मैं
Mainpronoun, Hindi
"I" is मैं (Main) (main). It is the same for men and women, and the verb that follows shows the speaker's gender.
Meaning: first person singular pronoun (pronoun)
How does it change in a sentence?
The pronoun changes form. मुझे (mujhe) means "to me", मेरा (mera) means "my" and मैंने (mainne) is used with past tense verbs, as in मैंने खाना खाया (mainne khaana khaaya), "I ate food".
How do you pronounce it?
The vowel in मैं (main) is nasal, so the word ends with a soft nasal sound.
Did you know?
- After a past tense transitive verb, Hindi uses मैंने (mainne) instead of मैं (main). This is called the ergative construction.
Examples in context
- मैं छात्र हूँ।Main chhaatra hoon.I am a student. (man speaking)
- मैं घर जा रही हूँ।Main ghar ja rahi hoon.I am going home. (woman speaking)
- मैंने चाय बनाई।Mainne chai banayi.I made tea.
Example conversation
Two new classmates, Arjun and Neha, introduce themselves.
- Arjunमैं अर्जुन हूँ। आपका नाम क्या है?Main Arjun hoon. Aapka naam kya hai?I am Arjun. What is your name?
- Nehaमैं नेहा हूँ।Main Neha hoon.I am Neha.
- Arjunआपसे मिलकर अच्छा लगा।Aapse milkar achchha laga.Nice to meet you.
