یہ / وہ

This, That, He, She and They

Level 1

یہ commonly points to something near, and وہ to something farther away or already mentioned. The same words can refer to people.

How It Works

Use یہ to point nearby: یہ میری چابی ہے. Use وہ for a more distant object: وہ میری کتاب ہے.

When you have already identified a person, وہ can refer back to that person. وہ میری بہن ہے refers to a sister, so its English translation uses she. The pronoun itself did not change to a feminine form.

Compare یہ چابی ہے with یہ چابیاں ہیں. The spelling یہ stays the same; the noun and verb show singular or plural.

These are direct forms. Before postpositions you will meet forms such as اس and ان. Learn that change with the whole phrase rather than replacing every یہ or وہ everywhere.

Examples (4)

  1. یہ میری چابی ہے۔

    This is my key.

    یہ points to one nearby object.

  2. وہ میری کتاب ہے۔

    That is my book.

    وہ points to an object farther away.

  3. وہ میری بہن ہے۔

    She is my sister.

    وہ refers to a person; بہن supplies the feminine meaning.

  4. یہ چابیاں نئی ہیں۔

    These keys are new.

    یہ can introduce a plural noun phrase too.

How It Connects

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

یہ / وہLevel 1This, That, He, She and They

Learn This First

Distinguish singular and plural reference even when the written demonstrative is unchanged.

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Patterns that build on this one.

Words in This Pattern

یہیہوہوہ