Lesson #75: Imperatives Part 1; आप aap
Verbs seem to be quite a recurring theme on this blog, don’t they? Well, this is simply because verbs are the fundamental ingredient of grammar and that means you really need to know them well if you want to make your own sentences.
Today we’ll learn how to tell people to do things, but try not get this angry!
In today’s lesson we’re going to begin to learn how to use verbs in their imperative form. Before you dig through your old English school books, let me tell you that the imperative form of a verb is the verb when used as a command or request. For example it would be something like ‘please come here’ or 'eat your food!’. Can you see we’re using the verb as a request, we’re telling someone to do something.
Do you remember the three words for 'you’ in Hindi? We have आप aap, तुम tum and तू too. We saw these all the way back in Lesson #15. Let’s recap them quickly;
आप aap - For formal situations, when talking to someone older or to so show respect.
तुम tum - For friends or colleagues (the most common).
तू too - For intimate situations or talking to young children.
Now you might be asking 'why is he going over this now?’. Well, that’s because the imperative form of a verb changes depending on what version of 'you’ you would use! Sound confusing? Trust me, it’s not. It’s no different to how in English we’d say 'Please eat’ in a formal situation, 'eat’ in a less formal one and 'eat now!’ when yelling at your child to eat their vegetables (not that I encourage yelling).
Are you ready to learn about Hindi Imperatives then? Today we’ll cover आप aap and the others will follow very soon!
Imperatives in Hindi work by adding something, ie some extra letters, to the verb root (which we remember is the infinitive form minus the ना naa at the end). As mentioned above what’s added depends on what form of 'you’ we would use.
For आप aap you simply add इए ie to the verb root. Let’s see some examples. The verb खाना khaanaa - to eat becomes खाइए khaaie - Please eat
सेब को खाइए seb ko khaaie
- Please eat the apple.
And the verb लिखना likhnaa - to write becomes लिखिए likhie - Please write.
मेरा नाम लिखिए meraa naam likhie
- Please write my name.
सुनना sunnaa - to listen becomes सनिए sunie - Please listen. This is great to know because it can be used like 'excuse me’ is in English when you want to get someone’s attention.
Note that the Hindi word for 'please' कृपया kṛipayaa is not needed! Please is implied by using the आप aap form of the imperative; लिखिए likhie means 'Please write’ and you do not need to say कृपया लिखिए kṛipayaa likhie.
Four common verbs are irregular in this form! They don’t follow the usual इए rule. These are -
करना karnaa - to do which becomes कीजिए keejie - Please do
लेना lenaa - to take which becomes लीजिए leejie - Please take
देना denaa - to give which becomes दीजिए deejie - Please give
पीना peenaa - to drink which becomes पीजिए peejie - Please drink
For example…
कुछ पानी पीजिए kuch paanee peejie
- Please drink some water
So that’s one of three forms down! Next time we’ll see the imperatives for तुम tum and then after that we’ll see तू too! If I covered it all at once this lesson would get way too long and boring! Practice writing your own आप aap imperative sentences, why not leave a comment with your examples. And please leave a comment if you have any question at all!
Imperatives Part 1 Imperatives Part 2
