पिता पत्र पढ़ रहे हैं।

Hindi’s default word order is Subject–Object–Verb.

So here:

• पिता = subject
• पत्र = object
• पढ़ रहे हैं = verb phrase

That makes पिता पत्र पढ़ रहे हैं the most neutral, standard order.

Hindi word order is somewhat flexible, but the unmarked pattern is usually:

• राम किताब पढ़ रहा है
• माँ खाना बना रही है
• पिता पत्र पढ़ रहे हैं

So for an English speaker, one of the main adjustments is that the verb usually comes at the end.

This is because पिता is often treated as a respectful singular noun.

In Hindi, when speaking respectfully about one person, speakers often use plural-style agreement:

• रहे हैं instead of रहा है
• हैं instead of है

So even though पिता means one father, the verb agrees as if it were plural for respect.

That is very common with:

• पिता
• माता
• दादा
• दादी
• गुरुजी
• other respected people

A less respectful or less formal singular would be:

• पिता पत्र पढ़ रहा है

But with पिता, पढ़ रहे हैं sounds much more natural and polite.

It is singular.

The meaning is still one father, not fathers.

What looks plural is the verb agreement, which is being used honorifically. This is similar to how some languages use plural forms to show respect.

So:

• पिता = singular noun
• रहे हैं = honorific/plural-style agreement

This is an important distinction:

• grammatical form may look plural
• actual meaning is still singular

पढ़ रहे हैं is the present progressive or present continuous form.

It is built like this:

• पढ़ = read
• रहे = progressive marker agreeing with a masculine plural or honorific subject
• हैं = present form of to be

So the pattern is:

verb stem + रहा / रही / रहे + है / हैं

Examples:

• वह पढ़ रहा है = he is reading
• वह पढ़ रही है = she is reading
• वे पढ़ रहे हैं = they are reading
• पिता पढ़ रहे हैं = father is reading, with respect

So this sentence shows an action in progress right now.

Because in Hindi, a direct object does not always need को.

With many inanimate objects, especially in ordinary statements, the object is left unmarked:

• किताब पढ़ना
• पत्र लिखना
• चाय पीना
• घर बनाना

So पत्र पढ़ रहे हैं is completely normal.

Using को here would sound marked or emphatic in many contexts:

• पत्र को पढ़ रहे हैं

That is possible, but less neutral. A learner should usually treat पत्र here as a normal direct object without को.

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

So पत्र can mean:

• a letter
• the letter

The exact meaning depends on context.

That means a sentence like पिता पत्र पढ़ रहे हैं can be interpreted naturally as either:

• father is reading a letter
• father is reading the letter

Context tells you which one is intended.

If Hindi wants to be more explicit, it can add words like:

• एक पत्र = a letter
• वह पत्र = that letter / the letter in context

But in many everyday sentences, nothing extra is needed.

Because ने is mainly used with perfective transitive clauses in standard Hindi, not with the present progressive.

So compare:

Present progressive:

• पिता पत्र पढ़ रहे हैं
  father is reading a letter

Perfective:

• पिता ने पत्र पढ़ा
  father read the letter

This is a very common learner question, because English speakers often notice that read is transitive and expect some special subject marking every time. But in Hindi, ने usually appears in the perfective, not in the present continuous form used here.

Yes, it sounds somewhat formal or bookish, especially because of पिता and पत्र.

In everyday conversation, people might more often say:

• पापा चिट्ठी पढ़ रहे हैं
• पिताजी ख़त पढ़ रहे हैं

The original sentence is absolutely correct, but its vocabulary feels more formal than very casual speech.

So you can think of the register like this:

• पिता = formal
• पापा = everyday family speech
• पत्र = formal/literary
• चिट्ठी / ख़त = more everyday for letter

This word can be tricky for English speakers.

पढ़ is pronounced approximately like puh-rh with a retroflex flap sound in the middle. The letter ढ़ is not the same as a plain English d.

A few points:

• प = p
• the vowel is a short uh sound
• ढ़ is a curled-tongue sound made farther back than English d

A rough learner approximation is padh, but you should know that the Hindi sound is more specific than that.

The important thing is:

• do not pronounce it like English pad
• do not make the final sound a plain r

Listening and repeating native audio helps a lot with this word.

The progressive part changes to match the gender of the subject.

For example:

• माता पत्र पढ़ रही हैं = mother is reading a letter
• वह पत्र पढ़ रही है = she is reading a letter

So the pattern is:

• masculine singular: रहा
• feminine singular: रही
• masculine plural / honorific: रहे

In your sentence, रहे हैं is used because पिता is being treated respectfully.