English should, must, need to, and have to tempt learners to measure only how strong an obligation sounds. Hindi makes a more useful distinction: where the necessity comes from and how the speaker presents it. करना चाहिए evaluates an action as advisable, proper, or normatively right. करना है—the obligation construction with infinitive plus होना—places the action on a settled agenda. करना पड़ना presents circumstances, rules, or consequences as imposing the action.
All three can be translated “have to” in a suitable context, and none has one fixed force level. A doctor's चाहिए can be serious; a friendly करना है can state a personal plan; पड़ना need not imply unwillingness. The full constructions appear on the pages for चाहिए, external necessity with पड़ना, and obligation with होना.
The core contrast
| Choice | How the action is presented | Typical source | Neutral example |
|---|---|---|---|
| करना चाहिए | advisable, proper, desirable, normatively expected | judgment, advice, ethics, best practice | तुम्हें आराम करना चाहिए |
| करना है | settled, assigned, scheduled, intended | agenda, instruction, plan, role | तुम्हें कल आना है |
| करना पड़ना | made necessary by circumstances or consequences | rule, obstacle, condition, unavoidable result | तुम्हें फिर आना पड़ेगा |
तुम्हें रोज़ थोड़ा चलना चाहिए।
tumheṃ roz thoṛā calnā cāhie.
You should walk a little every day. (familiar advice)
तुम्हें कल नौ बजे जाँच के लिए आना है।
tumheṃ kal nau baje jā̃c ke lie ānā hai.
You are to come for the examination at nine tomorrow. (familiar; scheduled)
रिपोर्ट ठीक न हुई तो तुम्हें फिर आना पड़ेगा।
riporṭ ṭhīk na huī to tumheṃ phir ānā paṛegā.
If the report isn't all right, you'll have to come again. (familiar; contingent necessity)
The person and broad action are similar, but the speaker performs three different acts: recommends, states an appointment, and predicts a consequence.
A compact decision tree
- Is the speaker recommending the wise, proper, healthy, or morally appropriate action? Choose चाहिए.
- Is the action already assigned, scheduled, intended, or part of someone's role? Choose infinitive + होना: करना है/था/होगा.
- Does a condition, rule, obstacle, or consequence make the action necessary? Choose infinitive + पड़ना.
- Is this a negative? Distinguish “should not” (नहीं करना चाहिए), “is not to / do not intend to” (नहीं करना है), and “will not have to” (नहीं करना पड़ेगा).
- Could more than one viewpoint fit? Choose the stance you mean. The same external fact can be evaluated as good advice, recorded as an assignment, or presented as unavoidable.
The होना in this comparison is specifically the finite layer in मुझे जाना है. It is not every lexical use of होना “be, happen, become.”
चाहिए: the speaker evaluates a course of action
With an action infinitive, चाहिए presents what ought to happen. Its force depends on authority, context, and vocabulary. Advice from a friend may be gentle; a safety manual's चाहिए can state an important norm (formal). The grammar itself supplies evaluation, not a precise force rating.
आपको क़रार पर हस्ताक्षर करने से पहले उसे ध्यान से पढ़ना चाहिए।
āpko qarār par hastākṣar karne se pahle use dhyān se paṛhnā cāhie.
You should read the contract carefully before signing it. (respectful)
सरकार को ये आँकड़े सार्वजनिक करने चाहिए।
sarkār ko ye ā̃kaṛe sārvajanik karne cāhie.
The government should make these figures public. (normative claim)
Present चाहिए is invariant. The infinitive may agree with an eligible unmarked object: दवा लेनी चाहिए, फ़ॉर्म भरने चाहिए. The को-marked person does not control that agreement.
आपको यह दवा रात में लेनी चाहिए।
āpko yah davā rāt meṃ lenī cāhie.
You should take this medicine at night. (respectful)
Past चाहिए था/थी/थे/थीं often gives “should have,” typically evaluating a missed opportunity after the fact: मुझे पहले बताना चाहिए था “I should have said so earlier.”
होना: the action is on the agenda
In को-marked actor + infinitive + होना, the speaker presents an action as assigned, scheduled, intended, or already settled. It often answers “What is supposed to happen?” rather than “What would be wise?”
हमें सोमवार तक आवेदन जमा करना है।
hameṃ somvār tak āvedan jamā karnā hai.
We have to submit the application by Monday.
सीमा को आज प्रस्तुति देनी है।
sīmā ko āj prastuti denī hai.
Seema is to give the presentation today.
