Saying when without building a clause
I can say 'the moment something happened' without a full clause
Look at these examples. Can you spot the grammar pattern?
मुझे देखते ही वह हँस पड़ी।
The moment she saw me she laughed.
पढ़ते-पढ़ते आँखें थक गईं।
My eyes got tired from reading.
वह गिरते-गिरते बचा।
He very nearly fell.
Pay attention to the highlighted parts. What do they have in common?
| -ते ही | the moment that | पहुँचते ही - the moment he arrived |
| -ते-ते | while, and almost | चलते-चलते - while walking |
| -ते समय / -ते वक़्त | at the time of | खाते समय - while eating |
With a perfective it means 'almost': गिरते-गिरते बचा - he nearly fell. This is idiomatic and worth learning as a unit.
Like the -कर participle, these require the same subject in both halves.
Apply this grammar in B1 course exercises
Practice ExercisesDifferent subjects across the two halves, and reading -te-te only as 'while'.
Different subjects across the two halves
Both halves share a subject, as with the Russian gerund.
-te-te read only as 'while'
With a completion verb it means 'almost': girte-girte bacha.
मुझे देखते ही वह हँस पड़ी।
The moment she saw me she laughed.
-te hi for the instant something happened.
पढ़ते-पढ़ते आँखें थक गईं।
My eyes got tired from reading.
-te-te for a drawn-out action.
वह गिरते-गिरते बचा।
He very nearly fell.
The idiomatic 'almost' sense.
The check for this topic is still being prepared
Ready-made hints are free
Practice in course
Apply this grammar in B1 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.