करहु / सुनहु

Old Commands in -हु

Level 6Sounds Like karahu a'ura sunahu

Old poetry gives commands with -हु, like सुनहु (listen), where today's speech says सुनौ.

How It Works

Older Awadhi marks a command with -हु on the stem. It is the old form of what speech now writes -औ.

VerbOldSpeech
करबकरहुकरौ
सुनबसुनहुसुनौ
आउबआवहुआव
कहबकहहुकहौ

The old command is the plural form, like तुम today, so it sounds less sharp than the bare-stem command for तू. सुनहु means "listen".

Today's -औ is the same ending in a newer shape, which is why the two look related.

Do not say करहु in conversation. It sounds like a line from a poem.

Examples (4)

  1. तुम सब सुनहु।

    Listen, all of you.

    सुनहु is the old command.

  2. बेगि आवहु।

    Come quickly.

    आवहु is the old command of आउब.

  3. सत्य कहहु, मोहि न छिपावहु।

    Tell the truth, and don't hide it from me.

    The two commands both end in -हु.

  4. धीरज धरहु।

    Keep your patience.

    धरहु is the old command of धरब.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

करहु / सुनहुLevel 6Old Commands in -हु

Learn This First

-हु is the old ending where speech has -औ.