Mujhe Chahiye: How to Say What You Want and Need in Hindi

If you could learn only one grammar pattern before a trip to India, chahiye (चाहिए) would be a strong candidate. With it you can ask for water, order at a restaurant, buy a ticket, tell a persistent seller "no thanks" and even say what you ought to do.

It also works a little differently from English, which is exactly why it's worth ten minutes of your time.

The pattern: to me, it is needed

In English, you do the wanting: "I need water". In Hindi, the thing is needed, and it's needed to you:

The shape never changes:

[to whom] + [what] + chahiye

So once you know mujhe (to me), you can ask for anything by dropping a new word into the middle:

• Mujhe chai chahiye. I'd like tea.
• Mujhe menu chahiye. I'd like the menu.
• Mujhe ek ticket chahiye. I need a ticket.
• Mujhe madad chahiye. I need help.

If this "to me" idea feels familiar, it's the same way of thinking as Mujhe thodi Hindi aati hai (a little Hindi comes to me) from our first-week guide. Hindi often describes needing, liking and knowing as something that happens to you.

Changing who needs it

Only the first word changes. These are the forms to learn:

• mujhe (मुझे): to me, I need
• aapko (आपको): to you (respectful), you need
• tumhe (तुम्हें): to you (familiar), you need
• usko or use (उसको / उसे): to him or her, he/she needs
• humein (हमें): to us, we need
• unko or unhein (उनको / उन्हें): to them, they need

Notice that chahiye itself stays the same whoever needs something, and whether that person is a man or a woman. That makes it one of the friendliest words in the language for beginners.

Asking what someone wants

Turn it into a question with kya (what). You'll hear this from every waiter and shopkeeper:

And when they want to know if that's everything: Aur kuch chahiye? (Anything else?) The easy answer is Bas, "that's all", or Bas, shukriya, "that's all, thanks".

The most useful sentence in a busy market

Add nahin (no, not) and you have a polite, firm way to decline, which you'll use far more often than you expect:

Chahiye for "should"

Put a verb in its dictionary form (the one ending in -na) before chahiye and the meaning shifts from "need" to "should":

A few more:

• Aapko aaram karna chahiye. You should rest.
• Humein jaldi jaana chahiye. We should go quickly.
• Mujhe Hindi seekhni chahiye. I should learn Hindi.

In that last one, seekhna (to learn) becomes seekhni because Hindi is a feminine word. Don't let that slow you down: seekhna chahiye would still be understood, and you can polish endings later.

Chahiye or chahta hoon?

There's a related verb, chahna (to want), and learners often mix the two up. The difference is a little like "should" and "want to":

• Mujhe jaana chahiye. I should go. (It's needed.)
• Main jaana chahta hoon. I want to go. (It's my wish.)

With chahna, you are back in charge of the sentence, so it starts with main (I), and the ending follows the speaker: a woman says Main jaana chahti hoon.

Common mistakes

• "Main paani chahiye." Chahiye needs mujhe, not main: Mujhe paani chahiye.
• Changing chahiye for plurals or for women. In everyday speech it stays chahiye. (You may see chahiyein with plural things in formal writing; you can safely ignore it for now.)
• Worrying that it sounds demanding. Mujhe chai chahiye is perfectly polite in a cafe. When you're asking someone to hand something over, the polite request form is just as natural: Ek chai dijiye. (One tea, please.)

Practice

Try these out loud before you look at the answers:

1. I'd like the menu.
2. We need two tickets.
3. What would you like? (respectful)
4. I don't need it, thank you.
5. You should rest. (respectful)
6. I want to go. (said by a woman)

Answers: Mujhe menu chahiye. · Humein do ticket chahiye. · Aapko kya chahiye? · Nahin chahiye, shukriya. · Aapko aaram karna chahiye. · Main jaana chahti hoon.

One word, and you can already ask, order, decline and give advice in Hindi. Aur kya chahiye? What more do you need?