स्वतः / आपला

Referring Back to the Same Person

Level 4Sounds Like svataḥ / āpalā

आपला changes like माझा and तुझा, but it usually means the doer's own: आपला / आपली / आपले.

How It Works

स्वतः points at the doer: ती स्वतः स्वयंपाक करते means she cooks it herself, with nobody helping. It joins an ending as one word: स्वतःशी बोलणे (to talk to oneself), स्वतःचे घर (one's own house).

WordMeaningExample
स्वतःoneselfमी स्वतः तिकीट काढतो.
स्वतःचा / स्वतःची / स्वतःचेone's ownस्वतःचे घर
आपला / आपली / आपलेone's ownतो आपल्या आईला फोन करतो.

आपला matches the thing owned: आपला मुलगा, आपली गाडी, आपले घर. Before an ending it becomes आपल्या: आपल्या आईला.

Use माझा, तुझा or त्याचा when the owner is a different person. तो त्याच्या आईला फोन करतो can mean that he calls someone else's mother, while तो आपल्या आईला फोन करतो means his own.

आपला also means “our” when the speaker includes the listener: आपला देश सुंदर आहे. (Our country is beautiful.)

A question with स्वतः asks about one person: तू स्वतः येणार का? (Will you come yourself?)

Examples (5)

  1. ती स्वतः स्वयंपाक करते.

    She does the cooking herself.

    स्वतः stresses that she does the cooking personally.

  2. तो आपल्या आईला फोन करतो.

    He calls his own mother.

    आपल्या points back to तो.

  3. मी स्वतः तिकीट काढतो.

    I buy the ticket myself. A man is speaking.

    स्वतः goes with मी.

  4. मी हे सगळे स्वतः शिकते.

    I learn all this myself. A woman is speaking.

    शिकते ends in -ते because the speaker is a woman.

  5. सईने आपल्या मैत्रिणीला पुस्तक दिले.

    Sai gave a book to her own friend.

    आपल्या means Sai's own friend.

Common Mistakes

  • Not changing आपला before an ending.

    तो आपला आईला फोन करतो.
    तो आपल्या आईला फोन करतो.

    आईला has an ending, so आपला becomes आपल्या.

How It Connects

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

स्वतः / आपलाLevel 4Referring Back to the Same Person

Learn This First

Oneself and own refer back.

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Patterns that build on this one.

Words in This Pattern

स्वतःस्वतः