Hindi has two main idioms for expressing possession:
के पास
का
Of course, possessive adjectives also express possession too.
के पास is used for moveable impersonal objects – things like keys, books, tea, etc. It is generally not used for people, except in the case of servants.
आप के पास चाबी है क्या – “Do you have the key?”
तुम्हारे पास चाय है क्या – “Do you have tea?”
का (or possessive pronouns) is used for unmoveable objects (house) or for people.
मेरे दो बेटे हैं – “I have two sons”
2 replies on “Possession”
Hi !
I would suggest naming this chapter as “To Have”. People with English as their first language have problems not only with the above two contexts but also (3 and 4) :
1. People having people : का / के / की (मेरा, मेरी, मेरे for मैं and the same तुम्हारा.. with तुम and हमारा..with हम). Can also be used with ‘intimate’ property with which one has emotional attachment गाँव में मेरा एक मकान है ।
2. People having things : के पास (the same rule to be used with मैं, तुम and हम)
3. को ( the को construction): People having AFFLICTIONS / AILMENTS – उसको (उसे) बुखार है, मुझको (मुझे) ज़ुकाम था / हो गया ।
4. Things / places having things : में – इस कमरे में तीन खिड़कियाँ हैं, मेरी कार में AC नहीं है, बनारस में कोई night club नहीं है ।
भवदीय,
विधुशेखर
Hi! Thanks for commenting. I have written a brief article about translating “to have” from English to Hindi: https://hindilanguage.info/notes/volume-2/translating-have/ I mentioned points 1, 2, and 3. I didn’t think about point 4, so I might add some more examples. Thanks for the suggestion!