यह तोहफ़ा मेरे दोस्त के लिए है।

Because दोस्त is followed by the postposition के लिए, so दोस्त is in the oblique form.

In Hindi, possessive words like मेरा / मेरी / मेरे agree with the noun that follows in gender, number, and case.
Here, दोस्त is masculine singular, but oblique because of के लिए, so मेरा changes to मेरे.

Compare:

• मेरा दोस्त = my friend
• मेरे दोस्त के लिए = for my friend

के लिए means for.

It is a very common Hindi compound postposition used for:

• intended recipient: यह मेरे दोस्त के लिए है = This is for my friend
• purpose: पढ़ने के लिए = for reading
• benefit: बच्चों के लिए = for children

So in this sentence, मेरे दोस्त के लिए means for my friend.

Because Hindi often uses postpositional phrases instead of single prepositions.

English puts prepositions before the noun:

• for my friend

Hindi puts the postposition after the noun phrase:

• मेरे दोस्त के लिए

You do not usually translate के and लिए separately here. Together, they function as one unit meaning for.

Because को and के लिए do different jobs.

• के लिए = for, intended for
• को often marks an indirect object or a person affected by an action

So:

• यह तोहफ़ा मेरे दोस्त के लिए है। = This gift is for my friend.
• मैंने अपने दोस्त को तोहफ़ा दिया। = I gave a gift to my friend.

In a sentence like X is for Y, Hindi normally uses के लिए, not को.

Because Hindi usually puts the verb at the end of the sentence.

English:

• This gift is for my friend.

Hindi:

• यह तोहफ़ा / मेरे दोस्त के लिए / है

That final है means is.

This verb-final pattern is one of the most important word-order differences between Hindi and English.

Hindi does not normally use articles like English a, an, and the.

So तोहफ़ा can mean:

• a gift
• the gift

The exact meaning depends on context.

That is very normal in Hindi, so nothing is missing from the sentence.

यह means this.

In careful written Hindi, it is यह, but in everyday speech it is often pronounced more like येह. Many learners see it transliterated as yah or yeh.

A useful contrast is:

• यह = this
• वह = that

In very colloquial usage, people may also say ये for singular this, but यह is the standard written singular form.

Usually दोस्त is treated as a masculine noun by default, but it can also refer to a friend more generally in everyday use.

If the friend is female, speakers often still use दोस्त, but the agreement may show the gender:

• मेरा दोस्त = my male friend
• मेरी दोस्त = my female friend

So this sentence could become:

• यह तोहफ़ा मेरी दोस्त के लिए है। = This gift is for my female friend.

Because not all Hindi nouns show an obvious visible change in the oblique singular.

Some masculine nouns change clearly:

• लड़का → लड़के

But nouns like दोस्त often look the same in direct and oblique singular:

• दोस्त
• दोस्त के लिए

So even though दोस्त is functioning obliquely here, its form does not visibly change.
The oblique relationship is shown by the postposition के लिए and by मेरे.

Yes, तोहफ़ा is a very common everyday word for gift or present.

Other possible words include:

• उपहार = gift, more formal
• भेंट = offering/gift, often more formal or literary

So these are also possible:

• यह उपहार मेरे दोस्त के लिए है।
• यह भेंट मेरे दोस्त के लिए है।

But तोहफ़ा sounds natural and common in everyday speech.

That dot is called a nukta.

It modifies the basic consonant:

• फ is traditionally closer to an aspirated ph
• फ़ is used for an f sound in many modern loanwords

So तोहफ़ा is pronounced with an f sound: tohfā.

In real life, spelling and pronunciation can vary a bit, and many speakers do not strongly distinguish फ and फ़, but the standard spelling here uses फ़.

Sometimes, in very casual speech, people may omit it if the meaning is obvious:

• यह तोहफ़ा मेरे दोस्त के लिए।

But the full standard sentence is:

• यह तोहफ़ा मेरे दोस्त के लिए है।

As a learner, it is best to keep है unless you are very comfortable with conversational Hindi.

You would say:

ये तोहफ़े मेरे दोस्तों के लिए हैं।

Notice the changes:

• यह → ये = this → these
• तोहफ़ा → तोहफ़े = gift → gifts
• दोस्त → दोस्तों = friends
• है → हैं = is → are

This is a good pattern to compare with the original sentence.

They mean different things:

• मेरे दोस्त के लिए है = it is for my friend
• मेरे दोस्त का है = it belongs to my friend / it is my friend’s

So:

• for my friend = recipient or intended person
• my friend’s = possession

This is an important distinction in Hindi.