Using plurals to indicate respect આદરાર્થી બહુવચન (AdarArthI bahuvachan )

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In Gujarati, plurals are used to indicate respect. 

This is called આદરાર્થી બહુવચન  (AdarArthI bahuvachan )

e.g. You(Singular) in English is તું (tuM) in Gujarati.

If you are talking to an elder person; in English you will say. 

“You come” as તું આવે છે (tuM Ave Che)

But because you are talking to an elder person; in Gujarati, you will use તમે

(tame) which is plural of “you”. And sentence is formed accordingly. So correct sentence will be તમે આવો છો (tame Avo Cho)

So remember, when talking with elder person, unknown person or with unknown lady address them with તમે (tame)

He or She or It in Gujarati is એ (e). But addressing a third person” with respect you will use can use plural form i.e. તેઓ (teo).

e.g. Suppose you are talking about Prime Minister.
"He is Prime Minister. He is speaking". 
In Gujarati literal translation will be 

એ વડાપ્રધાન છે. એ બોલી રહ્યો છે (e vaDApradhAn Che. e bolI rahyo Che )

But it is without politeness. Correct sentence with politeness will be 

તેઓ વડાપ્રધાન છે. તેઓ બોલી રહ્યા છે (teo/te vaDApradhAn Che. teo/te bolI rahyA Che )

Similarly if you are talking about lady 
She is good -> 

(literal translation) -> એ સારી છે ( e sArI Che )
(polite sentence ) -> તેઓ સારાં છે (teo/te sArA Che)

We will see prepositions and other forms of pronouns. There you will observe that તેઓએ(teoe) & તેઓને(teone) are forms of this pronoun તેઓ(teo).
But generally people use other forms like તેમને(temane) or એમને (emane) instead of of તેઓને(teone) 
And તેમણે(temaNE) or એમણે (emaNe) instead of તેઓએ(teoe).

Neuter-plural form of verb, noun is used in case of referring to lady. So instead of feminine-plural form "સારી" we used neuter-plural form "સારાં"


You will understand this concept better as and when you reach that chapter. 

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


Important :- 
When selecting plural form of verb or objective
For a male person the corresponding plural form for masculine gender is used
For a female person the corresponding plural form for neuter gender is used

Yes,you read correctly. For female polite form refer neuter plural form.

e.g.
Shivaji maharaj was great ->

(literal translation) -> શિવાજી મહારાજ મહાન હતો (shivAjI mahArAj mahAn hato

(polite sentence ) -> શિવાજી મહારાજ મહાન હતા (shivAjI mahArAj mahAn hatA)

Queen Laxmibai was great ->

(literal translation) -> રાણી લક્ષ્મીબાઈ મહાન હતી(rANI lakShmIbAI mahAn hatI)

(polite sentence ) -> રાણી લક્ષ્મીબાઈ મહાન હતાં (rANI lakShmIbAI mahAn hatAM)

Kaushik is my teacher ->

(literal translation) -> કૌશિક મારો શિક્ષક છે ( kaushik mAro shikShak Che)
(polite sentence ) -> કૌશિક મારા શિક્ષક છે  ( kaushik mArA shikShak Che )

Laxmi is my teacher ->

(literal translation) -> લક્ષ્મી મારી શિક્ષિકા છે ( lakShmI mArI shikShikA Che)
(polite sentence ) -> લક્ષ્મી મારાં શિક્ષિકા છે  ( lakShmI mArAM shikShikA Che )

We used "હતા" instead of "હતો". We used "હતાં" (which is neuter-plural form) instead of "હતી". We used "મારા" instead of "મારો ".
We used "મારાં" (which is neuter-plural form)  instead of "મારી"

You will understand all these forms in corresponding lesson.

*********** Using  આપ (Ap)  instead of તમે (tame)*************

When speaking very formally or in very formal written communication  instead of તમે (tame) we use આપ (Ap). Rest of the sentence structure remains same. 

How are you ->
(With respect)  તમે કેમ છો  (tame kem Cho)
(Very formal communication  ) -> આપ  કેમ છો  (Ap kem Cho)

You are doing work ->
(With respect)  તમે કામ કરી રહ્યા છો (tame kAm karI rahyA Cho)

(Very formal communication) ->આપ કામ કરી રહ્યા છો (Ap kAm karI rahyA Cho)

Listen examples in this lesson at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KzcU9QDpzs

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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 Gujarati. Learn Gujarati grammar and many aspects Gujarati language online.
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