है

हिन्दी

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है

/ɦɛː/ Hindi, Standard

Where it comes from

Inherited from Old Hindi है (hai), आहि (āhi). Per Turner, from a variant of Prakrit 𑀅𑀓𑁆𑀔𑀇 (akkhaï), supposing आहि (āhi) < Prakrit *𑀆𑀳𑁂𑀇 (*āhei) < Pre-Prakrit *𑀆𑀔𑁂𑀢𑀺 (*ākheti) < Sanskrit आक्षेति (ākṣeti, “dwells”). This is phonetically convincing and supported by cognates like Magahi 𑂯𑂶 (hai) ~ 𑂯𑂍𑂶 (hakai) and Sindhi [script needed] (ā̃hĭ̄ni, “they are”) that appear to derive from *𑀆𑀳𑁂𑀇 (*āhei). In this case, doublet of अछना (achnā) and also cognate with Marathi आहे (āhe, “is”), Bengali আছে (ache, “is”), Maithili अछि (achi), Gujarati છે (che, “is”). For the semantic shift "dwell" > "be", compare Proto-Germanic *wesaną (“to be”) from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wes- (“to stay, live, dwell”).

Other alternative etymologies suggest derivation from Sanskrit अस्ति (asti, “it is”) or भवति (bhavati, “it is”), but these are less convincing. See also हो (ho) and हुआ (huā).

verb hai · ہے

indicative, intimate, present, second person, singular second-person singular intimate present indicative होना
indicative, present, singular, third person third-person singular present indicative होना

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MLA

"है." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/hi/%E0%A4%B9%E0%A5%88. Accessed 7 Nov. 2026.

APA

है. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 7, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/hi/%E0%A4%B9%E0%A5%88

Chicago

"है." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 7, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/hi/%E0%A4%B9%E0%A5%88.

BibTeX

@misc{micwyn_2026,
  title = {है},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/hi/%E0%A4%B9%E0%A5%88},
  urldate = {2026-11-07}
}