1.7.1 The verbs ہے and ہیں

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Understanding "hai" (ہے) and "hain" (ہیں)

In Urdu, the verbs ہے (hai) and ہیں (hain) are the basic forms of the verb “to be” in the present tense. They are very common and appear in almost every simple sentence.

This chapter will show you when and how to use ہے and ہیں with many examples.

The basic idea of "to be" in Urdu

In English you say:

I am a student.
She is happy.
They are teachers.

The words “am, is, are” are all forms of the verb to be.

In Urdu, the present tense forms of “to be” that beginners need are:

ہے (hai)
ہیں (hain)

Later you will see more polite and plural forms, but at A1 level you mainly need ہے and ہیں.

Key rule:
Use ہے (hai) with singular subjects.
Use ہیں (hain) with plural subjects.

Subject means the person or thing you are talking about, like “I, you, Ali, the book, they, students” etc.

Using "hai" (ہے) with singular subjects

Singular people or things

Use ہے (hai) when you are speaking about one person or one thing.

Examples:

English	Urdu (in Roman)	Urdu (Nastaliq)
He is a teacher.	woh ustad hai	وہ استاد ہے
She is happy.	woh khush hai	وہ خوش ہے
It is a book.	yeh kitaab hai	یہ کتاب ہے
This is my friend.	yeh mera dost hai	یہ میرا دوست ہے
That is a chair.	woh kursi hai	وہ کرسی ہے

You also use ہے with I and you (singular, informal) in simple everyday speech:

English	Urdu (in Roman)	Urdu (Nastaliq)
I am a student.	main student hun / hoon*	میں اسٹوڈنٹ ہوں*
You are my friend.	tum mera dost ho	تم میرا دوست ہو

Here you see extra forms (ہوں, ہو) which belong to the same verb “to be,” but they are not ہے or ہیں, so they are only mentioned briefly. At this level, focus on ہے with singular he, she, it, this, that and singular nouns.

More examples with singular nouns:

English	Urdu (Roman)	Urdu (Nastaliq)
Ali is at home.	Ali ghar par hai	علی گھر پر ہے
The book is new.	kitaab nayi hai	کتاب نئی ہے
The car is red.	gaari laal hai	گاڑی لال ہے
The door is open.	darwaza khula hai	دروازہ کھلا ہے
The room is small.	kamra chhota hai	کمرہ چھوٹا ہے

The noun and adjectives will be explained in other chapters. For now, notice that the verb at the end is ہے for singular.

Using "hain" (ہیں) with plural subjects

Use ہیں (hain) when you are speaking about more than one person or thing.

Examples with plural people:

English	Urdu (Roman)	Urdu (Nastaliq)
They are students.	woh students hain	وہ اسٹوڈنٹس ہیں
They are teachers.	woh ustad hain	وہ استاد ہیں
We are friends.	hum dost hain	ہم دوست ہیں
You (all) are ready.	aap tayyar hain	آپ تیار ہیں
They are happy.	woh khush hain	وہ خوش ہیں

Examples with plural things:

English	Urdu (Roman)	Urdu (Nastaliq)
These are books.	yeh kitaabein hain	یہ کتابیں ہیں
Those are chairs.	woh kursiyan hain	وہ کرسیاں ہیں
The rooms are small.	kamre chhotay hain	کمرے چھوٹے ہیں
The cars are new.	gaarian nayi hain	گاڑیاں نئی ہیں
The streets are empty.	saare raaste khaali hain	سارے راستے خالی ہیں

The important part for this chapter is that the verb ends in ہیں when the subject is plural.

Key rule:
If the subject is plural, the present tense “to be” must be ہیں (hain) at the end of the sentence.

"Hai" and "hain" with "this" and "that"

Two very common pronouns are:

یہ (yeh) = this / it
وہ (woh) = that / he / she / it / they (context decides)

When you say this is / that is in English, in Urdu you say yeh … hai or woh … hai for singular, and yeh … hain, woh … hain for plural.

Singular "this" and "that"

English	Urdu (Roman)	Urdu (Nastaliq)
This is a book.	yeh kitaab hai	یہ کتاب ہے
That is a book.	woh kitaab hai	وہ کتاب ہے
This is my house.	yeh mera ghar hai	یہ میرا گھر ہے
That is my car.	woh meri gaari hai	وہ میری گاڑی ہے

Plural "these" and "those"

English	Urdu (Roman)	Urdu (Nastaliq)
These are books.	yeh kitaabein hain	یہ کتابیں ہیں
Those are books.	woh kitaabein hain	وہ کتابیں ہیں
These are my friends.	yeh mere dost hain	یہ میرے دوست ہیں
Those are my brothers.	woh mere bhai hain	وہ میرے بھائی ہیں

In spoken Urdu, woh can mean “he, she, it, that, they, those”. The correct verb ہے or ہیں helps the listener understand whether you are talking about one person / thing or many.

"Hai" and "hain" in simple description sentences

You often want to describe someone or something. In English:

He is tall.
They are tired.

In Urdu, very simply:

English	Urdu (Roman)	Urdu (Nastaliq)
He is tall.	woh lamba hai	وہ لمبا ہے
She is tall.	woh lambi hai	وہ لمبی ہے
They are tall.	woh lambay hain	وہ لمبے ہیں
She is tired.	woh thaki hui hai	وہ تھکی ہوئی ہے
They are tired.	woh thakē huay hain	وہ تھکے ہوئے ہیں

Focus again on ہے for singular and ہیں for plural.

