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The Imperative Posted by on Feb 17, 2010 in Hindi Language

In English, the polite imperative is formed by saying, “Please do this …”, “Please sit down” etc. In Hindi the polite imperative is formed by adding the suffix इए to the verb.

Here are a couple of examples:

Please go : जाइए

Please eat : खाइए

Please come : आइए

With the phrases above, you’ve probably noticed that कृपया (which means please in Hindi) wasn’t necessary to form the polite imperative. Just the suffix इए is needed to form the polite imperative.

To form the intimate imperative (तू), just take the stem of the verb.

Come! :

Go! : जा

Eat! : खा

To form the familiar imperative (तुम), add the suffix to the stem of the verb.

Come! : आओ

Go! : जाओ

Eat! : खाओ

There are some exceptions to this rule. Verbs that end in vowel ई will end in suffix जिए instead of ईए in the polite imperative.

Please drink : पीजिए

Please do (work) : (काम) कीजिए

Please take (tea) or Please have some tea : (चाय) लीजिए

I put the words “work” and “tea” in parentheses in both the English and Hindi, to show that any noun can be substituted.

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