Saying tum aap in Marathi तू-तुम-आप तू-तुम्ही

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आप (Ap) or तुम (tum) in Hindi is तुम्ही (tumhI) or आपण (ApaN) in Marathi. 
"तू" in Hindi is "तू" in Marathi as well. 
But do understand the difference in their usage especially its social background.  

In Hindi, by default you address anyone else with respect i.e call him "आप" or "तुम". And only when you do not want to show respect or show a very friendly relation you will address that person as "तू".

In Marathi, it is opposite. By default you will address anyone with "तू". It does not show disrespect at all. It is natural for a native Marathi speaker to address son, daughter, brother, sister, cousin, mother, grandmother, unknown person of same age etc. with "तू". 

So when you translate sentence from Hindi to Marathi, do NOT always translate "आप" or "तुम" with "तुम्ही". It might sound unnatural in Marathi. So think, how closely you are related with the person in front of you and then better to go for "तू". 

That is why in this blog, I have given examples using "तू" in Hindi. So a sentence using "आप" or "तुम" should be first thought in Hindi using "तू" and then go for Marathi translation.


Only when you have to show respect explicitly, you will use "तुम्ही".  So generally father, grandfather, teacher, boss, unknown person, elder person are addressed with "तुम्ही".

Similarly, few Hindi people use "हम" instead of "मै". e.g. instead of "मुझे चाहिये","मुझे जाना है" they will say "हमे चाहिये", "हमे जाना है".
"हम" in Hindi is "आम्ही" in Marathi. 
"मै" in Hindi is "मी " in Marathi. 

But while speaking Marathi NEVER use "आम्ही" instead of "मी". People will laugh at you. They will think you as boasting yourself. 
In old times kings, landlords or very respected person , elder persons etc. used to call themselves as "आम्ही" instead of "मी", like in Hindi. But nowadays nobody follows this practice. So it will look very odd. So NEVER use it. When talking about yourself use "मी".

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Note :-  Right hand side of the blog shows "Blog Archive". Expand it fully to see whole list of posts discussing many aspects of grammar and Marathi language
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Comments

  1. ye "goya" ka kya matlab hai maine ise tarak mehta me suna tha

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    Replies
    1. It is गोळ्या(golyaa). no meaning. His name is "goli".
      Are you learning Marathi ?

      Delete
  2. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  3. What should i call my fiance in marathi? TUMHI or TU? He is from an orthodox marathi family, i m from a liberal marathi one. He is 2 years older than me, ours is an arranged marriage.

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    Replies
    1. Its your choice. It should be decided by you two.

      Delete
    2. So you are saying that native marathi speakers do not have any respect for others. You are saying that you call every new person 'tu', also you call mother, grandmother and all female elders 'tu', but not father, grandfather and other male elder relatives. There are 'apan' and 'tuhmi' in Marathi to show formality and respect to others. You may not be calling a policeman or a rowdy 'tu' because you may be thrashed. But you will call your mother or gentle/respectful stranger 'tu' because you will not be thrashed. What cultural tradition is this?

      I am living near Mumbai and suffer from such insults.

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    3. It depends on how you look at it and how open you are for diversity. Your cultural background seems to make it difficult for you to understand.

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    4. There is nothing difficult to understand. It is not rocket science. If there is nothing to fear about the other person, however senior/ gentle/respectful he is, you will insult that person by calling 'tu'. But if you want to gain anything from that person or if the person can do harm to you, you will not call him/her 'tu'. This system might have got established in your culture, hence you are trying to justify it without any logic and rationale.

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    5. Then it is same as in Hindi & English. Despite saying "aap" in Hindi, you can still be disrespectful in you mind. Take an example.
      Newsreader will say "Honourable minister XYZ has been booked under corruption charges". Is that person really "Honourable" ?

      So don't stretch the logic too much.

      Anyways, I am teaching "what is" there in language and not "why it is" there in language. It is a question more suitable for language researchers. If you have done any any serious research then do share it.

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    6. Okay. Anyway you have responded to my averments and have not deleted my comments. You have stood up and answered. That is appreciated. Also, you say that you are teaching 'what is in the language' and not 'why it is so'.

      Delete

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