Topic 78: तुम आओगे तो हम देखेंगे  When you come we will see

Context: Baljeet rings Sunil to ask him about managing the restaurant.

Notes: When... then... constructions (जब ... तो /तब...)

In Hindi to link two clauses in a when... then... construction the first clause normally begins with जब and the second with तो or तब. In principle, तब indicates simply the events take place at the same time, whilst तो indicates the event in the second clause is dependent on the event in the first clause. However, in practice, many speakers always use तो whether the two events are causally related or events which simply take place at the same time.

• जब मैं दिल्ली पहुँचा तब बारिश हो रही थी।
  When I got to Delhi [then] it was raining.
• जब मैं दिल्ली पहुँचा तो मैंने मेट्रो पकड़ा।
  When I got to Delhi [then] I caught the metro.
• जब आप दिल्ली पहुँचें तो मुझसे मिलने आएँ।
  When you get to Delhi [then] come to meet me.
• जब मैं दिल्ली जाता हूँ तो मैं खान मर्केट जाता हूँ।
  When I go to Delhi [then] I go to Khan market.
  

Note that in English the ‘then’ in such sentences is often omitted, but it must be included in the Hindi for such sentences. The tenses in the two clauses normally match in Hindi, in relation to whether the times are past, present or future. But in English there are variations from this.

• जब तुम आओगे तो हम घूमने जाएँगे।
  When you come we will go for a walk.
  

As mentioned in relation to ‘if’ sentences, when the ‘if’ or ‘when’ is omitted it is often possible to understand a sentence as being either a  ‘when...then...’ statement or an ‘if... then...’ statement. The sense overlaps, as it does here.

• तुम आओगे तो हम देखेंगे। 
  When/if you come we will see.

Note that when तो is not a conjunction it emphasises the word that precedes it, as in मैं तो जाऊँगा। I will [indeed] go.

Vocabulary

पकड़ना vt. to catch