तू tū is the intimate singular pronoun “you.” Grammatically, it behaves as singular: तू है tū hai, तू जाता है tū jātā hai, and the ordinary command is the bare verb stem, as in जा jā “go.” Socially, however, no single English label captures it. In an established relationship it can express tenderness or complete familiarity; in another setting it can sound belittling or openly hostile.
The decisive factors are relationship, reciprocity, tone, setting, and community norms. Age alone does not determine the choice. A learner should not initiate तू with an unfamiliar adult. Use आप āp as the respectful default and shift only when the relationship clearly supports another form. The broader decision is mapped on choosing तू, तुम, or आप.
Form and agreement
तू refers to exactly one addressee in Standard Hindi. It selects third-person-singular-looking auxiliary है, but it remains second person and has its own commands and future endings.
| Function | Masculine | Feminine |
|---|---|---|
| present state | तू तैयार है tū taiyār hai | तू तैयार है tū taiyār hai |
| habitual | तू जाता है tū jātā hai | तू जाती है tū jātī hai |
| progressive | तू जा रहा है tū jā rahā hai | तू जा रही है tū jā rahī hai |
| future | तू जाएगा tū jāegā | तू जाएगी tū jāegī |
| past state | तू थका था tū thakā thā | तू थकी थी tū thakī thī |
तू आज बहुत खुश लग रही है; क्या हुआ?
tū āj bahut khuś lag rahī hai; kyā huā?
You look very happy today; what happened? (intimate, to a woman)
तू कल मेरे साथ बाज़ार जाएगा?
tū kal mere sāth bāzār jāegā?
Will you go to the market with me tomorrow? (intimate, to a man)
English you does not reveal either gender or relationship. Hindi तू... जाएगी simultaneously indicates intimate address, one addressee, and feminine agreement. An adjective such as invariant तैयार does not show gender, but the auxiliary still must be है, not हो or हैं.
Commands with तू
The ordinary affirmative तू imperative is usually the verb stem: आ ā “come,” बैठ baiṭh “sit,” सुन sun “listen,” कर kar “do.” Add मत mat before it for a negative command. These forms can be warm inside an intimate relationship or sharp when spoken angrily; grammar alone does not determine the tone.
इधर आ और मुझे बता कि क्या हुआ।
idhar ā aur mujhe batā ki kyā huā.
Come here and tell me what happened. (intimate)
अभी फ़ोन मत रख; मेरी बात पूरी सुन।
abhī fon mat rakh; merī bāt pūrī sun.
Don't hang up yet; hear me out. (intimate, urgent)
Compare the three levels: आ ā with तू, आओ āo with तुम, and आइए āie with आप. Hindi commands therefore encode the relationship even when the pronoun itself is omitted. The bare form is not a shortened universal imperative.
Some devotional songs and prayers address a deity with तू (devotional/literary) to express closeness and direct personal relationship. This usage does not give learners permission to transfer तू to unrelated human addressees.
Oblique and possessive forms
Before case markers and postpositions, तू develops special forms rather than remaining unchanged.
| Function | Form | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| direct | तू tū | you |
| with ने | तूने tūne | you, ergative |
| with को | तुझे tujhe / तुझको tujhko | you, to you |
| with से | तुझसे tujhse | from/with/by you |
| with में | तुझमें tujhmeṃ | in you |
| possessive | तेरा/तेरी/तेरे terā/terī/tere | your |
तुझे and तुझको are both standard. तेरा agrees with the possessed noun, not with the addressee: तेरा फ़ोन terā fon, तेरी चाबी terī cābī, तेरे जूते tere jūte.
तूने मुझे जो किताब दी थी, वह तुझे कहाँ मिली?
tūne mujhe jo kitāb dī thī, vah tujhe kahā̃ milī?
Where did you find the book that you gave me? (intimate)
तेरी चाबी तुझसे नहीं, मुझसे खो गई है।
terī cābī tujhse nahīṃ, mujhse kho gaī hai.
It wasn't you who lost your key; I did. (intimate)
The second sentence uses से with खोना in a common accidental-event construction. Its wording is contrastive and colloquial; it does not mean that the key physically moved “from” either person.