Yes / No statements with "hai" and "hain"

Because Urdu is usually Subject + Object + Verb, ہے or ہیں comes at the end.

Simple positive sentences

Pattern	Example (Roman)	Example (Nastaliq)
Singular subject + … + hai	Ali student hai	علی اسٹوڈنٹ ہے
Plural subject + … + hain	Ali aur Sara students hain	علی اور سارہ اسٹوڈنٹس ہیں

Some more examples:

yeh mera ghar hai.
یہ میرا گھر ہے.
“This is my house.”
woh achha aadmi hai.
وہ اچھا آدمی ہے.
“He is a good man.”
hum Pakistani hain.
ہم پاکستانی ہیں.
“We are Pakistani.”
yeh kamre saaf hain.
یہ کمرے صاف ہیں.
“These rooms are clean.”

Negative sentences (brief introduction)

Negative sentences with “not” will be studied in more detail elsewhere, but you will often hear:

نہیں (nahin) = not

The basic idea is:

Singular: … نہیں ہے (nahin hai)
Plural: … نہیں ہیں (nahin hain)

Very quick examples:

English	Urdu (Roman)	Urdu (Nastaliq)
He is not a teacher.	woh ustad nahin hai	وہ استاد نہیں ہے
They are not students.	woh students nahin hain	وہ اسٹوڈنٹس نہیں ہیں

For this chapter, you just need to recognize that ہے and ہیں also appear in negative sentences.

Short answers with "hai" and "hain"

In conversation, you often answer with just the verb plus a little context.

Answering about one person / thing

Question (spoken style):

Kya yeh tumhara bag hai?
کیا یہ تمہارا بیگ ہے؟
“Is this your bag?”

Possible short answers:

Haan, hai.
ہاں، ہے.
“Yes, it is.”
Nahin, mera nahi hai.
نہیں، میرا نہیں ہے.
“No, it is not mine.”

Answering about more than one

Question:

Kya yeh tumhare dostoN ki kitaabein hain?
کیا یہ تمہارے دوستوں کی کتابیں ہیں؟
“Are these your friends’ books?”

Answers:

Haan, hain.
ہاں، ہیں.
“Yes, they are.”
Nahin, unki nahi hain.
نہیں، ان کی نہیں ہیں.
“No, they are not theirs.”

Again, short answers repeat ہے or ہیں to match singular or plural.

Practice: identify "hai" or "hain"

Look at the English sentence and decide if the subject is singular or plural, then choose ہے or ہیں.

She is my sister.
They are my brothers.
This is my book.
These are my pens.
The boys are happy.
The girl is sad.

Mini dialogue with "hai" and "hain"

Here is a simple conversation that highlights ہے and ہیں.

Dialogue in Roman Urdu

A: yeh kaun hai?
B: yeh mera dost hai.
A: yeh log kaun hain?
B: yeh mere classmates hain.
A: kya tum sab student ho?
B: haan, hum sab students hain.

Dialogue in Urdu script

ا: یہ کون ہے؟
ب: یہ میرا دوست ہے۔
ا: یہ لوگ کون ہیں؟
ب: یہ میرے کلاس میٹس ہیں۔
ا: کیا تم سب اسٹوڈنٹ ہو؟
ب: ہاں، ہم سب اسٹوڈنٹس ہیں۔

Translation

A: Who is this?
B: This is my friend.
A: Who are these people?
B: These are my classmates.
A: Are you all students?
B: Yes, we all are students.

Notice again:

Singular “this” → ہے
Plural “these people” → ہیں
“We” → ہیں

Summary

ہے (hai) = “am / is” with singular subjects (he, she, it, this, that, one person, one thing).
ہیں (hain) = “are” with plural subjects (we, they, you all, these, those, many people or things).
Urdu sentences usually place ہے / ہیں at the end.
In negative sentences, you often see: نہیں ہے (nahin hai) and نہیں ہیں (nahin hain).

Focus on listening and repeating sentences with ہے and ہیں. They are everywhere in Urdu.

New Vocabulary from this Chapter

Urdu (Nastaliq)	Urdu (Roman)	Part of Speech	Meaning in English
ہے	hai	verb	is / am (singular “to be”)
ہیں	hain	verb	are (plural “to be”)
یہ	yeh	pronoun	this / it / these (context)
وہ	woh	pronoun	that / he / she / they
گھر	ghar	noun	home / house
دوست	dost	noun	friend
استاد	ustad	noun	teacher
اسٹوڈنٹ	student	noun	student
کتاب	kitaab	noun	book
گاڑی	gaari	noun	car
کرسی	kursi	noun	chair
کمرہ	kamra	noun	room
خوش	khush	adjective	happy
نیا / نئی	naya / nayi	adjective	new (masc. / fem.)
چھوٹا / چھوٹی	chhota / chhoti	adjective	small (masc. / fem.)
تیّار	tayyar	adjective	ready
نہیں	nahin	adverb	not
کون	kaun	pronoun	who
سب	sab	pronoun	all / everyone
لوگ	log	noun	people

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