Hindi scheduling is built from recurring noun–predicate combinations: समय होना “have time,” मिलने का समय लेना “make/get an appointment,” समय तय करना “set a time,” बैठक होना “a meeting take place,” बैठक रखना “schedule a meeting,” and समय लगना “take time.” Bare समय लेना can simply mean “take time”; the appointment reading comes from the fuller meeting frame. Their English translations reuse have, take, and make, but the Hindi noun selects a particular predicate and case frame.
For reading clock values such as सवा तीन and distinguishing तीन बजे from तीन घंटे, see clock time and duration. This page focuses on arranging events around those times.
Availability: समय होना and खाली होना
Treat available time as a resource with के पास or describe the person as खाली “free.”
क्या आपके पास आज दस मिनट हैं?
kyā āpke pās āj das minaṭ haiṃ?
Do you have ten minutes today? (respectful)
मैं सोमवार की दोपहर खाली हूँ।
maĩ somvār kī dopahar khālī hū̃.
I'm free on Monday afternoon.
Plural दस मिनट controls हैं in the first sentence. In the second, खाली describes the speaker and can become खाली हूँ for any gender because खाली is indeclinable. A proposed time can be evaluated with ठीक रहना/होना:
क्या मंगलवार को तीन बजे आपके लिए ठीक रहेगा?
kyā maṅgalvār ko tīn baje āpke lie ṭhīk rahegā?
Would Tuesday at three work for you? (respectful)
The masculine singular रहेगा treats the proposed time or arrangement as an understood masculine unit. In everyday speech, तीन बजे ठीक है? is a natural shorter question.
Setting and having an appointment
समय तय करना means “fix/set a time.” The parties can take के साथ, and the purpose can use an infinitival phrase.
हमने अगली बैठक का समय तय कर लिया है।
hamne aglī baiṭhak kā samay tay kar liyā hai.
We have fixed the time for the next meeting.
मैंने डॉक्टर से मिलने का समय लिया है।
maĩne ḍokṭar se milne kā samay liyā hai.
I have made an appointment to see the doctor.
The second sentence literally says “I have taken a time for meeting the doctor.” डॉक्टर से मिलना keeps the normal से frame of मिलना, while the nominalized मिलने का समय packages the purpose. In urban professional speech, English loans such as अपॉइंटमेंट लेना/बुक करना are also frequent (informal/neutral professional), but the Hindi case frame around the participants remains.
मेरी सीमा जी के साथ शुक्रवार को मुलाक़ात तय है।
merī sīmā jī ke sāth śukravār ko mulāqāt tay hai.
I have a meeting scheduled with Ms. Seema on Friday.
Feminine मुलाक़ात controls मेरी. तय is indeclinable. This sentence foregrounds the scheduled event; मैं शुक्रवार को सीमा जी से मिलूँगा/मिलूँगी foregrounds the person's planned action.
Events happen, are held, or are scheduled
बैठक होना presents the meeting as an event. बैठक करना presents participants conducting or holding it. बैठक रखना means schedule/put a meeting on the calendar.
कल सुबह विभाग की बैठक होगी।
kal subah vibhāg kī baiṭhak hogī.
The department meeting will take place tomorrow morning.
हम कल सुबह एक छोटी बैठक करेंगे।
ham kal subah ek choṭī baiṭhak kareṅge.
We'll hold a short meeting tomorrow morning.
क्या हम समीक्षा बैठक गुरुवार को रख सकते हैं?
kyā ham samīkṣā baiṭhak guruvār ko rakh sakte haiṃ?
Can we schedule the review meeting for Thursday?
These predicates are not interchangeable decoration. होना has no organizer as its grammatical subject; करना selects an agent; रखना highlights calendar placement.
Clock point, range, and allocated duration
Use को with days/dates, बजे with a clock point, से ... तक for a range, and के लिए for an allocated span.
बैठक बुधवार को सुबह दस बजे से साढ़े ग्यारह बजे तक होगी।
baiṭhak budhvār ko subah das baje se sāṛhe gyārah baje tak hogī.
The meeting will be on Wednesday from ten to eleven thirty in the morning.
मैंने कमरा दो घंटे के लिए बुक किया है।
maĩne kamrā do ghaṇṭe ke lie buk kiyā hai.
I've booked the room for two hours.
शुक्रवार तक भेजिए means “send it by Friday,” with Friday as the endpoint. शुक्रवार को भेजिए means “send it on Friday.” शुक्रवार से भेजिए means “start sending it from Friday,” a different schedule.
कृपया रिपोर्ट शुक्रवार तक भेज दें।
kripyā riporṭ śukravār tak bhej deṃ.
Please send the report by Friday.
On time, late, early, and approximate
Learn समय पर “on time,” देर से “late,” जल्दी “early,” and X बजे के आसपास/क़रीब “around X o'clock.”
ट्रेन समय पर चली, लेकिन बस बीस मिनट देर से आई।
ṭren samay par calī, lekin bas bīs minaṭ der se āī.
The train left on time, but the bus arrived twenty minutes late.
मैं चार बजे के आसपास पहुँचूँगी।
maĩ cār baje ke āspās pahũcū̃gī.