The first can report an institutional deadline or a shared plan. The second can report an assignment or schedule. In both, the action is treated as established. Feminine प्रस्तुति controls देनी है, not dative सीमा को.
This construction can also express the actor's own intention:
मुझे इस साल हिंदी सीखनी है।
mujhe is sāl hindī sīkhnī hai.
I intend/want to learn Hindi this year.
That sentence need not involve an outside order. It puts learning Hindi on the speaker's agenda. This is why English “must” is not a safe diagnostic.
In direct instructions, आपको यह करना है can sound firm because the speaker treats the assignment as settled. It may therefore be less negotiable than tactful आपको यह करना चाहिए, even though चाहिए is often translated “should.”
पड़ना: necessity arises from conditions
Infinitive plus पड़ना profiles a requirement as something the situation imposes. The source may be a law, timetable, physical limitation, technical condition, or consequence of an earlier choice.
पहचान-पत्र न हो तो आपको नया फ़ॉर्म भरना पड़ेगा।
pahcān-patr na ho to āpko nayā form bharnā paṛegā.
If you do not have identification, you will have to fill in a new form. (respectful)
उड़ान रद्द होने के बाद हमें रात भर हवाई अड्डे पर रुकना पड़ा।
uṛān radd hone ke bād hameṃ rāt bhar havāī aḍḍe par ruknā paṛā.
After the flight was canceled, we had to stay at the airport all night.
The speakers may have accepted the necessity calmly. पड़ना does not encode resentment; it encodes an external or consequential source. Habitual पड़ता है describes recurring requirements, perfective पड़ा a bounded necessity that arose, and future पड़ेगा an anticipated one.
Agreement again belongs to the infinitive phrase:
कंपनी को नई मशीनें खरीदनी पड़ेंगी।
kampanī ko naī maśīneṃ kharīdnī paṛeṅgī.
The company will have to buy new machines.
Feminine plural मशीनें gives खरीदनी पड़ेंगी; feminine कंपनी को does not.
Minimal triplets: hold the action constant
तुम्हें कल बैठक में आना चाहिए।
tumheṃ kal baiṭhak meṃ ānā cāhie.
You should come to the meeting tomorrow. (speaker's recommendation)
तुम्हें कल बैठक में आना है।
tumheṃ kal baiṭhak meṃ ānā hai.
You are to come to the meeting tomorrow. (settled assignment)
फ़ैसला तुम्हारे विभाग का है, इसलिए तुम्हें कल बैठक में आना पड़ेगा।
faislā tumhāre vibhāg kā hai, islie tumheṃ kal baiṭhak meṃ ānā paṛegā.
The decision concerns your department, so you'll have to come to the meeting tomorrow. (circumstantial necessity)
All three can be factually compatible. A manager may believe attendance is wise, put it on the schedule, and explain why it is unavoidable. The choice tells the listener which relation the speaker foregrounds.
Future करना होगा and करना पड़ेगा overlap substantially. Both can predict necessity. करना होगा often sounds like a firm conclusion, requirement, or future item on the agenda; करना पड़ेगा more vividly presents the necessity as arising from circumstances. This is a tendency, not a categorical division.
समय कम है; हमें अभी निकलना होगा।
samay kam hai; hameṃ abhī nikalnā hogā.
Time is short; we must leave now. (firm conclusion)
बस निकल गई तो हमें टैक्सी लेनी पड़ेगी।
bas nikal gaī to hameṃ ṭaiksī lenī paṛegī.
If the bus leaves, we'll have to take a taxi. (consequence)
Negation changes the modal relation
The three negatives are not interchangeable:
आपको वहाँ अकेले नहीं जाना चाहिए।
āpko vahā̃ akele nahīṃ jānā cāhie.
You should not go there alone. (advice/warning)
आपको आज वहाँ नहीं जाना है।
āpko āj vahā̃ nahīṃ jānā hai.
You are not to go there today. (instruction; respectful)
काम ऑनलाइन हो जाएगा, इसलिए आपको वहाँ नहीं जाना पड़ेगा।
kām onlāin ho jāegā, islie āpko vahā̃ nahīṃ jānā paṛegā.
The work will be done online, so you won't have to go there. (no necessity)
English learners often confuse “must not” with “do not have to.” Hindi keeps them apart: negative पड़ना removes an obligation; it does not prohibit the action. Negative करना है can mean “is not to be done” in an instruction or “do not intend to do” in a personal-plan context, so add मनाही है “it is prohibited” or ज़रूरत नहीं है “there is no need” when ambiguity would be risky.
