Imperative (Commands)
Imperative (आज्ञा)
French drops the subject pronoun for commands, and Hindi does too — but where French's imperative comes from grammatical person (tu/nous/vous), Hindi's varies by politeness level instead (तू/तुम/आप), and Hindi has no conjugated 'let's' form at all, reaching for the fixed word चलो/चलिए instead.
Grammar Comparison
व्याकरण तुलना
Formed from person in French; formed from politeness level in Hindi
Tu manges → Mange ! / Nous mangeons → Mangeons ! / Vous mangez → Mangez !
तू खा! / चलो खाएँ! / आप खाइए!
The French imperative simply reuses the tu, nous, and vous forms of the present tense with the subject pronoun dropped — no new conjugation to learn, and the three forms track grammatical person (you-singular, we, you-plural/formal). Hindi's imperative also drops the pronoun, but its three everyday levels — खा (तू, intimate), खाओ (तुम, informal), खाइए (आप, formal) — track politeness rather than number of people addressed. And for 'let's', Hindi doesn't conjugate the main verb into a special 'we'-command form the way French does with Mangeons! — it reaches instead for the fixed helper चलो/चलिए ('come on/let's') placed before the plain verb: चलो खाएँ। Both languages drop the subject for commands, but the axis each one's command-forms actually track — person vs. politeness — is genuinely different.
Reflexive imperatives: French flips the pronoun; Hindi's word order doesn't move
Lève-toi ! (Get up!) but Ne te lève pas ! (Don't get up!)
उठो! — हिंदी में कोई सर्वनाम खिसकता ही नहीं
In an affirmative command, the reflexive pronoun moves after the French verb and attaches with a hyphen, and te becomes toi: Lève-toi!, Asseyez-vous! In a negative command, the pronoun moves back to its normal position before the verb: Ne te lève pas! Hindi has no reflexive pronoun to move around in the first place for a routine verb like उठना — उठो! stands alone as a complete command, with nothing shifting position between the affirmative and negative (मत उठो!, 'don't get up', simply adds मत before the same unchanged उठो). This entire 'pronoun jumps and flips' mechanic is a purely French add-on with no Hindi habit, positive or negative, to compare it to.
Vocabulary
शब्दावली
- Hindi
- खाओ!khāo!
- English
- Eat! (informal)
- Hindi
- ख़त्म करो!khatm karo!
- English
- Finish! (informal)
- Hindi
- रुको!ruko!
- English
- Wait! (informal)
- Hindi
- चलो चलें!calo caleñ!
- English
- Let's go!
- Hindi
- खड़े हो जाइए!khaṛe ho jāie!
- English
- Stand up! (formal/plural)
- Hindi
- बैठ जाओ!baiṭh jāo!
- English
- Sit down! (informal)
- Hindi
- मत बोलो!mat bolo!
- English
- Don't speak! (informal)
- Hindi
- अच्छे बनो!acche bano!
- English
- Be good! (informal)
- Hindi
- भरोसा रखिए!bharosā rakhie!
- English
- Have confidence! (formal/plural)
- Hindi
- सुनो!suno!
- English
- Listen! (informal)