Affection, asymmetry, and insult
Calling तू simply “rude” hides its most important property: its meaning comes from the relationship. Close childhood friends may use it reciprocally (informal). A parent may use it affectionately to a small child, while the child answers with तुम or आप; that asymmetry reflects the relationship. The same form from a stranger can deny expected respect, and in an argument it may be deliberately contemptuous.
दादी: तूने खाना खाया? पोती: हाँ दादी, मैंने खा लिया।
dādī: tūne khānā khāyā? potī: hā̃ dādī, maĩne khā liyā.
Grandmother: Have you eaten? Granddaughter: Yes, Grandma, I have. (family dialogue; affectionate तू)
This example describes one plausible family pattern, not a universal rule for grandparents. Other families use तुम or आप in either direction. Social descriptions must remain local to the relationship shown.
Now compare a respectful and an intimate question:
आप कैसे हैं, अंकल?
āp kaise haiṃ, aṅkal?
How are you, Uncle? (respectful)
तू कैसा है, यार?
tū kaisā hai, yār?
How are you, buddy? (intimate, to a man)
The shift is grammatical as well as social: आप... हैं has honorific plural agreement, while singular तू... है has singular agreement.
Relationship and number can force a switch
Because तू is singular, a speaker addressing two close friends must normally use तुम, not repeat singular agreement for the group.
रिया, तू आगे बैठ; मोहन और रिया, तुम दोनों आगे बैठो।
riyā, tū āge baiṭh; mohan aur riyā, tum donoṃ āge baiṭho.
Riya, sit in front; Mohan and Riya, both of you sit in front. (informal)
The first command is singular intimate बैठ. Once two people are addressed, तुम दोनों... बैठो makes the plural reference explicit. आप could replace तुम if the setting called for respectful address.
Reflexive meaning is not तुझ-
Oblique तुझ- means “you” in a case relation. English yourself may instead require खुद khud, अपने आप apne āp, or same-subject possessive अपना apnā.
तू अपना बैग खुद उठा; मैं बाकी सामान ले लूँगा।
tū apnā baig khud uṭhā; maĩ bākī sāmān le lū̃gā.
Carry your own bag yourself; I'll take the rest of the luggage. (intimate)
अपना refers back to subject तू and agrees with बैग. खुद adds “yourself.” Neither function is supplied by तुझे.
Third-person यह/वह and ये/वे form a separate deictic contrast. वह does not become a polite replacement for तू in direct address, and conversational singular वो (informal) should not be confused with second person.
Common Mistakes
Choosing an address level for an unfamiliar adult
✅ तू मुझे रास्ता बता सकता है?
tū mujhe rāstā batā saktā hai?
Can you tell me the way? (grammatical intimate address; use only where that relationship is established)
✅ क्या आप मुझे रास्ता बता सकते हैं?
kyā āp mujhe rāstā batā sakte haiṃ?
Could you tell me the way? (respectful)
Selecting तुम agreement
❌ तू आज घर पर हो।
Incorrect — हो agrees with तुम, not तू.
✅ तू आज घर पर है।
tū āj ghar par hai.
You're at home today. (intimate singular)
Using the तुम imperative
❌ तू यहाँ आओ।
Incorrect in the standard intimate paradigm — आओ is the तुम command.
✅ तू यहाँ आ।
tū yahā̃ ā.
Come here. (intimate singular)
Keeping the direct form before से
❌ मुझे तू से एक बात कहनी है।
Incorrect — तू changes to तुझ- before से.
✅ मुझे तुझसे एक बात कहनी है।
mujhe tujhse ek bāt kahnī hai.
I need to tell you something. (intimate)
Addressing a group with singular तू
❌ बच्चो, तू बाहर खेल।
Incorrect for addressing the children as a group — तू is singular.
✅ बच्चो, तुम बाहर खेलो।
bacco, tum bāhar khelo.
Children, go play outside. (familiar plural)
Key Takeaways
- तू is intimate and strictly singular in Standard Hindi.
- It takes है, gender-sensitive singular forms, and the bare-stem imperative.
- Case produces तूने, तुझे/तुझको, तुझसे; possession uses तेरा/तेरी/तेरे.
- Its social effect ranges from tenderness to contempt according to relationship and tone.
- Use तुम for a familiar group and आप when respectful distance is appropriate.
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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Using तू with strangersB1 — Avoid accidental intimacy or disrespect by replacing unlicensed तू with socially matched तुम or आप forms.