Familiar तुम tum and respectful आप āp form their postpositional paradigms differently. तुम remains visible in productive तुमसे, तुममें, तुम पर, while तुम्ह- appears in conventional तुम्हें and possessive तुम्हारा. आप remains stable in आपसे, आपमें, आप पर, with आपको and possessive आपका.
The surface strings matter because honorific level remains grammatical after case marking: तुमसे still carries familiar address, while आपसे still carries respectful address. When that addressee controls agreement elsewhere in the clause or discourse, keep हो versus plural-honorific हैं consistent. The social choice itself is developed in choosing तू, तुम, or आप.
The same grammatical honorificity appears in third-person reference: a respected singular person may be ये/वे with oblique इन/उन, whereas a non-honorific singular remains यह/वह with इस/उस. Those forms are developed in इस, उस, इन, and उन.
Core paradigm
| Function | तुम familiar | आप respectful/plural |
|---|---|---|
| direct | तुम tum | आप āp |
| ergative | तुमने tumne | आपने āpne |
| को form | तुम्हें tumheṃ / तुमको tumko | आपको āpko |
| से form | तुमसे tumse | आपसे āpse |
| में form | तुममें tummeṃ | आपमें āpmeṃ |
| possessive | तुम्हारा/तुम्हारी/तुम्हारे | आपका/आपकी/आपके |
Simple postpositions
With से, में, पर, तक, the direct-looking base combines productively.
मैं तुमसे कल बात करूँगा।
maĩ tumse kal bāt karū̃gā.
I'll talk to you tomorrow. (familiar, male speaker)
हमें आप पर पूरा भरोसा है।
hameṃ āp par pūrā bharosā hai.
We trust you completely. (respectful)
यह क्षमता तुममें पहले से थी।
yah kṣamtā tummeṃ pahle se thī.
You already had this ability in you. (familiar)
Written तुममें and आपमें fuse pronoun plus में. तुम पर/आप पर remain separate words. Spelling is conventional and should be learned with each postposition.
को and ने are conventional forms
तुम्हें कौन-सा रंग पसंद है?
tumheṃ kaun-sā raṅg pasand hai?
Which color do you like? (familiar)
आपने यह फ़ैसला कब किया?
āpne yah faislā kab kiyā?
When did you make this decision? (respectful or plural)
तुम्हें and आपको serve as objects, recipients, and experiencers according to the predicate. तुमने/आपने mark a perfective transitive agent; they do not mean “to you.”
Compound postpositions
Relational compounds use possessive-like forms: तुम्हारे लिए, तुम्हारे साथ, तुम्हारे पास and आपके लिए, आपके साथ, आपके पास.
यह सीट आपके लिए रखी गई है।
yah sīṭ āpke lie rakhī gaī hai.
This seat has been reserved for you. (respectful)
मैं तुम्हारे साथ बाज़ार चलूँगी।
maĩ tumhāre sāth bāzār calū̃gī.
I'll go to the market with you. (familiar, female speaker)
To mean “for/with you,” do not use तुम के लिए or आप का साथ. The possessive-like element agrees with the masculine oblique relational structure, not with the addressee's gender. आपका साथ is grammatical as a separate noun phrase meaning “your support/companionship,” but it is not the postposition “with you.”
Agreement remains familiar or honorific
Postpositional marking does not erase the social choice.
तुमसे मिलकर अच्छा लगा; तुम बहुत बदल गए हो।
tumse milkar acchā lagā; tum bahut badal gae ho.
It was good to see you; you've changed a lot. (familiar, to a man)
आपसे मिलकर अच्छा लगा; आप बहुत बदल गए हैं।
āpse milkar acchā lagā; āp bahut badal gae haiṃ.
It was good to see you; you've changed a lot. (respectful, to a man)
This formal–informal minimal pair changes तुमसे/हो to आपसे/हैं. A single respected person remains grammatically plural.
Reflexive ownership
If the addressee is also the owner inside the same clause, Hindi often uses अपना, not तुम्हारा/आपका.
आप अपना सामान यहाँ रख सकते हैं।
āp apnā sāmān yahā̃ rakh sakte haiṃ.
You may put your belongings here. (respectful, addressing a man)
आपका सामान is possible when identifying or contrasting whose belongings they are. अपना explicitly refers back to the clause subject. Emphatic “yourself” uses खुद/स्वयं, not a तुम्ह- form.
One addressee versus a group
तुम may address one familiar person or several familiar people; आप may address one respected person or a group. Add दोनों, सब, or a noun when number must be explicit.
आप दोनों में से किसको यह चाबी चाहिए?
āp donoṃ meṃ se kisko yah cābī cāhie?
Which of you two needs this key? (respectful or plural)
The form आप दोनों is genuinely plural, but its agreement is the same plural grammar already used for one respected addressee. English speakers should not infer social singularity from the translation you.
A dialogue: relationship and number
सर, क्या मैं आपके साथ आ सकता हूँ? — हाँ। और तुम दोनों, तुम्हें कहाँ जाना है?
sar, kyā maĩ āpke sāth ā saktā hū̃? — hā̃. aur tum donoṃ, tumheṃ kahā̃ jānā hai?
Sir, may I come with you? — Yes. And you two, where do you need to go? (respectful singular, then familiar plural)
Common Mistakes
1. Extending तुम्ह- before every postposition
❌ मैं तुम्हसे सहमत हूँ।
Incorrect: standard Hindi uses तुमसे, not तुम्हसे.
✅ मैं तुमसे सहमत हूँ।
maĩ tumse sahmat hū̃.
I agree with you. (familiar)
2. Using intimate तू forms for respectful address
❌ सर, तुझे कौन-सी फ़ाइल चाहिए?
Inappropriate default: तुझे belongs to intimate तू-level address.
✅ सर, आपको कौन-सी फ़ाइल चाहिए?
sar, āpko kaun-sī fāil cāhie?
Sir, which file do you need?
3. Treating आप as grammatically singular
❌ आपसे मिलकर अच्छा लगा; आप बदल गया है।
Incorrect: आप requires plural-honorific agreement.
✅ आपसे मिलकर अच्छा लगा; आप बदल गए हैं।
āpse milkar acchā lagā; āp badal gae haiṃ.
It was good to see you; you have changed. (respectful, to a man)
4. Using ordinary possession for reflexive ownership
❌ आप आपका बैग यहाँ रखिए।
Incorrect in the neutral reflexive reading: use अपना for the subject's own bag.
✅ आप अपना बैग यहाँ रखिए।
āp apnā baig yahā̃ rakhie.
Please put your bag here. (respectful)
Key Takeaways
- Use तुमसे/तुममें but तुम्हें/तुम्हारा; no single surface stem covers every case.
- आप remains visible in आपसे/आपमें/आपको, with possessive-like आपके before compounds.
- Familiar तुम takes हो; respectful आप takes हैं, even for one person.
- Reflexive अपना links possession back to the clause subject.
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- 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.
- 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.
- Pronouns with कोA2 — Use the conventional को-series मुझे, तुझे, तुम्हें, आपको, इसे, उसे, इन्हें, and उन्हें for objects, recipients, and experiencers.
- Pronouns with से and मेंA2 — Form मुझसे, उससे, हममें, उनमें and related fused forms while preserving person, number, deixis, and honorific reference.
- Possessive तुम्हारा and आपकाA2 — Use familiar तुम्हारा and respectful आपका with agreement controlled by the possessed noun, not by the owner.