Lesson 4: Basic Grammar — Gender, Plurals, Present Tense of होना

You can name things; now make them plural and say who people are. This lesson locks down three foundations at once: how Hindi nouns form plurals, the respectful plural, and the present tense of होना (honā, to be) — the verb inside every "X is Y" sentence you have been reading.

Before you read on, play this lesson's native-speaker recording and shadow the plural pairs and the होना table. The nasal endings -याँ (-yāṁ) and -एँ (-eṁ) are sounds your mouth must learn, not just your eyes.

Plural rules

Two warnings. First, the plural of respect: one respected person takes plural forms — यह मेरे पिता हैं (Yah mere pitā haiṁ, This is my father), आप हैं (āp haiṁ, you are — polite). Second, these are the *direct* plurals; before a postposition they change again (लड़कों, लड़कियों) — that story belongs to Lesson 6.

The present tense of होना (to be)

Watch the two separate jobs of the verb: it must match the subject in *number* (लड़का है, लड़के हैं) and in *respect* (एक शिक्षक, but यह मेरे शिक्षक हैं when you honour him).

Sentences at work

• लड़के मेरे दोस्त हैं। (Laṛke mere dost haiṁ. — The boys are my friends.)
• लड़कियाँ मेरी बहनें हैं। (Laṛkiyāṁ merī bahaneṁ haiṁ. — The girls are my sisters.)
• किताबें मेज़ पर हैं। (Kitābeṁ mez par haiṁ. — The books are on the table.) — पर (par, on) previews Lesson 6.
• मैं एक छात्र हूँ। (Maiṁ ek chātra hūṁ. — I am a student.)
• तुम कौन हो? (Tum kaun ho? — Who are you?) — कौन (kaun, who).
• वे मेरे पिता हैं। (Ve mere pitā haiṁ. — He is my father — respectful plural for one man.)
• ये कुर्सियाँ हैं। (Ye kursiyāṁ haiṁ. — These are chairs.)
• हम दोस्त हैं। (Ham dost haiṁ. — We are friends.)

Dialogue: in the classroom

• शिक्षक (śikṣak, teacher): ये क्या हैं? (Ye kyā haiṁ? — What are these?)
• छात्र (chātra, student): ये किताबें हैं। (Ye kitābeṁ haiṁ. — These are books.)
• शिक्षक: और वह कौन है? (Aur vah kaun hai? — And who is that?)
• छात्र: वह मेरी बहन है। वह भी छात्र है। (Vah merī bahan hai. Vah bhī chātra hai. — That is my sister. She is also a student.)

Check yourself: 1. What does the teacher ask about first? 2. Who is the person across the room? 3. Why does किताब take हैं but बहन takes है? Answers: 1. The books — ये किताबें हैं (these are books). 2. The student's sister. 3. किताबें is plural (हैं); बहन is one person (है).

Pronunciation notes

• हूँ (hūṁ) and हैं (haiṁ) end in a nasal hum, not a hard "n": let the sound ring in your nose. हूँ is one long syllable: "hūṁ".
• है (hai) versus हैं (haiṁ) sound close; the difference is the nasal ending. In careful speech and all writing, that tiny dot (the bindu in हैं) is the whole difference between "is" and "are".
• लड़कियाँ (laṛkiyāṁ) = laṛ-ki-YĀṁ: the -iyāṁ glides. Practise it against the recording until it is one smooth movement.
• हो (ho) for तुम is short and round — do not stretch it into "hoo".

Common mistakes

• Plural subject, singular verb. Wrong: लड़के मेरा दोस्त है। Right: लड़के मेरे दोस्त हैं। (Laṛke mere dost haiṁ. — The boys are my friends.) Note मेरा also becomes मेरे.
• Wrong feminine plural. Wrong: लड़कीएँ or लड़कीं. Right: लड़कियाँ (laṛkiyāṁ) — -ī always becomes -iyāṁ.
• आप with हो. Wrong: आप कैसे हो? to a teacher. Right: आप कैसे हैं? (Āp kaise haiṁ? — How are you?) आप always takes हैं and plural-style forms.
• किताबें confused with किताबों. किताबें (kitābeṁ) is the plain plural "books"; किताबों (kitāboṁ) appears only before postpositions (Lesson 6). Mixing them now will cost marks later.

Exam Experience

Reading. Read the classroom description.

