The ordinary तू imperative is the bare lexical stem: करना → कर, जाना → जा, सुनना → सुन. Morphologically this is the simplest command in Hindi, but socially it is the most restricted. It addresses one person at an intimate level and can express closeness, devotional intimacy, anger, or deliberate disrespect depending on the relationship and tone.
For the full three-level contrast before focusing on this form, see the imperative overview by honorific level.
Formation: remove -ना
For the productive pattern, remove infinitival -ना and use the remaining stem without an added imperative suffix.
| Infinitive | Stem | तू imperative | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| करना | कर- | कर | do |
| बोलना | बोल- | बोल | speak |
| बैठना | बैठ- | बैठ | sit |
| जाना | जा- | जा | go |
| आना | आ- | आ | come |
| लेना | ले- | ले | take |
| देना | दे- | दे | give |
| पीना | पी- | पी | drink |
| होना | हो- | हो | be |
तू मेरी बात पूरी सुन।
tū merī bāt pūrī sun.
Listen to everything I have to say. (intimate singular)
अमन, पानी पी और थोड़ा आराम कर।
aman, pānī pī aur thoṛā ārām kar.
Aman, drink some water and get a little rest. (intimate)
कविता, पानी पी और थोड़ा आराम कर।
kavitā, pānī pī aur thoṛā ārām kar.
Kavita, drink some water and get a little rest. (intimate)
The last two commands remain identical for male Aman and female Kavita. A simple imperative has no gender ending, and तू is grammatically singular.
When तू is socially licensed
तू is (informal) and strongly relationship-dependent. Some close friends, partners, siblings, and family members use it naturally; adults may use it affectionately to a small child. It also appears for a deity in devotional language (literary), where the force is intimacy rather than disrespect. The same form toward an unfamiliar adult may sound insulting.
चल, आज शाम नदी तक घूमकर आते हैं।
cal, āj śām nadī tak ghūmkar āte haiṃ.
Come on, let's take a walk to the river this evening. (intimate)
तू यहीं रुक, मैं अभी लौटता हूँ।
tū yahīṃ ruk, maĩ abhī lauṭtā hū̃.
You stay right here; I'll be back in a moment. (intimate, male speaker)
These are grammatical with or without overt तू. In the second, the pronoun adds contrast or insistence. Learners should not infer that every younger person automatically licenses तू; actual family and community norms differ.
Singular only
The तू paradigm addresses one person. For two or more familiar addressees, Hindi normally uses तुम and its -ओ imperative.
तुम दोनों इधर आओ और ये कुर्सियाँ उठाओ।
tum donoṃ idhar āo aur ye kursiyā̃ uṭhāo.
Both of you come here and lift these chairs. (familiar plural)
A speaker may direct separate तू commands to individuals one at a time, but plural reference does not create a plural bare-stem form. The switch तू → तुम changes the relationship/number package and therefore the verb.
Compound commands: the final stem carries the level
In a compound command, the first element gives the lexical event and the final vector appears in its तू stem form.
ये चाबियाँ अपने पास रख ले।
ye cābiyā̃ apne pās rakh le.
Keep these keys with you. (intimate)
अब सो जा; सुबह जल्दी उठना है।
ab so jā; subah jaldī uṭhnā hai.
Go to sleep now; you have to get up early. (intimate)
यह तस्वीर मुझे भेज दे।
yah tasvīr mujhe bhej de.
Send me this picture. (intimate)
The layers are रख + ले, सो + जा, and भेज + दे. Final ले/जा/दे shows intimate singular address and adds a vector meaning: taking the result for oneself, entering a resulting state, or carrying an action through/outward. These vectors are lexical-aspectual choices, not decorative synonyms.
Negation with मत
The neutral everyday negative places मत before the bare stem or the complete compound predicate.
तू अभी बाहर मत जा।
tū abhī bāhar mat jā.
Do not go outside right now. (intimate)
घबरा मत, मैं पास ही हूँ।
ghabrā mat, maĩ pās hī hū̃.
