Using plurals to indicate respect आदरार्थी बहुवचन (AdarArthI bahuvachan )

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In Hindi plurals are used to indicate respect. This is called आदरार्थी बहुवचन (AdarArthI bahuvachan )
e.g. If you are talking about prime minister of you are country. In Hindi you will say. 
वे प्रधानमंत्री है. वे बोल रहे है ( ve pradhAnamaMtrI hai. ve bol rahe hai)
If you say वह प्रधानमंत्री है. वह बोल रहा है ( vah pradhAnamaMtrI hai. vah bol rahA hai ) it will sound arrogant. 

So we used वे(ve) instead of वह(vah). And in verb we used रहे(rahe) instead of रहा (rahA). i.e. we used बहुवचन (bahuvachan ) to indicate respect. 

In Marathi we have same custom to use बहुवचन (bahuvachan ) to indicate respect. 

So In Marathi, we will NOT say 
तो पंतप्रधान आहे. तो बोलत आहे ( to paMtapradhAn Ahe. to bolat Ahe  )
But because you are talking about P.M. and you will want say these sentences with respect, so actually you will use plural of तो (to) which is ते(te). And sentence will be formed accordingly. 
So Marathi sentence will be 
ते पंतप्रधान आहेत. ते बोलत आहेत ( te paMtapradhAn Ahet. te bolat Ahet ). 

Similarly if you are talking about lady 
वह अच्छी है  ( vah achChI hai ) -> ती चांगली आहे ( tI chAMgalI Ahe )
When saying with respect; plural of is ती(tI) is त्या(tyA). So sentence will be 
वें अच्छी है  ( veM achChI hai  ) -> त्या चांगल्या आहेत( tyA chAMgalyA Ahet ). 

Similarly 
तु कैसा है ( tu kaisA hai  )  -> तू कसा आहेस ( tU kasA Ahes  )
Plural of तू (tU) is तुम्ही( tumhI). So question with respect will be asked as  
तुम/आप कैसे हो ( tum/Ap kaise ho)  -> तुम्ही कसे आहात ( tumhI kase AhAt )

In old time few learned persons or rich person, used to address themselves with respect. So they used आम्ही ( AmhI) - which is "हम(ham)" in Hindi - while talking about themselves.

मै आ रहा हूं ( mai A rahA hUM ) -> मी येतो आहे ( mI yeto Ahe  )
Giving oneself respect they used to say 
हम आ रहे है  ( ham A rahe hai ) -> आम्ही येत आहोत ( AmhI yet Ahot )
In editorials of Marathi newspaper you will find editor calling himself आम्ही (AmhI) 
But nowadays in day-to-day communication nobody calls himself आम्ही ( AmhI)  as it looks like boasting. 

I have listed pairs here just for reference :- 

मी -आम्ही mI -AmhI
तू -तुम्ही ( tU -tumhI )
तो - ते ( to - te )
ती -त्या ( tI -tyA )
ते -ती  ( te -tI  )

Even if sentence does not have pronoun; it should be formed with plural way to indicate respect. 

e.g.
शिवाजी महाराज महान थे ( shivAjI mahArAj mahAn the) 

शिवाजी महाराज महान होते ( shivAjI mahArAj mahAn hote)

कौशिक मेरे शिक्षक हैं( kaushik mere shikShak haiM )
कौशिक माझे शिक्षक आहेत ( kaushik mAjhe shikshak Ahet ) 



*********** Using  आपण (ApaN)  instead of तुम्ही(tumhI)*************
When speaking very formally or in very formal written communication  instead ofतुम्ही(tumhI) we use आपण (ApaN). Rest of the sentence structure remains same. 
आप कैसे हो ( Ap kaise ho)-> तुम्ही कसे आहात ( tumhI kase AhAt )
(In Very formal communication  ) ->  आपण कसे आहात ( ApaNkase AhAt ) 

आप काम कर रहे हो ( Ap kAm kar rahe ho) -> तुम्ही काम करत आहात ( tumhI kAm karat Ahat )
(Very formal communication  ) ->  आपण काम करत आहात ( ApaN kAm karat Ahat )
  

Listen examples online at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2zOUqAO8JM

** Cultural difference in Marathi & Hindi when using आप-आपण-तुम-तुम्ही **
Refer this lesson to know more about it 
http://learn-marathi-from-hindi-kaushiklele.blogspot.com/2013/03/saying-tum-aap-in-marathi.html




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