Doing it, making someone do it, having it done
I can say that I had something done
Look at these examples. Can you spot the grammar pattern?
I had a house built.
She teaches the children Hindi.
I had him write the letter.
Pay attention to the highlighted parts. What do they have in common?
| Do it | Make someone do it | Have it done |
|---|---|---|
| करना - to do | कराना | करवाना |
| बनाना - to make | बनवाना | बनवाना |
| पढ़ना - to read | पढ़ाना - to teach | पढ़वाना |
| खाना - to eat | खिलाना - to feed | खिलवाना |
The first causative usually adds -ā to the stem, sometimes with a vowel change; the second adds -vā.
The person through whom the thing is done takes से: दर्ज़ी से बनवाना - to have it made by the tailor.
Apply this grammar in A2 course exercises
Practice ExercisesUsing the plain verb where a causative is needed, so the speaker claims to have done the work themselves.
Plain verb used where a causative is required
If someone else did the work, use the -a or -va form.
Marking the actual doer with ko instead of se
The person through whom it is done takes se: darzi se banvaya.
I had a house built.
banvaya, not banaya: the speaker commissioned the work.
She teaches the children Hindi.
parhana is the causative of parhna: to make someone read is to teach.
I had him write the letter.
se marks the person through whom it was done.
Practice in course
Apply this grammar in A2 course exercises
Yamuna Kachru's reference grammar; the descriptive account of aspect, compound verbs and the ergative used here.
Kamta Prasad Guru's grammar, still the standard prescriptive reference for Hindi verb morphology.