Lesson #77: Imperatives Part 2; तुम tum
In Lesson #75 we started learning about Imperatives in Hindi. Imperatives are simply taking a verb and changing it into a command or request, just like saying ‘eat the food!’.
What did we learn last time then? Can you remember? We saw that Imperatives in Hindi follow the different words for 'you’, आप aap, तुम tum and तू too. Have a look at Lesson #75 again if you’re unsure of their differences. We learnt the Imperative for आप aap. Can you remember what it was? That’s right, we simply add इए ie to the verb root, for example; लिखिए likhie - Please write.
Today we’re going to learn the तुम tum imperative in Hindi and trust me, it's super easy.
The तुम tum imperative is best used when talking with friends and colleagues. It may be considered slightly rude if used to strangers or to people older than you.
So for the तुम tum imperative you simply add ओ o to the verb root. And that’s it. That is everything we need to learn today! Ready for some examples? The verb बैठना baithnaa - To Sit becomes बैठो baitho- Sit.
यहाँ बैठो yahaan baitho - Sit here.
Can you follow that example? For another example we might use the verb लाना laanaa - To Bring, it becomes लाओ laao - Bring
वे गंदे कपड़े लाओ ve gande kapre laao
- Bring those dirty clothes.
Are you understanding? Ready for some more examples?
खाना khaanaa - To Eat becomes खाओ khaao - Eat, and आना aanaa - To Come becomes आओ aao - Come. So putting these together we can say…
आओ, अच्छे फल को खाओ
aao, acche phal ko khaao
- Come, eat the tasty (good) fruit.
As expected there’s a few irregular verbs. But don’t worry there’s not many! The irregular verbs are…
पीना peenaa - To Drink which becomes पियो piyo - Drink
लेना lenaa - To Take which becomes लो lo - Take
देना denaa - To Give which becomes दो do - Give
दूध को लो, चाय पियो
doodh ko lo, caay piyo
- Take the milk and drink tea!
You now know how to form Imperatives for both आप aap. and तुम tum! Practice by making your own sentences! Next time we’ll look at the final imperative, the तू too one! As always please feel free to ask me any questions you have in the comments section below.
Imperatives Part 1 Imperatives Part 2
