Bengali pronouns carry more social and grammatical information than their English counterparts. Where English has one pronoun for second-person "you" and separate pronouns for third-person "he" and "she," Bengali has three levels of second-person pronouns (each demanding matching verb endings) and gender-neutral third-person pronouns at two honorific levels. English pronouns have subject, object, and possessive forms through limited inflection (I, me, my); Bengali pronouns take a full range of case suffixes producing subject, accusative, genitive, locative, and other forms in a regular pattern. Understanding the pronoun system is therefore crucial for both grammatical accuracy and social appropriateness.
This reference covers the complete system of Bengali pronouns: personal pronouns in subject, object, and genitive cases at all three honorific levels; the demonstrative system with its three-way spatial distinction (this, that, yonder); reflexive pronouns; interrogative pronouns used in questions; relative and correlative pronouns that build complex sentences; and indefinite pronouns for expressions like "someone," "anyone," and "no one." All examples appear in Bengali script, standardized transliteration, and English translation.
The gender-neutrality of third-person Bengali pronouns is a feature that becomes natural quickly but often surprises English speakers. "She bought a book" and "He bought a book" are exactly the same sentence in Bengali: শে একটি বই কিনল (shê êkTi boi kinlo). Context or explicit naming supplies gender when necessary.
First-Person Pronouns
Bengali has singular and plural first-person pronouns without honorific distinction. There is no intimate or respectful "I."
| Form | Bengali | Transliteration | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Subject | আমি | ami | আমি করি ami kori (I do) |
| Object | আমাকে | amake | সে আমাকে দেখল shê amake dekhlo (he/she saw me) |
| Genitive (my) | আমার | amar | আমার বই amar boi (my book) |
| Locative (in me) | আমাতে | amate | আমাতে বিশ্বাস amate bishshash (faith in me) |
| From me | আমার থেকে | amar theke | আমার থেকে নাও amar theke nao (take from me) |
| Subject plural | আমরা | amra | আমরা যাই amra jai (we go) |
| Object plural | আমাদের | amader | আমাদের বলো amader bôlo (tell us) |
| Genitive plural | আমাদের | amader | আমাদের বাড়ি amader bari (our house) |
Note that the plural genitive and the plural object are both amader, distinguished only by context. This is a recurring pattern across Bengali plural pronouns.
Second-Person Pronouns
The three honorific levels each have full paradigms:
তুই tui (Intimate or Inferior)
| Form | Bengali | Transliteration |
|---|---|---|
| Subject | তুই | tui |
| Object | তোকে | toke |
| Genitive | তোর | tor |
| Subject plural | তোরা | tora |
| Object plural | তোদের | toder |
| Genitive plural | তোদের | toder |
তুমি tumi (Familiar)
| Form | Bengali | Transliteration |
|---|---|---|
| Subject | তুমি | tumi |
| Object | তোমাকে | tomake |
| Genitive | তোমার | tomar |
| Subject plural | তোমরা | tomra |
| Object plural | তোমাদের | tomader |
| Genitive plural | তোমাদের | tomader |
আপনি apni (Respectful)
| Form | Bengali | Transliteration |
|---|---|---|
| Subject | আপনি | apni |
| Object | আপনাকে | apnake |
| Genitive | আপনার | apnar |
| Subject plural | আপনারা | apnara |
| Object plural | আপনাদের | apnader |
| Genitive plural | আপনাদের | apnader |
Example sentences:
তুমি কী করছ? Tumi ki kôrchho? What are you (familiar) doing?
আমি তোমাকে ভালবাসি। Ami tomake bhalobashi. I love you (familiar).
তোমার ভাই কোথায়? Tomar bhai kothay? Where is your (familiar) brother?
আপনার সাহায্য দরকার। Apnar shahajjo dôrkar. I need your (respectful) help.
Third-Person Pronouns
Bengali third-person pronouns distinguish honorific level but not gender. The same form covers he, she, and in some cases it.
