Hindi uses मत before a directive to tell an addressee not to act: मत जाओ “don't go,” मत कीजिए “please don't do it.” मत supplies prohibitive polarity; the verb still encodes the relationship between speaker and addressee. Simple imperatives do not mark the addressee's gender, so the same form addresses a man or a woman at a given honorific level.
The affirmative forms and their social values are introduced in the imperative overview by honorific level; here the focus is what changes—and what does not—when मत is added.
The core honorificity paradigm
| Addressee | Affirmative | Negative | Usual relationship |
|---|---|---|---|
| तू | कर | मत कर | intimate; potentially insulting outside a close or downward relationship |
| तुम | करो | मत करो | familiar, everyday |
| आप | कीजिए | मत कीजिए | respectful |
रोहन, उस तार को मत छू।
rohan, us tār ko mat chū.
Rohan, don't touch that wire. (intimate/downward तू command)
सीमा, अभी फ़ोन मत करो।
sīmā, abhī fon mat karo.
Seema, don't call right now. (familiar)
कृपया इस दरवाज़े को मत खोलिए।
kripyā is darvāze ko mat kholie.
Please don't open this door. (respectful/formal)
Names make the addressee's gender visible, but छू/करो/खोलिए is selected by honorificity, not gender. कृपया can soften an official or service-context prohibition; it is more formal than everyday ज़रा.
मत is not ordinary नहीं
नहीं negates a statement: तुम वहाँ नहीं जाते “you don't go there.” मत negates a directive: वहाँ मत जाओ “don't go there.”
तुम रात को अकेले बाहर नहीं जाते।
tum rāt ko akele bāhar nahīṃ jāte.
You don't go out alone at night. (familiar, male addressee; habitual statement)
आज रात अकेले बाहर मत जाना।
āj rāt akele bāhar mat jānā.
Don't go out alone tonight. (familiar reminder/warning)
The second uses an infinitive-shaped familiar directive जाना, a common alternative to मत जाओ. It is not a finite infinitive substituting for every verb form; the directive construction licenses it.
Bare, familiar, infinitive-shaped, and polite prohibitions
Several forms can express a prohibition, with different social force.
| Form | Example | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| bare stem | मत बोल | intimate/blunt तू |
| -ो command | मत बोलो | familiar तुम |
| -ना directive | मत बोलना | familiar reminder, warning, or standing instruction |
| -इए command | मत बोलिए | respectful आप |
यह बात किसी और से मत कहना।
yah bāt kisī aur se mat kahnā.
Don't tell anyone else about this. (familiar/confidential instruction)
काग़ज़ पर अभी हस्ताक्षर मत कीजिए।
kāġaz par abhī hastākṣar mat kījie.
Please don't sign the paper yet. (respectful)
The -ना form can be warm, parental, procedural, or stern depending on voice and relationship. It is not inherently softer than मत करो. Likewise, respectful morphology does not make the content nonrestrictive; मत कीजिए can still be a firm prohibition.
Negating compound commands
In a compound predicate, the final verb normally carries imperative morphology, while मत scopes over the whole event.
चाबी मेज़ पर मत छोड़ देना।
cābī mez par mat choṛ denā.
Don't leave the key on the table. (familiar warning)
रास्ते में दवा लेना मत भूलिएगा।
rāste meṃ davā lenā mat bhūliegā.
Please don't forget to take the medicine on the way. (respectful, warm reminder)
छोड़ देना presents completion—leaving the key behind—as the outcome to avoid. Respectful future-shaped भूलिएगा softens the reminder; it is conventional polite directive morphology, not a literal prediction that the listener will forget.
Affirmative, negative, and question alternatives
खिड़की खोलो।
khiṛkī kholo.
Open the window. (familiar)
खिड़की मत खोलो।
khiṛkī mat kholo.
Don't open the window. (familiar)
क्या तुम खिड़की बंद कर दोगे?
kyā tum khiṛkī band kar doge?
Will you close the window? (familiar, male addressee; request phrased as a question)
The third is not an imperative: it uses a future question as an indirect request. Hindi, like English, can choose a question to reduce directness. मत itself does not form questions.
Subject, object, and agreement
Imperative person is the understood addressee. Objects do not control the simple command form.
आप ये दवाइयाँ ख़ाली पेट मत लीजिए।
āp ye davāiyā̃ xālī peṭ mat lījie.
Please don't take these medicines on an empty stomach. (respectful)
Feminine plural दवाइयाँ does not create a feminine or plural command ending. Respectful आप selects लीजिए. A female doctor and a male patient would use the same form if the social relationship remained आप.
Third-person prohibitions use a different strategy
ध्यान रखना कि कोई अंदर न आए।
dhyān rakhnā ki koī andar na āe.
Make sure nobody comes inside.
The person being excluded is not the direct addressee, so Hindi uses third-person subjunctive न आए, not an ordinary मत command. You can also address someone and relay a prohibition: उससे कहो कि अंदर न आए “tell them not to come in.”
Common Mistakes
Stacking नहीं with मत
❌ तुम अभी वहाँ नहीं मत जाओ।
Incorrect — a direct prohibition does not stack statement negation नहीं with मत.
✅ तुम अभी वहाँ मत जाओ।
tum abhī vahā̃ mat jāo.
Don't go there now. (familiar)
Keeping habitual morphology after मत
❌ यहाँ शोर मत करते हो।
Incorrect — a direct familiar prohibition needs करो, not habitual करते हो.
✅ यहाँ शोर मत करो।
yahā̃ śor mat karo.
Don't make noise here. (familiar)
Using a familiar form with respectful आप
❌ आप अभी फ़ोन मत करो।
Incorrect in careful respectful agreement — use कीजिए.
✅ आप अभी फ़ोन मत कीजिए।
āp abhī fon mat kījie.
Please don't call right now. (respectful)
Adding future morphology to the prohibition
❌ रीना, वहाँ मत जाएगी।
Incorrect as a command addressed to Reena — जाएगी is a future statement.
✅ रीना, वहाँ मत जाना।
rīnā, vahā̃ mat jānā.
Reena, don't go there. (familiar warning)
Making the command agree with its object
❌ आप ये गोलियाँ मत लीजिएँ।
Incorrect — respectful imperative लीजिए does not take object plural marking.
✅ आप ये गोलियाँ मत लीजिए।
āp ye goliyā̃ mat lījie.
Please don't take these pills. (respectful)
Key Takeaways
- Put मत before a direct negative imperative: मत कर, मत करो, मत करना, मत कीजिए.
- The verb marks honorificity, not the addressee's gender or the object's agreement features.
- नहीं negates statements; third-person prohibitions generally use न + subjunctive.
- Compound commands and polite future-shaped reminders remain layered predicates under the scope of मत.
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Start learning Hindi →Related Topics
- 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.
- तू imperative stem formsB1 — Form intimate singular Hindi commands with the bare verb stem while controlling social stance, negation, and compound-command structure.
- तुम imperative -oB1 — Form familiar singular and plural Hindi commands with -ओ, including vowel-stem changes, contracted forms, negation, and compound predicates.
- आप imperative -iyeB1 — Form respectful singular and plural Hindi commands in -इए while handling vowel stems, polite requests, negation, and compound predicates.
- मत in negative imperativesA2 — Form direct negative commands with मत plus an imperative or infinitive form, and distinguish them from factual नहीं and formal prohibitive न.