Don't panic; I'm right here. (intimate, reassuring)
यह संदेश किसी और को मत भेज देना।
yah sandeś kisī aur ko mat bhej denā.
Do not end up sending this message to anyone else. (familiar/intimate admonition)
The last sentence uses an infinitival admonitory command मत भेज देना, a common pattern oriented toward preventing a later action. That infinitive is licensed by the negative admonition; it does not mean that an infinitive can replace every finite imperative.
Compact न कर occurs in proverbs, poetry, and solemn advice (literary), as well as in some formulaic careful reassurance, but मत कर is the ordinary conversational default. नहीं कर requires a corrective contrast and is not the basic negative imperative.
Questions do not change the imperative form
A command can be followed by a tag asking for acknowledgment, but a question about future action uses future grammar rather than an imperative.
आज थोड़ा जल्दी आ, ठीक है?
āj thoṛā jaldī ā, ṭhīk hai?
Come a little early today, okay? (intimate command plus tag)
तू आज थोड़ा जल्दी आएगा?
tū āj thoṛā jaldī āegā?
Will you come a little early today? (intimate question, male addressee)
Only the second sentence marks the male addressee through future आएगा. The imperative आ remains genderless.
Particles do not erase intimacy
Conversational ज़रा, तो, and ना can soften, coax, or insist: ज़रा सुन, इधर आ ना, एक बार देख तो. They do not upgrade the verb to तुम or आप. A stranger may still hear ज़रा सुन as unacceptably familiar because the decisive form is सुन.
The same caution applies to please translations. कृपया बैठ is an awkward register mixture in most ordinary contexts: formal कृपया clashes with intimate बैठ unless the contrast is deliberately playful or stylized.
Volitional meaning matters
Imperative morphology is productive, but not every verb denotes a controllable action. Bare जान cannot normally mean “know this fact now,” and ठंड लग is not a natural order to experience cold. Hindi chooses a controllable predicate such as यह बात याद रख “keep this in mind” or बाहर जा “go outside.” This is a semantic restriction, not an irregular conjugation.
Common Mistakes
Mixing तू with the तुम ending
❌ तू यहाँ बैठो।
Incorrect mixed paradigm — तू takes bare बैठ.
✅ तू यहाँ मेरे पास बैठ।
tū yahā̃ mere pās baiṭh.
Sit here beside me. (intimate singular)
Adding -ओ to a vowel stem at the तू level
❌ तू अभी जाओ।
Incorrect — जाओ belongs to familiar तुम, not intimate तू.
✅ तू अभी जा।
tū abhī jā.
Go now. (intimate singular)
Giving the command feminine morphology
❌ रीना, जल्दी जाई।
Incorrect — जाई is not the feminine तू imperative.
✅ रीना, जल्दी जा।
rīnā, jaldī jā.
Reena, go quickly. (intimate)
Adding a finite auxiliary after the stem
❌ तू यह काम कर है।
Incorrect — bare कर is already the complete intimate imperative.
✅ तू यह काम अभी कर।
tū yah kām abhī kar.
Do this work now. (intimate)
Using तू as the default for a respected stranger
❌ सर, तू मेरी रिपोर्ट देख।
Socially inappropriate in an ordinary respectful interaction, though the morphology itself is a valid तू command.
✅ सर, आप मेरी रिपोर्ट देखिए।
sar, āp merī riporṭ dekhie.
Sir, please look at my report. (respectful)
Key Takeaways
- The तू imperative is the bare lexical stem: कर, जा, सुन, ले, दे.
- It is singular and genderless but socially marked for strong intimacy or another deliberately intimate stance.
- Compound commands place the bare तू form on the final vector: रख ले, भेज दे, सो जा.
- Everyday negative commands use मत; infinitival negative admonitions such as मत भेज देना form a separate licensed pattern.
- Softening particles do not change the underlying तू address level.
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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.
- 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.
- Negative imperatives with मतB1 — Form direct Hindi prohibitions with मत while preserving the command form appropriate to तू, तुम, or आप.
- तू intimate singular youA1 — Use singular तू with its intimate agreement, oblique forms, commands, and relationship-dependent social meanings.
- 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.