সে shê (Familiar)
| Form | Bengali | Transliteration |
|---|---|---|
| Subject | সে | shê |
| Object | তাকে | take |
| Genitive | তার | tar |
| Subject plural | তারা | tara |
| Object plural | তাদের | tader |
| Genitive plural | তাদের | tader |
তিনি tini / উনি uni (Respectful)
| Form | Bengali (tini) | Bengali (uni) | Transliteration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Subject | তিনি | উনি | tini / uni |
| Object | তাঁকে | ওনাকে | tãke / onake |
| Genitive | তাঁর | ওনার | tãr / onar |
| Subject plural | তাঁরা | ওনারা | tãra / onara |
The chandrabindu (ঁ) in the respectful forms indicates nasalization and also serves as an orthographic marker of respect.
Example sentences:
সে বাজারে গেছে। Shê bajare gêchhe. He or she has gone to the market.
তাঁর ছেলে ডাক্তার। Tãr chhêle Daktar. His or her (respectful) son is a doctor.
উনি আমাকে সাহায্য করেছেন। Uni amake shahajjo korechhen. He or she (respectful) helped me.
তাদের বাড়ি কাছাকাছি। Tader bari kachhakachhi. Their (familiar plural) house is nearby.
Demonstrative Pronouns
Bengali distinguishes three degrees of spatial distance in its demonstratives: proximal (near speaker), distal (near listener or at a middle distance), and remote (far from both).
| Distance | Bengali | Transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Proximal (this) | এই | ei | this |
| Distal (that) | সেই | shei | that |
| Remote (yonder) | ওই | oi | that over there |
The demonstratives function as adjectives modifying nouns:
এই বই ভাল। Ei boi bhalo. This book is good.
সেই লোক আমার বন্ধু। Shei lok amar bôndhu. That person is my friend.
ওই গাড়ি তোমার? Oi gari tomar? Is that car (over there) yours?
The demonstratives also have pronominal uses standing alone:
| Form | Bengali | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| this (thing) | এটা / এটি | êTa / êTi |
| that (thing) | সেটা / সেটি | shêTa / shêTi |
| yonder (thing) | ওটা / ওটি | oTa / oTi |
| these things | এগুলো / এগুলি | êgulo / êguli |
| those things | সেগুলো / সেগুলি | shêgulo / shêguli |
| those yonder | ওগুলো | ogulo |
| this (person) | ইনি | ini (respectful) |
| that (person) | তিনি / উনি | tini / uni (respectful) |
Example:
এটা কী? ÊTa ki? What is this?
ওটা আমার বই। OTa amar boi. That (over there) is my book.
এগুলো কার জিনিস? ÊGulo kar jinish? Whose things are these?
Reflexive Pronouns
The primary reflexive is নিজ nij or নিজে nije, meaning "oneself" or "own." It works for all persons and numbers without separate forms:
| Form | Bengali | Transliteration | Use |
|---|---|---|---|
| oneself (subject emphasis) | নিজে | nije | আমি নিজে ami nije (I myself) |
| one's own | নিজের | nijer | নিজের বাড়ি nijer bari (one's own house) |
| to oneself | নিজেকে | nijeke | নিজেকে চিনি nijeke chini (I know myself) |
| among themselves | নিজেদের মধ্যে | nijeder môdhye | (among themselves) |
Example sentences:
আমি নিজে করেছি। Ami nije korechhi. I did it myself.
সে নিজেকে খুব গুরুত্ব দেয়। Shê nijeke khub gurutto dêy. He or she gives a lot of importance to himself or herself.
তারা নিজেদের ঘরে ফিরে গেছে। Tara nijeder ghôre phire gêchhe. They have returned to their own home.
The pronoun আপনি apni can also function reflexively in formal and literary Bengali, though this usage is declining: আপনি গেছেন apni gêchhen can mean both "you (respectful) have gone" and "he or she (respectful) has himself/herself gone." Context disambiguates.
