Language/Marathi/Grammar/Pronouns

Marathi Grammar - Pronouns

Hi Marathi learners! 😊
In this lesson, we will learn about Marathi pronouns. Pronouns are words that replace nouns, and they can be used to make sentences more concise and easier to read. Marathi language has a range of pronouns that can be used based on the context of the sentence.

Personal Pronouns

Personal pronouns are used to replace the name of the person or thing that is being referred to. In Marathi, personal pronouns have different forms for the speaker, the person being spoken to, and the person being spoken about. Let's see the table below:

Marathi	Pronunciation	English
मी	mī	I
तू	tū	You (informal)
तुम्ही	tumhī	You (formal)
ते	te	He/ She / It
आपण	āpaṇ	We
आपणास	āpaṇāsa	You all
त्यांना	tyāṃnā	Them

For example, look at the dialogue below:

• Person 1: मी भारतीय आहे. (mī bhāratīya āhē.) (I am Indian.)
• Person 2: तू करत आहेस काय? (tū karat āhēsa kāy?) (What are you doing?)

Possessive Pronouns

Possessive pronouns are used to show who owns or possesses something. In Marathi, the possessive pronouns are derived from the personal pronouns with the addition of suffix -चा (-chā) for masculine words, -ची (-chī) for feminine words, and -चे (-chē) for neutral words.

See the table below:

Marathi	Pronunciation	English
माझा	mājhā	My (for a masculine item)
माझी	mājhī	My (for a feminine item)
माझे	mājhē	My (for a neutral item)
तुझा	tujhā	Your (for a masculine item)
तुझी	tujhī	Your (for a feminine item)
तुझे	tujhē	Your (for a neutral item)
त्याचा/त्याची/त्याचे	tyāchā/tyāchī/tyāchē	His/hers/its
आमचा/आमची/आमचे	āmachā/āmachī/āmachē	Our
आपल्या/आपली/आपले	āplyā/āplī/āplē	Yours (formal)
तुमच्या/तुमची/तुमचे	tumacyā/tumacī/tumacē	Yours (informal)
त्यांचा/त्यांची/त्यांचे	tyāṃcyā/tyāṃcacī/tyāṃcacē	Their

For example, look at the dialogue below:

• Person 1: हा माझा किटपोस्ट किंवा तुझा आहे? (hā mājhā kiṭapōst kiṃvā tujhā āhē?) (Is this my letter or yours?)
• Person 2: हा तुझा किटपोस्ट आहे. माझा किटपोस्ट त्याच्याकडे आहे. (hā tujhā kiṭapōst āhē. mājhā kiṭapōst tyācyākaḍē āhē.) (This is your letter. My letter is with him.)

Reflexive Pronouns

Reflexive pronouns are used when the subject of the sentence is also the object. These pronouns are formed by adding the suffix "-स्वयं" (-svayaṃ) at the end of the personal pronoun.

See the table below:

Marathi	Pronunciation	English
मला स्वयं	malā svayaṃ	Myself
तुम्हाला स्वयं	tumhālā svayaṃ	Yourself
त्याला स्वयं	tyālā svayaṃ	Himself / Herself / Itself
आपणाला स्वयं	āpaṇālā svayaṃ	Ourselves
आपणास स्वयं	āpaṇāsa svayaṃ	Yourselves
त्यांना स्वयं	tyāṃnā svayaṃ	Themselves

An Example usage:

तुम्हाला स्वयं मजा काम करावा लागेल. (tumhālā svayaṃ majā kāma karāvā lāgēla.) (You must do the work yourself. )

Demonstrative Pronouns

Demonstrative pronouns are used to point to a specific object or person. In Marathi, the two common demonstrative pronouns are या (yā) and त्या (tyā), which mean "this" and "that" respectively.

Let's see the table below:

Marathi	Pronunciation	English
या	yā	This (for a masculine item)
ही	hī	This (for a feminine item)
हे	hē	This (for a neutral item)
त्या	tyā	That (for a masculine item)
ती	tī	That (for a feminine item)
ते	tē	That (for a neutral item)

For example, consider the dialogue below:

• Person 1: हे काय अस्तं आहे? (hē kāy astaṃ āhē?) (What is this?)
• Person 2: हे तुमच्या किनार्याचं अस्तं आहे. (hē tumacyā kināryāca astat āhē.) (This is something on your shore.)

Interrogative Pronouns

Interrogative pronouns are used to ask questions. In Marathi language, these pronouns include कोण (kaun) meaning "who", काय (kāy) meaning "what", कधा (kadhā) meaning "when", कुठे (kuthē) meaning "where", कसे (kasē) meaning "how", किती (kitī) meaning "how much/many", आणि काय? (āṇi kāy?) meaning "and what else?"

Let's see the table below:

Marathi	Pronunciation	English
कोण	kaun	Who
काय	kāy	What
कधा	kadhā	When
कुठे	kuthē	Where
कसे	kasē	How
किती	kitī	How much/many
आणि काय?	āṇi kāy?	And what else?

For example, consider the dialogue below:

• Person 1: कसा होता सांगा? (kasā hotā sāṅgā?) (How was it?)
• Person 2: तो उत्तम होता. आणि काय? (tō uttam hōtā. āṇi kāy?) (It was excellent. And what else?)

To improve your Marathi Grammar, you can also use the Polyglot Club website. Find native speakers and ask them any questions!

Sources

• Marathi Language
• Marathi Grammar
• Marathi Pronouns