यूनिवर्सिटी ऑफ़ मिशिगन
Review of nominal and verbal forms. Vocative. Stative  होना
(adapted from Chapter One of  Hindi Structures.)
      You should be completely familiar with the use of the direct and oblique singular forms of nouns, pronouns, and adjectives:
   

	Singular:	Plural:
Direct:	कमरा,   मैं,   यह	कमरे,   हम,   ये
Oblique:	कमरे,   मुझ,   इस	कमरों,   हम,   इन

      In addition you should know the vocative form of nouns:
   

	Singular:	Plural:
Direct:	लड़का,   लड़की	लड़के,   लड़कियाँ
Oblique:	लड़के,   लड़की	लड़को,   लड़कियो

For some speakers the vocative plural ending is nasalized -ओं :   लड़कों,   लड़कियों.
      The vocative is used when calling out to someone:
  1.     ए बच्चो ( बच्चों ),  इधर आओ !                   'Hey boys, come here!'
      मल्हार presupposes a knowledge of the following tenses and moods of the verb:
   

Past:	वह कहाँ गई ?	Where did she go?
Future:	आप क्या करेंगे ?	What will you do?
Subjunctive:	हम कब मिलें ?	When shall we meet?
Imperative:	( आप )   सुनिये !	Listen!
	( तुम )   यह देखो !	See here!
Present habitual:	तुम कहाँ रहती हो ?	Where do you live?
Past habitual:	हम हिन्दी बोलते थे।	We used to speak Hindi.
Present progressive:	मैं लिख रहा हूँ।	I am writing.
Past progressive:	बच्चे गा रहे थे।	The kids were singing.
Present perfect:	वह आज गया है।	He has gone today.
Past perfect:	बस दो बजे आई थी।	The bus had come at two.

      Remember that  होना  can mean either 'to be' or 'to become'; 'to happen'.  As 'to be' it has no progressive forms.  Instead there are special stative forms:

Present stative:	वे मेरे दोस्त हैं।	They are my friends.
Past stative:	उसका नाम क्या था ?	What was his name?

Stative  होना  has habitual forms:

Present habitual:	यहाँ के लोग अच्छे होते हैं।	People here are nice.
Past habitual:	दूध सस्ता होता था।	Milk used to be cheap.

Subjects of such habitual statives are usually non-specific:
  2.     केले पीले होते हैं।                             'Bananas are yellow.'
  3.     यह केला लाल होता है।                   'This (type of) banana is red.'
  4.     यह केला हरा है।                             'This (particular) banana is green.'
In the perfect stative, the root  हो- of  होना  is replaced by the root  रह- of  रहना:
  5.     पहले इसका नाम क्या रहा था ?
          'What had been the name of this before?'
  6.     उसमें और मुझमें हमेशा बहुत फ़रक़ रहा है।
          'There has always been a lot of difference between him and me.'
Exercise.
English to Hindi translation exercise.
To index of grammatical notes.
To index of मल्हार.
Keyed in and posted 5 Sept 2001.