Hydrogen generally forms covalent compounds. Give reason.

(N/A) Hydrogen has one electron in its $1s$ orbital. To achieve the stable noble gas configuration of helium $(1s^2)$,it can either lose,gain,or share this electron.
However,the ionization enthalpy of hydrogen is very high $(1312 \ kJ \ mol^{-1})$,making it difficult to lose an electron to form an $H^+$ ion.
Conversely,its electron gain enthalpy is only slightly negative $(-73 \ kJ \ mol^{-1})$,meaning it does not have a strong tendency to gain an electron to form an $H^-$ ion.
Due to these energetic factors,hydrogen prefers to share its electron with other non-metals to form covalent bonds.