Everyday छै

Everyday छै for अछि

Level 2Sounds Like chai (bōlacāla)

In everyday talk, छै stands in for अछि.

How It Works

When people talk, the plain third-person is is usually छै (or the fuller छैक). The written standard is अछि. Both mean the same thing.

Written	Spoken
अछि	छै, छैक
नहि अछि	नै छै
छल	छलै

छै is for things and plain persons only. For a respected person the word is छथि in both speech and writing. For हम and अहाँ it is छी.

Use छै in dialogue, to sound like a speaker. Keep अछि for stories, news, letters and anything you write carefully. Learners from Hindi should note that neither word is the Hindi है.

Examples (5)

पानि ठंढा छै।
The water is cold.
छै is the spoken form of अछि.
ओ घर मे नै छै।
He is not at home.
नै छै is the spoken negative.
बाहर बड्ड भीड़ छै।
There is a big crowd outside.
छै also says that something is there.
एहि मे की छै?
What is in this?
छै works in questions too.
बउआ सुतल छै।
The little boy is asleep.
छै goes with a plain third person.

Common Mistakes

Using the Hindi word for is.
पानि ठंढा है।
पानि ठंढा छै।
है is Hindi. Maithili says छै in speech and अछि in writing.

How It Connects

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

Everyday छैLevel 2Everyday छै for अछि

Learn This First

छै is the spoken stand-in for अछि, so अछि comes first.

छी / छथि / अछिBeing in the Present
Know अछि, because पानि ठंढा छै is how speech often says पानि ठंढा अछि.
Level 1

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.

हुनका ... छनिSaying a Respected Person Has SomethingLevel 4

Words in This Pattern

अछिछैनहिनैछलछथिछी

Practice Everyday छै in Bubblegum

Poppy, your AI tutor, writes Maithili lessons at your level. Tap any grammar point in a lesson to see its full explanation.