The noun-plus-verb pattern that supplies most of the Hindi lexicon
I can build and understand verbs made of a noun plus karna or hona
Look at these examples. Can you spot the grammar pattern?
मैंने उसकी मदद की।
I helped him.
फ़िल्म शुरू हो गई।
The film started.
कृपया थोड़ा इंतज़ार कीजिए।
Please wait a moment.
Pay attention to the highlighted parts. What do they have in common?
Hindi has a small stock of simple verbs and builds the rest by pairing a noun or adjective with करना, होना, देना or लेना:
| इंतज़ार करना | to wait | याद करना | to remember, to miss |
| शुरू करना | to begin (something) | शुरू होना | to begin (by itself) |
| पसंद करना | to like (actively) | पसंद आना | to be pleasing |
| मदद करना | to help | तैयार होना | to get ready |
The करना member is transitive and takes ने in the past; the होना member is intransitive and does not:
In the ने construction the verb agrees with that noun: मैंने मदद की - की, because मदद is feminine. This catches people constantly.
Apply this grammar in B1 course exercises
Practice ExercisesMaking the verb agree with the object of the whole phrase instead of with the noun inside it.
Verb agreeing with the wrong noun
In maine madad ki, the verb agrees with madad.
karna used where hona is meant
If Russian would add -sya, take the hona member.
मैंने उसकी मदद की।
I helped him.
ki, because madad is feminine - not because of him.
फ़िल्म शुरू हो गई।
The film started.
hona for the intransitive member, as Russian marks it with -sya.
कृपया थोड़ा इंतज़ार कीजिए।
Please wait a moment.
intazar karna is the ordinary word for 'wait'; there is no single verb.
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Ready-made hints are free
Practice in course
Apply this grammar in B1 course exercises
Yamuna Kachru's reference grammar; the descriptive account relied on for aspect, valency and clause structure.
Kamta Prasad Guru's grammar, the standard prescriptive reference for Hindi morphology and syntax.