Saying 'the man who reads' without a relative clause
I can replace a jo clause with a participial phrase
Look at these examples. Can you spot the grammar pattern?
Where is the train for Delhi?
Read the letter lying on the table.
people who speak Hindi
Pay attention to the highlighted parts. What do they have in common?
वाला on an oblique infinitive: पढ़ने वाला आदमी - the man who reads. दिल्ली जाने वाली ट्रेन - the train that goes to Delhi.
A bare participle: मेज़ पर रखी किताब - the book placed on the table. सड़क पर खेलते बच्चे - children playing in the street.
The जो clause is neutral and always available. The participial version is tighter and preferred in writing, in headlines and in any phrase that has to fit into a larger sentence.
Unlike a जो clause, which usually opens the sentence, the participial phrase sits immediately in front of its noun and can grow long: कल शाम को दिल्ली से आने वाली ट्रेन.
Apply this grammar in B2 course exercises
Practice ExercisesPlacing the participial phrase after the noun as a jo clause would go.
Participial phrase placed after its noun
It goes in front, however long it grows.
Direct infinitive before vala
parhne vala, never parhna vala.
Where is the train for Delhi?
vala on an oblique infinitive, before the noun.
Read the letter lying on the table.
A bare participle doing the work of a relative clause.
people who speak Hindi
The compressed form preferred in writing.
Practice in course
Apply this grammar in B2 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.