मुझे ज़ुकाम है।

I have a cold.

Breakdown of मुझे ज़ुकाम है।

• होना: to be
• मुझे: me
• ज़ुकाम: a cold (illness)

Questions & Answers about मुझे ज़ुकाम है।

Why does Hindi say मुझे ज़ुकाम है instead of something like मैं ज़ुकाम हूँ?

Because in Hindi, many physical conditions and feelings are expressed with a structure that literally works more like To me, a cold is rather than I am a cold.

So:

• मुझे = to me
• ज़ुकाम = cold
• है = is

This pattern is very common in Hindi for things like:

• मुझे भूख है = I am hungry / I have hunger
• मुझे प्यास है = I am thirsty / I have thirst
• मुझे बुखार है = I have a fever

So मैं ज़ुकाम हूँ would sound wrong, because you are not saying I am a cold.

What exactly does मुझे mean here?

मुझे is a form of मैं that means to me or sometimes me, depending on context.

In this sentence, it marks the experiencer — the person affected by the condition.

A useful way to think about it:

• मैं = I
• मुझे = to me / me

So in मुझे ज़ुकाम है, Hindi treats you as the person to whom the cold exists.

You may also see:

• मुझको ज़ुकाम है

This means the same thing. मुझे is simply the more common everyday form.