A dialogue where the wrong modal changes tone
प्रबंधक: आपको कल दस बजे आना है। कर्मचारी: क्या शनिवार को भी आना पड़ेगा? प्रबंधक: नहीं, शनिवार को आने की ज़रूरत नहीं है।
prabandhak: āpko kal das baje ānā hai. karmacārī: kyā śanivār ko bhī ānā paṛegā? prabandhak: nahīṃ, śanivār ko āne kī zarūrat nahīṃ hai.
Manager: You are to come at ten tomorrow. Employee: Will I have to come on Saturday too? Manager: No, there is no need to come on Saturday. (respectful workplace exchange)
The manager uses आना है to state a scheduled assignment. आना चाहिए would sound more like advice and could leave attendance uncertain. The employee uses आना पड़ेगा? to ask whether the rule or circumstances impose an additional visit. A manager's blunt आपको शनिवार को भी आना पड़ेगा can sound less negotiable because it presents the demand as unavoidable; choosing it has an interpersonal effect.
Common Mistakes
Treating चाहिए as a conjugated verb
❌ हमें जल्दी निकलना चाहिए हैं।
Incorrect — present चाहिए is invariant and takes no present copula.
✅ हमें जल्दी निकलना चाहिए।
hameṃ jaldī nikalnā cāhie.
We should leave early.
Making the modal agree with the dative actor
❌ रीना को जल्दी जाना पड़ती है।
Incorrect — default masculine singular जाना controls पड़ता है, not feminine रीना को.
✅ रीना को जल्दी जाना पड़ता है।
rīnā ko jaldī jānā paṛtā hai.
Reena has to leave early.
Leaving an assigned actor nominative
❌ आपकी ड्यूटी तय है; आप कल छह बजे आना है।
Incorrect — the actor in the obligation construction with होना takes को.
✅ आपकी ड्यूटी तय है; आपको कल छह बजे आना है।
āpkī ḍyūṭī tay hai; āpko kal chah baje ānā hai.
Your shift is set; you are to come at six tomorrow. (respectful)
Confusing “should not” with “will not have to”
❌ छुट्टी है, इसलिए आपको जल्दी नहीं उठना चाहिए।
Wrong for the intended lack of necessity — this advises against getting up early.
✅ छुट्टी है, इसलिए आपको जल्दी नहीं उठना पड़ेगा।
chuṭṭī hai, islie āpko jaldī nahīṃ uṭhnā paṛegā.
It is a holiday, so you won't have to get up early.
Diagnostic checklist
- Is the action being judged wise, proper, healthy, or normatively desirable? Use चाहिए.
- Is it already assigned, scheduled, intended, or settled? Use infinitive + होना.
- Does a rule, obstacle, condition, or consequence impose it? Use infinitive + पड़ना.
- In a negative, do you mean inadvisable, not on the agenda, or unnecessary? Choose नहीं ... चाहिए, नहीं ... है, or नहीं ... पड़ेगा accordingly.
- Does the infinitive agree with an unmarked object while the actor takes को? Preserve that agreement in all three frames.
- Could both होना and पड़ना fit? Use होना to foreground the requirement as settled; use पड़ना to foreground the conditions that make it necessary.
The decisive issue is speaker stance toward the source of obligation—not a one-word English equivalent and not a simple scale of politeness.
Key Takeaways
- Use चाहिए to evaluate an action as advisable, proper, or normatively desirable.
- Use infinitive + होना to put an action on a settled schedule, plan, or assignment.
- Use infinitive + पड़ना when a rule, obstacle, condition, or consequence imposes the action.
- Keep the three negatives distinct: “should not,” “is not to,” and “will not have to.”
Related Topics
- चाहिए necessity and advisabilityA2 — Use invariant चाहिए for needs, advice, and normative necessity, with dative experiencers and agreement on infinitives or past auxiliaries.
- पड़ना external necessityB1 — Use infinitive plus पड़ना when circumstances impose an action, with dative obligors and agreement controlled by the infinitive phrase.
- होना obligation constructionsB1 — Use an agreeing infinitive plus होना for assigned, scheduled, intended, or contextually required actions.
- Dative experiencer subjectsB1 — Analyze Hindi experiencer clauses with को-marked participants, local agreement, lexical case frames, and clear scope across clause boundaries.
- Giving advice without sounding commandingB1 — Offer Hindi advice with चाहिए, क्यों न, चाहें तो, conditionals, and perspective markers while matching authority, relationship, and urgency.