In a canonical transitive perfective, Hindi marks the agent with ने and prevents that agent from controlling ordinary gender-number agreement. The predicate then looks for an eligible unmarked object. If it finds one, it agrees with that object; if the object has को or no recoverable controller is available, default masculine singular appears.
This is the aspect-conditioned alignment behind the forms introduced on transitive perfective with ने. It is a decision path, not a list of endings to guess from meaning.
The agreement decision path
| Step | Question | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Is the clause a canonical transitive perfective? | mark the agent with ने |
| 2 | Is there an eligible unmarked direct object? | agree with its gender and number |
| 3 | Is the object marked with को? | it cannot control agreement |
| 4 | Is no object controller accessible? | use default masculine singular |
अजय ने नया फ़ोन खरीदा।
ajay ne nayā fon kharīdā.
Ajay bought a new phone.
अजय ने नई घड़ी खरीदी।
ajay ne naī ghaṛī kharīdī.
Ajay bought a new watch.
अजय ने नए जूते खरीदे।
ajay ne nae jūte kharīde.
Ajay bought new shoes.
अजय ने नई किताबें खरीदीं।
ajay ne naī kitābeṃ kharīdī̃.
Ajay bought new books.
The agent is identical in all four clauses and never controls the ending. The unmarked object selects masculine singular खरीदा, feminine singular खरीदी, masculine plural खरीदे, or feminine plural खरीदीं.
Why aspect changes the alignment
The same transitive event has subject agreement in imperfective aspect and object agreement in perfective aspect.
रीना चिट्ठी लिख रही थी।
rīnā ciṭṭhī likh rahī thī.
Reena was writing a letter.
रीना ने चिट्ठी लिखी।
rīnā ne ciṭṭhī likhī.
Reena wrote a letter.
Progressive रही थी agrees with unmarked Reena. Perfective viewpoint activates रीना ने, blocking agent agreement; feminine चिट्ठी then selects लिखी. Past time alone does not cause ergativity—the participial aspect does.
को blocks object agreement
A specific animate object commonly takes को. Because postpositionally marked objects are inaccessible to ordinary agreement, the predicate defaults to masculine singular when nothing else can control it.
सीमा ने रीना को बुलाया।
sīmā ne rīnā ko bulāyā.
Seema called Reena.
सीमा ने दोनों लड़कियों को बुलाया।
sīmā ne donoṃ laṛkiyoṃ ko bulāyā.
Seema called both girls.
क्या सीमा ने नए प्रबंधक को देखा?
kyā sīmā ne nae prabandhak ko dekhā?
Did Seema see the new manager?
Feminine singular, feminine plural, and masculine singular objects all yield -आ here. That ending is grammatical default, not agreement with feminine Seema.
If a clause contains a को-marked recipient and an unmarked theme, the theme can still control agreement:
दादी ने बच्चों को नई कहानी सुनाई।
dādī ne baccoṃ ko naī kahānī sunāī.
Grandmother told the children a new story.
Feminine कहानी selects सुनाई; बच्चों को cannot.
Auxiliaries follow the accessible controller
Present-perfect and past-perfect auxiliaries preserve the same agreement decision. They do not restore agreement with the ने-marked agent.
अजय ने नई किताबें खरीद ली हैं।
ajay ne naī kitābeṃ kharīd lī haiṃ.
Ajay has bought the new books.
अजय ने रीना को बुलाया था।
ajay ne rīnā ko bulāyā thā.
Ajay had called Reena.
Plural किताबें licenses ली हैं. With रीना को, default masculine singular appears across बुलाया था.
Coordinated objects
When coordinated objects form one eligible unmarked plural phrase, edited Standard Hindi generally resolves all-feminine coordination as feminine plural and masculine or mixed coordination as masculine plural. Everyday speech shows some variation, especially with inanimate nouns and closest-conjunct agreement, so keep claims register-sensitive.
माँ ने रोटियाँ और पूरियाँ बनाईं।
mā̃ ne roṭiyā̃ aur pūriyā̃ banāīṃ.
Mother made flatbreads and fried breads.
रसोइए ने पराठे और समोसे बनाए।
rasoie ne parāṭhe aur samose banāe.
The cook made parathas and samosas.
समिति ने नीतियाँ और शर्तें बदलीं।
samiti ne nītiyā̃ aur śarteṃ badlī̃.
The committee changed the policies and conditions. (formal plural resolution)
समिति ने नियम और शर्तें बदले।
samiti ne niyam aur śarteṃ badle.
