हूँ / है / हो / हैं

Being in the Present

Level 1Sounds Like hūm̐, hai, hō aura haiṁ

The present of to be has four forms: हूँ, है, हो and हैं.

How It Works

होना (to be) has four present forms. Each subject takes one of them.

SubjectFormExample
मैं (I)हूँमैं ठीक हूँ
तू (you, intimate)हैतू ठीक है
यह, वह (he, she, it)हैवह ठीक है
तुम (you, friendly)होतुम ठीक हो
हम, आप, ये, वेहैंहम ठीक हैं

These forms never change for gender. A man and a woman both say मैं ठीक हूँ.

A noun subject follows the same rule as यह or वह: one thing takes है and several take हैं. One person you respect also takes हैं: दादीजी घर पर हैं (Grandma is at home).

The form comes last, after a description, a noun or a place: रीमा डॉक्टर है, बच्चे घर पर हैं. It also works as a helper after other verbs: मैं पढ़ता हूँ, वे खा रहे हैं.

हूँ and हैं end in a nasal sound, shown by the moon-and-dot in हूँ and the dot in हैं. हो and है have no nasal mark.

Examples (5)

  1. मैं ठीक हूँ।

    I am fine.

    मैं takes हूँ.

  2. वह घर पर है।

    She is at home.

    वह takes है; it can also mean he.

  3. तुम तैयार हो।

    You are ready.

    Friendly तुम takes हो.

  4. आप कहाँ हैं?

    Where are you?

    Polite आप takes हैं, even for one person.

  5. हम घर पर हैं।

    We are at home.

    हम takes हैं.

Common Mistakes

  • Using है with आप.

    आप कहाँ है?
    आप कहाँ हैं?

    आप always takes हैं, even when you speak to one person.

How It Connects

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

हूँ / है / हो / हैंLevel 1Being in the Present

Learn This First

Each present form of to be is chosen by the pronoun in front of it, so the pronouns come first.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.

And 8 more in the full list.

Words in This Pattern

होना