यह मेरी कक्षा है। (Yah merī kakṣā hai. — This is my classroom.) कक्षा में बीस (bīs, twenty) लड़के और अठारह (aṭhārah, eighteen) लड़कियाँ हैं। (Kakṣā meṁ bīs laṛke aur aṭhārah laṛkiyāṁ haiṁ. — In the class there are twenty boys and eighteen girls.) यह मेरे शिक्षक हैं। (Yah mere śikṣak haiṁ. — This is my teacher.) दीवार पर दो खिड़कियाँ हैं। (Dīvār par do khiṛkiyāṁ haiṁ. — There are two windows on the wall.)

1. How many boys are in the class? 2. Why does शिक्षक take हैं although he is one person? 3. How many windows are there? Answer key: 1. बीस (bīs) — twenty. 2. Respect: a teacher is honoured with the plural form हैं. 3. दो (do) — two.

Multiple choice. 1. The plural of लड़की is: (a) लड़कीएँ (b) लड़कियाँ (c) लड़कियों (d) लड़की — Answer: (b). लड़कियों is the oblique plural used before postpositions. 2. "We are students" is: (a) हम छात्र है (b) हम छात्र हो (c) हम छात्र हैं (d) हम छात्र हूँ — Answer: (c). हम always takes हैं. 3. The correct sentence is: (a) ये किताब है (b) ये किताबें हैं (c) ये किताबें है (d) यह किताबें हैं — Answer: (b). ये (these) + plural noun किताबें + हैं.

Guided writing. Write five sentences describing a classroom picture: one about the room, two about groups of students, one about the teacher, one about yourself. Model answer: यह मेरी कक्षा है। (Yah merī kakṣā hai. — This is my classroom.) ये लड़के हैं। (Ye laṛke haiṁ. — These are boys.) ये लड़कियाँ हैं। (Ye laṛkiyāṁ haiṁ. — These are girls.) यह मेरे शिक्षक हैं। (Yah mere śikṣak haiṁ. — This is my teacher.) मैं एक छात्र हूँ। (Maiṁ ek chātra hūṁ. — I am a student.) Marking notes: One mark per sentence. Check the verb first: हैं for plurals and the teacher, है for the room, हूँ for मैं. Then check plural spelling — लड़कियाँ with -iyāṁ, not -īeṁ. A sentence with a correct noun but wrong verb earns half.

Going deeper: how many? — quantity words with plurals

Plurals come alive when you count and gather. Hindi's gathering words: कुछ (kuch, some), कई (kaī, several, many), बहुत (bahut, many/a lot), सब (sab, all), दोनों (donoṁ, both), तीनों (tīnoṁ, all three), हर (har, every), कोई (koī, some/any — singular). They sit before the noun, and the noun and verb follow the sense:

• कुछ किताबें मेज़ पर हैं। (Kuch kitābeṁ mez par haiṁ. — Some books are on the table.)
• कई छात्र आज अनुपस्थित हैं। (Kaī chātra āj anupasthit haiṁ. — Several students are absent today.)
• सब बच्चे यहाँ हैं। (Sab bacce yahāṁ haiṁ. — All the children are here.)
• दोनों बहनें घर पर हैं। (Donoṁ bahaneṁ ghar par haiṁ. — Both sisters are at home.)
• हर लड़का तैयार है। (Har laṛkā taiyār hai. — Every boy is ready.) — हर takes a singular verb.
• बहुत लोग आए हैं। (Bahut log āe haiṁ. — Many people have come.)

At the shop — plurals doing real work:

• ग्राहक: ये जूते कितने के हैं? (Ye jūte kitne ke haiṁ? — How much are these shoes?)
• दुकानदार: ये आठ सौ के हैं। (Ye āṭh sau ke haiṁ. — These are for eight hundred.)
• ग्राहक: और वे चप्पलें? (Aur ve cappaleṁ? — And those slippers?) — चप्पल (cappal, f) plural चप्पलें.
• दुकानदार: वे पाँच सौ की हैं। (Ve pāṁc sau kī haiṁ. — Those are for five hundred.) — की because चप्पलें is feminine.

Prices agree too: कितने के (m pl), कितने की (f pl) — the full price-question system lands in Lesson 13.

A final plural curiosity: some nouns live mostly in the plural — पैसे (paise, money), बाल (bāl, hair), लोग (log, people) itself. मेरे पास पैसे हैं (mere pās paise haiṁ, I have money) — पैसे is plural even for one coin's worth. And note how हैं follows them every time.