Being able to, against managing to in the event
I can distinguish being able to do something from managing to do it
Look at these examples. Can you spot the grammar pattern?
Sorry, I won't be able to make it.
May I come in?
I didn't manage to arrive on time.
Pay attention to the highlighted parts. What do they have in common?
| सकना | ability or permission | मैं आ सकता हूँ। - I can come. |
| पाना | managing it in the event | मैं आ नहीं पाया। - I didn't manage to come. |
Both take a bare stem. पाना is overwhelmingly used in the negative, and it excuses rather than refuses: नहीं आ सका says you were unable; नहीं आ पाया says it did not work out.
मैं नहीं आ पाऊँगा is the polite way to decline an invitation. मैं नहीं आ सकता is blunter and sounds like a refusal of permission or a statement about capability.
As a full verb पाना means to get or to find: मुझे नौकरी मिली is 'I got a job' with मिलना, but पत्र पाना is to receive a letter.
Apply this grammar in B1 course exercises
Practice ExercisesUsing sakna to decline an invitation, which sounds blunt.
sakna used to decline an invitation
nahin aa paunga is the polite form; use it where Russian says ne poluchitsya.
Infinitive kept before pana
Bare stem, as with sakna: aa paya, never aana paya.
Sorry, I won't be able to make it.
The polite decline; sakna here would sound blunt.
May I come in?
sakna for permission.
I didn't manage to arrive on time.
pana reports how it turned out, not what you were capable of.
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.
R. S. McGregor's outline, the standard concise academic description of Hindi morphology.