Interrogative Pronouns
Question words in Bengali form a neat set:
| Question Word | Bengali | Transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| who | কে | ke | who (subject) |
| whom | কাকে | kake | whom (object) |
| whose | কার | kar | whose (genitive) |
| what | কী | ki | what (thing) |
| when | কবে / কখন | kôbe / kôkhon | when (day / time) |
| where | কোথায় | kothay | where |
| where from | কোথা থেকে | kotha theke | where from |
| why | কেন | kêno | why |
| how | কীভাবে / কেমন | kibhabe / kêmon | how |
| how many | কত | kôto | how many |
| how much | কত | kôto | how much |
| which | কোন | kon | which |
Note the yes-no question marker কি ki (with no long i) versus the wh-question কী ki (with long i in spelling). Both are pronounced the same but spelled differently. In speech, intonation and word position distinguish them.
Example sentences:
তুমি কে? Tumi ke? Who are you (familiar)?
এটা কী? ÊTa ki? What is this?
তুমি কোথায় যাচ্ছ? Tumi kothay jachho? Where are you going?
সে কেন কাঁদছে? Shê kêno kãdchhe? Why is he or she crying?
আপনার নাম কী? Apnar nam ki? What is your (respectful) name?
Relative and Correlative Pronouns
Bengali uses a correlative construction unfamiliar to English speakers. Instead of embedding a relative clause inside a main clause, Bengali places two parallel clauses linked by a relative-correlative pair.
| Relative | Correlative | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| যে je | সে shê / তা ta | who / that one |
| যা ja | তা ta | what / that |
| যারা jara | তারা tara | those who / they |
| যেখানে jêkhane | সেখানে shêkhane | where / there |
| যখন jôkhon | তখন tôkhon | when / then |
| যেভাবে jêbhabe | সেভাবে shêbhabe | how / that way |
| যতটুকু jôtoTuku | ততটুকু tôtoTuku | as much as / that much |
| যতদূর jôtodur | ততদূর tôtodur | as far as / that far |
Example sentences:
যে বই পড়ে, সে ভাল ছাত্র। Je boi pôre, shê bhalo chhatro. The one who reads books is a good student. (Literally: who reads books, that one good student.)
যখন সূর্য উঠল, তখন আমরা রওনা হলাম। Jôkhon shurjo uThlo, tôkhon amra rôona hôlam. When the sun rose, then we set out.
যেখানে বৃষ্টি, সেখানে কাদা। Jêkhane brishTi, shêkhane kada. Where there is rain, there is mud.
আমি যা বলি, তা কর। Ami ja bôli, ta kôr. Do what I say. (Literally: what I say, that do.)
This correlative structure is pervasive in formal and literary Bengali. Modern spoken Bengali sometimes embeds the relative clause in a more English-like manner, but the correlative pattern remains standard.
Indefinite Pronouns
Bengali builds indefinites with কেউ kêu (someone, anyone), কিছু kichhu (something, anything), কোনো kono (some, any), and negation:
| Meaning | Bengali | Transliteration |
|---|---|---|
| someone | কেউ | kêu |
| anyone | কেউ | kêu |
| no one | কেউ না | kêu na |
| something | কিছু | kichhu |
| anything | কিছু | kichhu |
| nothing | কিছু না | kichhu na |
| somewhere | কোথাও | kothao |
| nowhere | কোথাও না | kothao na |
| sometime | কখনো | kôkhono |
| never | কখনো না | kôkhono na |
| everyone | সবাই | shôbai |
| everything | সব | shôb |
| everywhere | সর্বত্র | shôrbôtro |
Example sentences:
কেউ এসেছে? Kêu eshechhe? Has someone come?
কেউ আসেনি। Kêu ashêni. No one has come.
কিছু খেয়েছ? Kichhu kheyechho? Have you eaten something?
