side appears when the addressee pronoun is the subject: familiar तुम तैयार हो tum taiyār ho contrasts with respectful singular आप तैयार हैं āp taiyār haiṃ. Plural हैं is required with आप even when only one person is addressed. Hindi can extend the same honorific-plural strategy to a respected third-person referent, as explained under respectful third-person reference; none of this changes the speaker's own मैं.
A dialogue: speaker, relationship, and number
आशा: क्या तुम आज आ रहे हो? रोहन: हाँ, मैं आ रहा हूँ। नेहा भी आएगी, इसलिए हम दोनों साथ पहुँचेंगे।
āśā: kyā tum āj ā rahe ho? rohan: hā̃, maĩ ā rahā hū̃. nehā bhī āegī, islie ham donoṃ sāth pahũceṅge.
Asha: Are you coming today? Rohan: Yes, I am. Neha will come too, so the two of us will arrive together. (informal dialogue)
तुम... हो reflects Asha's familiar relationship with Rohan. Rohan first answers as one male speaker with मैं... हूँ, then includes Neha in हम दोनों... पहुँचेंगे. The mixed pair selects masculine plural agreement.
“Myself,” “ourselves,” and possessive अपना
English creates reflexives by adding -self to a personal pronoun. Hindi distinguishes emphasis, independent action, and same-subject possession. खुद khud is usual for emphasis in conversation; स्वयं svayaṃ is formal; अपने आप apne āp often means “by oneself.” अपना apnā is a possessive that refers back to the clause's subject.
हम अपना खाना खुद बनाएँगे; आपको कुछ लाने की ज़रूरत नहीं है।
ham apnā khānā khud banāẽge; āpko kuch lāne kī zarūrat nahīṃ hai.
We'll make our own food ourselves; you don't need to bring anything. (respectful आप)
Here अपना agrees with masculine singular खाना, not with plural हम. खुद supplies the emphatic “ourselves.” A form such as हमें would instead mean “to us/us” and cannot translate reflexive emphasis.
Third-person deixis is another separate system: careful standard यह/वह is singular and ये/वे plural, although conversational singular ये/वो is widespread (informal). Do not use those forms as substitutes for first-person मैं/हम.
Pronoun omission
Hindi can omit मैं or हम when the verb and context make the subject clear, especially in answers and connected conversation. This is natural, not careless, but the omitted subject must remain recoverable.
कहाँ हो? — बस पहुँच रही हूँ।
kahā̃ ho? — bas pahũc rahī hū̃.
Where are you? — I'm just arriving. (informal; female speaker)
The answer's रही हूँ identifies a feminine first-person singular subject, so repeating मैं is unnecessary. Add the pronoun when contrasting speakers or preventing ambiguity.
Common Mistakes
Pairing मैं with a plural auxiliary
❌ मैं अभी घर पर हैं।
Incorrect — singular मैं takes हूँ.
✅ मैं अभी घर पर हूँ।
maĩ abhī ghar par hū̃.
I am at home right now.
Pairing हम with a singular auxiliary
❌ हम अगले हफ़्ते खाली हूँ।
Incorrect — हम takes first-person plural हैं.
✅ हम अगले हफ़्ते खाली हैं।
ham agle hafte khālī haiṃ.
We are free next week.
Keeping मैं before a postposition
❌ यह बात मैं से मत छिपाओ।
Incorrect — use the oblique stem मुझ- before से.
✅ यह बात मुझसे मत छिपाओ।
yah bāt mujhse mat chipāo.
Don't hide this from me. (informal)
Using ने in a present state
❌ हमने अभी तैयार हैं।
Incorrect — ने does not mark the subject of this present state.
✅ हम अभी तैयार हैं।
ham abhī taiyār haiṃ.
We are ready now.
Translating “ourselves” as an object form
❌ हमें यह योजना बनाएँगे।
Incorrect for “we will make this plan ourselves”; हमें is not a reflexive intensifier.
✅ हम यह योजना खुद बनाएँगे।
ham yah yojnā khud banāẽge.
We will make this plan ourselves.
Key Takeaways
- Direct मैं selects singular हूँ; direct हम selects plural हैं.
- Gender appears on many participles and futures: मैं गया/गई, हम जाएँगे/जाएँगी.
- हम can include or exclude the addressee; context, हम सब, and हम दोनों clarify.
- Case environments produce मैंने, मुझे, मुझसे, हमने, हमें, हमसे rather than a single unchanged form.
- Use खुद/अपने आप for reflexive emphasis and अपना for same-subject possession.
Now practice Hindi
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Start learning Hindi →Related Topics
- Personal pronouns overviewA1 — Map Hindi personal pronouns across person, number, case, agreement, and the three socially meaningful levels of second-person address.
- Oblique stems मुझ तुझ and हमA2 — Build first-person and intimate second-person postpositional forms from मुझ, तुझ, and हम while distinguishing को, ने, possessive, and reflexive forms.
- Inclusive and exclusive readings of हमC1 — Interpret whether हम includes the addressee through discourse cues, explicit group phrases, and the social setting.
- Pronoun omission and recoverabilityB2 — Learn when Hindi can leave a pronoun unspoken, how agreement and discourse recover it, and when an overt form is needed to prevent ambiguity.
- Reflexive possessive अपनाB1 — Use अपना for possession that returns to a clause's subject while making it agree with the possessed noun.
- Present copula हूँ हो है हैंA1 — Choose हूँ, हो, है, or हैं by person, number, and honorificity, and use the present copula as both a main verb and an auxiliary.