hamare

Hamare is the oblique form of the Hindi possessive determiner meaning “our.” It marks possession by the speaker and one or more others and is used before a noun or after a postposition to indicate ownership. The form appears in standard Hindi and Hindustani, and has closely related equivalents in Urdu (ہماری/ہمارے/ ہمارا) with the same function.

Forms and usage are determined by the gender and number of the noun that follows. The basic forms are: hamārā for masculine singular nouns, hamārī for feminine singular nouns, hamāre for masculine plural nouns, and hamārī for feminine plural nouns. Examples include: हमारा घर (hamārā ghar) for “our house,” हमारी किताबें (hamārī kitābeṁ) for “our books,” हमारे लोग (hamāre log) for “our people,” and हमारी बहनें (hamārī bahenēṁ) for “our sisters.” Note that the feminine plural uses hamārī, while the masculine plural uses hamāre.

In sentences the form commonly accompanies postpositions or oblique noun cases, as in हमारे घर में (in our house) or हमारे देश की (of our country). When the noun appears without postpositions, the non-oblique nominative forms (hamārā/hamārī/hamāre) are used directly before the noun. The choice of form agrees with the noun’s gender and number, not with the speaker.

Hamare functions as a common possessive determiner in everyday speech and writing. It is distinct from pronouns and from other possessives by its agreement with the noun it modifies and its use in oblique constructions.