আমি কখনো সেখানে যাইনি। Ami kôkhono shêkhane jaini. I have never been there.
সবাই বাড়ি গেছে। Shôbai bari gêchhe. Everyone has gone home.
Example Sentences Combining Pronoun Types
আমি তাঁকে চিনি। Ami tãke chini. I know him or her (respectful).
তুমি কি নিজে এটা করেছ? Tumi ki nije êTa korechho? Did you do this yourself?
যে ছেলেটি গান গাইছিল, সে আমার ভাই। Je chhêleTi gan gaichhilo, shê amar bhai. The boy who was singing, he is my brother.
এই বইটি কার? Ei boiTi kar? Whose is this book?
কেউ যদি আসে, আমাকে বোলো। Kêu jôdi ashe, amake bolo. If someone comes, tell me.
Common Mistakes English Speakers Make
Using the wrong case form with verbs. Object pronouns (amake, tomake, take) are often forgotten and learners use subject forms instead. Saying "ami tumi dekhi" (I you see) instead of "ami tomake dekhi" (I see you) is a classic error.
Treating shê as masculine-specific. Bengali does not distinguish he from she. Using shê to mean specifically "he" and then switching to another form for "she" produces nonsense. The same pronoun covers both, and gender is established by context or name.
Confusing ki spellings. The question particle for yes-no questions (কি, short) and the interrogative pronoun "what" (কী, long) are spelled differently. Both are pronounced ki but carry different grammatical roles. Writing যাচ্ছ কী for "are you going" is wrong; it should be যাচ্ছ কি.
Not matching verb endings to pronoun level. Using apni with a tumi-level verb ending (apni kôrchho) is a persistent error that pronoun and honorific guides both warn against. The two must agree.
Using English-style relative clauses instead of correlative structure. "The man who came yesterday is my uncle" translated directly as "lok ke kal eshechhilo amar kaka" sounds foreign. The natural Bengali is "je lok kal eshechhilo, shê amar kaka" with the full correlative pair.
Forgetting the three-way demonstrative distinction. English has only this and that. Bengali adds yonder (ওই oi). When pointing to something that is clearly far from both speaker and listener, use oi, not shei.
Misusing nijer. The reflexive possessive nijer means "one's own" and refers back to the subject. Saying "amar nijer bari" is redundant but acceptable; saying just "nijer bari" implies whoever the subject is owns the house. A common error is using nijer where simple amar, tomar would be correct, which creates an emphatic effect not intended.
Quick Reference
Bengali personal pronouns distinguish three honorific levels in second and third persons (tui, tumi, apni; shê, tini/uni). Third person is gender-neutral; gender comes from context, not pronoun choice. Pronouns take case suffixes for object, genitive, locative, and other roles: ami, amake, amar. Demonstratives distinguish three spatial distances: ei (this), shei (that), oi (yonder). Reflexives use nij/nije for all persons and numbers. Relative clauses use correlative pairs: je-shê, ja-ta, jôkhon-tôkhon, jêkhane-shêkhane. Interrogatives form a compact set: ke, ki, kôbe, kothay, kêno, kibhabe, kôto, kon. Indefinites build from kêu (someone), kichhu (something), kono (some/any), with negation for "no one" and "nothing."
Frequently Asked Questions
How many personal pronouns does Bengali have?
Bengali has around eight principal personal pronouns: ami (I), amra (we), tui, tumi, apni (three levels of you), shê (familiar he or she), tini or uni (respectful he or she), and tara (they). Each has possessive and object forms derived by adding case-marker suffixes.
Does Bengali distinguish he and she?
No. Bengali third-person pronouns are gender-neutral. Shê covers both he and she, as does tini and uni. Context or explicit mention of the person's name makes gender clear. This is different from English, Hindi, or many European languages.
What is the difference between ei and shei?
Ei is "this" (proximal, near the speaker). Shei is "that" (distal, near the listener or in the distance). Oi is "that over there" (far from both speaker and listener). Bengali thus has a three-way spatial distinction similar to Spanish este, ese, aquel.
