hona for being, becoming and what regularly happens
I can tell apart being something, becoming something and something being generally so
Look at these examples. Can you spot the grammar pattern?
It gets cold here in December.
It's got late now.
He is an engineer now.
Pay attention to the highlighted parts. What do they have in common?
| है / था | is, was | वह डॉक्टर है। |
| होता है | generally is, tends to be | दिल्ली में गर्मी होती है। |
| हो जाना | becomes, turns into | वह डॉक्टर हो गया। |
The middle one is the one learners miss. है states a fact about now; होता है states a general truth or a habit, and it is what you use for climate, customs and rules.
Apply this grammar in A2 course exercises
Practice ExercisesUsing hai for a general truth where hota hai is required.
hai used for a general truth
If Russian would say byvaet, use hota hai.
hona used where ho jana is meant
A change of state takes ho jana: der ho gai.
It gets cold here in December.
hota hai for a regular truth; Russian byvaet matches it exactly.
It's got late now.
ho jana marks the change of state.
He is an engineer now.
Plain hai for a fact about the present.
Practice in course
Apply this grammar in A2 course exercises
Kamta Prasad Guru's grammar, the standard prescriptive reference for Hindi morphology and syntax.
Yamuna Kachru's reference grammar; the descriptive account relied on for aspect, valency and clause structure.