-क for Belonging

Showing Possession with -क

Level 1Sounds Like ka (sambandha)

Add -क straight onto a noun to mean of or 's.

How It Works

Maithili shows possession with -क, joined to the end of the word.

NounWith -कMeaning
चाहचाहक दोकानthe tea shop
रामरामक बहिनRam's sister
गामगामक पोखरिthe village pond
रविदिनरविदिनक साँझSunday evening

The -क never changes for the thing owned or for gender or number, unlike Hindi का, की, के.

It is written joined, with no space: रामक, not राम क. Other words such as मे and सँ are written separately.

-क also joins to pronouns to make possessives: अहाँक (your). You can chain it to describe two things: चाहक दोकानक मालिक.

Literary writing sometimes uses केर instead. Everyday Maithili uses -क.

Examples (5)

  1. ई चाहक दोकान अछि।

    This is a tea shop.

    -क is joined to चाह.

  2. रामक बहिन स्कूल जाइत अछि।

    Ram's sister goes to school.

    -क joined to राम.

  3. गामक पोखरि बड्ड पैघ अछि।

    The village pond is very big.

    -क joined to गाम.

  4. रविदिनक साँझ हम घर पर रहैत छी।

    On Sunday evenings I stay at home.

    -क joined to a day name.

  5. अहाँक नाम की अछि?

    What is your name?

    अहाँक is अहाँ plus -क.

Common Mistakes

  • Writing -क as a separate word or using the Hindi का.

    राम का बहिन स्कूल जाइत अछि।
    रामक बहिन स्कूल जाइत अछि।

    -क is joined to the noun, and का is Hindi.

How It Connects

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

-क for BelongingLevel 1Showing Possession with -क

Learn This First

The ending -क comes after the noun like a postposition and has already appeared in अहाँक.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.

And 1 more in the full list.

Words in This Pattern

-कअहाँककेर