वह
vah/ʋəɦ/
In Hindi, the English personal pronoun "he" is expressed by वह (vah). Wiktionary also lists यह (yah).
Meaning: personal pronoun "he" (pron)
Ways to say it
| Hindi | Romanization (Wiktionary) | IPA |
|---|---|---|
| वह | vah | /ʋəɦ/ (Hindi, Standard) /wəɦ/ (Hindi, Standard) |
| यह | yah | /jəɦ/ (Hindi, Standard) /jeː/ (Hindi, Standard) |
It is gender-neutral and can be used for both males and females.
Which one should you use?
The choice of pronoun depends on proximity. Use वह to mean "he" when referring to someone distant. Use यह to mean "he" when the person is physically close to the speaker.
How does it change in a sentence?
There are specific grammatical shifts depending on the context. When referring to a person of higher status or to show respect, the plural pronoun वे is used instead of the singular वह. Additionally, when using a transitive verb in the perfective tense, वह changes to उसने to indicate the subject.
How do you pronounce it?
The romanization is vah and the IPA is /ʋəɦ/.
Did you know?
- The word यह is a direct descendant of the Sanskrit word एषः, which has been used to point things out for thousands of years.
- The pronoun वह is not just for 'he' or 'she', but is also used to mean 'that' when pointing to a distant object.
- In many Hindi dialects and casual speech, people often use the word वो (vo) instead of the standard वह (vah) to mean 'he'.
Examples in context
- वह शरमा रहा है ना?He's nervous, isn't he?This sentence uses वह to describe someone's state of being nervous.Tatoeba #8864267 by aboi, translation #8526489 by CH
- वह स्कूल जा रहा है।He is going to school.This sentence uses वह to describe a person's action of going to school.Tatoeba #12625881 by PrasantaHembram, translation #12826861 by Yepthatscool
- वह बिना बताये आता है।He arrives unannounced.This sentence uses वह to describe a person's habit of arriving unannounced.Tatoeba #1005704 by thevikas, translation #842915 by J_S
- वह इंजीनियर है।He is an engineer.
- वह अच्छा व्यक्ति है।He is a good person.
- वह जानकारी के मामले में महान है।He is great when it comes to knowledge.
- यह आदमी न्यायसंगत निर्णय देता है।This man delivers just decisions.
- 440 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Priya and Aditya are talking about a mutual friend.
- प्रिया Priyaवह कहाँ है?Vah kahan hai?Where is he?
- आदित्य Adityaवह बाज़ार गया है।Vah bazaar gaya hai.He has gone to the market.
- प्रिया Priyaक्या वह जल्दी आएगा?Kya vah jaldi aayega?Will he come back soon?
- आदित्य Adityaहाँ, वह अभी आता होगा।Haan, vah abhi aata hoga.Yes, he should be here shortly.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “he” translations and entries वह, यह, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries यह, वह, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
