jab tak, jaise hi and the participial time phrases
I can say when, as soon as, until and after something happened
Look at these examples. Can you spot the grammar pattern?
Stay here until the rain stops.
As soon as the train came, everyone got on.
Take the medicine before sleeping.
Pay attention to the highlighted parts. What do they have in common?
| जब ... तब | when ... then |
| जब तक ... तब तक | as long as / until |
| जैसे ही ... वैसे ही | as soon as |
'Until' takes a negative in Hindi: जब तक वह न आए - until he comes, literally 'as long as he does not come'.
An oblique infinitive with के बाद or से पहले replaces a whole clause: खाने के बाद - after eating; जाने से पहले - before going.
Apply this grammar in A2 course exercises
Practice ExercisesDropping the na after jab tak, and forgetting the correlative.
jab tak without na
Hindi takes the same redundant negative as the Russian poka ne.
Missing tab tak in the main clause
Answer jab tak with tab tak.
Stay here until the rain stops.
The na is required, exactly as in poka ne.
As soon as the train came, everyone got on.
jaise hi opens the clause and the main clause follows.
Take the medicine before sleeping.
An oblique infinitive standing in for a whole clause.
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.