The committee changed the rules and conditions. (formal plural resolution)
All-feminine नीतियाँ और शर्तें licenses feminine plural बदलीं. Once masculine नियम joins the coordination, careful masculine plural resolution gives बदले. Natural colloquial usage shows some competing patterns, especially with inanimate nouns, but these are the recommended edited forms.
Omitted objects: recoverable versus generic
An unpronounced object can retain agreement when its identity and features are recoverable from the question or discourse. With no recoverable controller, default masculine singular is normal.
तुमने कौन-सी साड़ी खरीदी? मैंने लाल वाली खरीदी।
tumne kaun-sī sāṛī kharīdī? maĩne lāl vālī kharīdī.
Which sari did you buy? I bought the red one. (familiar)
क्या तुमने चिट्ठी भेज दी? हाँ, भेज दी।
kyā tumne ciṭṭhī bhej dī? hā̃, bhej dī.
Did you send the letter? Yes, I sent it. (familiar)
तुमने कुछ खाया? हाँ, मैंने खा लिया।
tumne kuch khāyā? hā̃, maĩne khā liyā.
Did you eat anything? Yes, I did. (familiar)
The feminine letter remains syntactically recoverable in भेज दी. In the generic eating reply, no specific gendered object is selected, so खा लिया is default masculine singular.
A short narrative: aspect reorganizes agreement
मीना बाज़ार में सब्ज़ियाँ चुन रही थी।
mīnā bāzār meṃ sabziyā̃ cun rahī thī.
Meena was choosing vegetables at the market.
उसने टमाटर और आलू खरीदे, लेकिन हरी मिर्च नहीं खरीदी।
usne ṭamāṭar aur ālū kharīde, lekin harī mirc nahīṃ kharīdī.
She bought tomatoes and potatoes but did not buy green chilies.
घर पहुँचकर उसने सब्ज़ियाँ धो लीं।
ghar pahũckar usne sabziyā̃ dho lī̃.
After reaching home, she washed the vegetables.
Progressive background agrees with Meena. The story then switches to ने and object-controlled masculine plural, feminine singular, and feminine plural perfectives.
Common Mistakes
❌ सीमा ने लंबी चिट्ठी लिखा।
Incorrect — feminine unmarked चिट्ठी controls agreement.
✅ सीमा ने लंबी चिट्ठी लिखी।
sīmā ne lambī ciṭṭhī likhī.
Seema wrote a long letter.
❌ अजय ने रीना को बुलाई।
Incorrect — रीना को cannot control agreement.
✅ अजय ने रीना को बुलाया।
ajay ne rīnā ko bulāyā.
Ajay called Reena.
❌ अजय ने किताबें खरीद लिया है।
Incorrect — feminine plural किताबें requires ली हैं.
✅ अजय ने किताबें खरीद ली हैं।
ajay ne kitābeṃ kharīd lī haiṃ.
Ajay has bought the books.
❌ रीना ने चिट्ठी लिख रही थी।
Incorrect — the progressive is imperfective and takes an unmarked subject.
✅ रीना चिट्ठी लिख रही थी।
rīnā ciṭṭhī likh rahī thī.
Reena was writing a letter.
❌ मैंने खाना खा ली।
Incorrect — masculine खाना requires लिया.
✅ मैंने खाना खा लिया।
maĩne khānā khā liyā.
I ate / have eaten the food. (male or female speaker)
Key Takeaways
Canonical transitive perfective aspect places ने on the agent and redirects agreement to an eligible unmarked object. को blocks that object; no accessible controller yields default masculine singular. Coordinated objects resolve agreement as a plural phrase in careful Standard Hindi, while a discourse-recoverable omitted object can preserve its features. Imperfective aspect uses a different alignment frame, so every aspect switch requires a fresh agreement decision.
Now practice Hindi
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Hindi →Related Topics
- Perfective aspect and bounded eventsB1 — Use Hindi perfective aspect to present an event as a bounded whole while separating viewpoint, completion, tense, and agreement.
- Transitive perfective with नेA2 — Mark the actor with ने in canonical transitive perfectives and choose verb agreement from the eligible object rather than the semantic doer.
- Perfective object agreementA2 — Make a transitive perfective agree with an eligible unmarked direct object after ने, including gender-number and auxiliary-bearing forms.
- Agreement with ergative subjectsA2 — Track Hindi agreement when a perfective transitive subject bears ने, distinguishing syntactic subjecthood from agreement control.
- Agreement with को-marked objectsA2 — Understand why a Hindi object marked with को cannot control agreement and how the remaining clause structure selects subject agreement or default form.
- Default masculine singular agreementA2 — Recognize masculine singular as Hindi’s fallback agreement when case marking or clause type leaves the predicate without an eligible controller.