How do I form possessive pronouns like "my" and "your"?
Possessive pronouns are formed by adding the genitive suffix -er or -r to the pronoun: amar (my), tomar (your familiar), apnar (your respectful), tar (his or her), tader (their). These follow the same three-level honorific split as the base pronouns.
What is the reflexive pronoun in Bengali?
The main reflexive is nij or nije, meaning "oneself" or "own." It combines with possessives: nijer boi (one's own book). The same form works for all persons and numbers, unlike English where himself, herself, ourselves, etc. vary. Apni can also function reflexively.
Are there relative pronouns in Bengali?
Yes. Je (who, which, that) is the main relative pronoun, paired often with correlative ta or shê. Ja serves as the relative for things. A sentence like "The book that I bought" becomes "The book that-I-bought that-book" structurally: je boi ami kinechhi shei boi.
Do Bengali pronouns change in subject vs object position?
Yes. Pronouns take case suffixes depending on their role. Subject forms (ami, tumi) differ from object forms (amake, tomake) and from genitive forms (amar, tomar). The system is agglutinative: case endings attach predictably to the base pronoun.
See Also
- Bengali Honorifics Three Levels Reference
- Bengali Verb Conjugation Complete Tense System Reference
- Bengali Script and Alphabet Complete Guide
- Bengali Postpositions Not Prepositions Reference
- Japanese Keigo Honorific Language Reference
- Language Difficulty for English Speakers Reference
- Bengali Greetings and Daily Phrases Reference
- Bengali Dialects: Bangladesh vs West Bengal Reference
Author: Kalenux Team
Frequently Asked Questions
How many personal pronouns does Bengali have?
Bengali has around eight principal personal pronouns: আমি ami (I), আমরা amra (we), তুই tui, তুমি tumi, আপনি apni (three levels of you), সে shê (familiar he or she), তিনি tini or উনি uni (respectful he or she), and তারা tara (they). Each has possessive and object forms derived by adding case-marker suffixes.
Does Bengali distinguish he and she?
No. Bengali third-person pronouns are gender-neutral. সে shê covers both he and she, as does তিনি tini and উনি uni. Context or explicit mention of the person's name makes gender clear. This is different from English, Hindi, or many European languages.
What is the difference between এই and সেই?
এই ei is 'this' (proximal, near the speaker). সেই shei is 'that' (distal, near the listener or in the distance). ওই oi is 'that over there' (far from both speaker and listener). Bengali thus has a three-way spatial distinction similar to Spanish este, ese, aquel.
How do I form possessive pronouns like 'my' and 'your'?
Possessive pronouns are formed by adding the genitive suffix -এর er or -র r to the pronoun: আমার amar (my), তোমার tomar (your familiar), আপনার apnar (your respectful), তার tar (his or her), তাদের tader (their). These follow the same three-level honorific split as the base pronouns.
What is the reflexive pronoun in Bengali?
The main reflexive is নিজ nij or নিজে nije, meaning 'oneself' or 'own.' It combines with possessives: নিজের বই nijer boi (one's own book). The same form works for all persons and numbers, unlike English where himself, herself, ourselves, etc. vary. আপনি apni can also function reflexively.
Are there relative pronouns in Bengali?
Yes. যে je (who, which, that) is the main relative pronoun, paired often with correlative তা ta or সে shê. যা ja serves as the relative for things. A sentence like 'The book that I bought' becomes 'The book that-I-bought that-book' structurally: যে বই আমি কিনেছি সেই বই (je boi ami kinechhi shei boi).
Do Bengali pronouns change in subject vs object position?
Yes. Pronouns take case suffixes depending on their role. Subject forms (ami, tumi) differ from object forms (amake, tomake) and from genitive forms (amar, tomar). The system is agglutinative: case endings attach predictably to the base pronoun.