I'll arrive around four. (female speaker)
English at time should not produce bare समय में. समय पर marks punctual coincidence with the expected point. समय में belongs to other meanings, such as completing something within an explicitly available span: काम तय समय में पूरा हुआ “the work was completed within the allotted time.” Contrast काम समय पर पूरा हुआ, which means it was completed on time or by the deadline.
Time needed: X को Y करने में Z समय लगना
The productive experiencer frame is person को + action infinitive में + duration + लगना.
मुझे स्टेशन पहुँचने में आधा घंटा लगता है।
mujhe sṭeśan pahũcne meṃ ādhā ghaṇṭā lagtā hai.
It takes me half an hour to reach the station.
The duration controls agreement: masculine singular आधा घंटा लगता है, but plural दो घंटे लगते हैं. The experiencer मुझे/हमें does not control the verb.
हमें यह काम पूरा करने में दो दिन लगेंगे।
hameṃ yah kām pūrā karne meṃ do din lageṅge.
It will take us two days to complete this work.
Do not translate English it with यह unless यह refers to an actual thing. The Hindi construction needs no dummy subject.
Changing a plan
बैठक टालना means postpone; समय बदलना is neutral “change the time”; बैठक पहले कर लेना explicitly moves it earlier. आगे बढ़ाना can mean move later in scheduling contexts, but it also means advance/promote, so include the new time when ambiguity matters.
क्या हम बैठक एक दिन टाल सकते हैं?
kyā ham baiṭhak ek din ṭāl sakte haiṃ?
Can we postpone the meeting by one day?
बैठक अब शुक्रवार के बजाय गुरुवार को होगी।
baiṭhak ab śukravār ke bajāy guruvār ko hogī.
The meeting will now be on Thursday instead of Friday.
समय बदल गया है—अब हमें साढ़े पाँच बजे मिलना है।
samay badal gayā hai—ab hameṃ sāṛhe pā̃c baje milnā hai.
The time has changed—we now have to meet at five thirty.
A short dialogue
अ: क्या आप मंगलवार को खाली हैं? — ब: सुबह नहीं, लेकिन तीन बजे के बाद समय है। — अ: तो साढ़े तीन बजे मिलते हैं। — ब: ठीक है, मैं समय पर पहुँच जाऊँगा।
a: kyā āp maṅgalvār ko khālī haiṃ? — ba: subah nahīṃ, lekin tīn baje ke bād samay hai. — a: to sāṛhe tīn baje milte haiṃ. — ba: ṭhīk hai, maĩ samay par pahũc jāū̃gā.
A: Are you free on Tuesday? — B: Not in the morning, but I have time after three. — A: Then let's meet at three thirty. — B: Fine, I'll arrive on time. (male B)
Common Mistakes
❌ बैठक तीन घंटे बजे शुरू होगी।
Incorrect: घंटे and बजे cannot be combined; घंटे measures duration, while बजे marks a clock point.
✅ बैठक तीन बजे शुरू होगी।
baiṭhak tīn baje śurū hogī.
The meeting will start at three.
❌ मैंने डॉक्टर को मिलने का समय लिया।
Wrong case inside the meeting expression: मिलना takes the person with से.
✅ मैंने डॉक्टर से मिलने का समय लिया।
maĩne ḍokṭar se milne kā samay liyā.
I made an appointment to see the doctor.
❌ रिपोर्ट शुक्रवार को भेज दें।
Wrong if the intended meaning is ‘by Friday’; को means specifically on Friday.
✅ रिपोर्ट शुक्रवार तक भेज दें।
riporṭ śukravār tak bhej deṃ.
Send the report by Friday.
❌ यह मुझे पहुँचने के लिए एक घंटा लेता है।
A word-for-word English calque; Hindi uses को ... में ... लगना without dummy ‘it.’
✅ मुझे पहुँचने में एक घंटा लगता है।
mujhe pahũcne meṃ ek ghaṇṭā lagtā hai.
It takes me an hour to get there.
Key Takeaways
- Learn scheduling nouns with predicates: समय तय करना, बैठक होना/करना/रखना, समय लगना.
- को, तक, से ... तक, and के लिए create different calendar relations.
- समय पर means on time; देर से means late; के आसपास/क़रीब marks approximation.
- Hindi expresses “it takes me...” as मुझे ... करने में ... लगता है, without a dummy subject.
Now practice Hindi
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Start learning Hindi →Related Topics
- Clock time and durationB1 — Tell clock time, read schedules, and distinguish Hindi expressions for when an event occurs from how long it lasts.
- तक for endpoints and limitsA2 — Use तक for spatial destinations, deadlines, ranges, measurable limits, and the lexicalized expression यहाँ तक कि.
- से पहले precedenceB1 — Use से पहले for temporal and ordered precedence, including oblique nouns, fused pronouns, and event complements in -ने से पहले.
- के बाद sequenceB1 — Use के बाद to place an event, time, person, or item after an oblique reference point, including event clauses built with oblique infinitives.
- लगना lagnā: to seem feel attach and beginA2 — Reference लगना across seeming, bodily sensation, attachment, time and cost, and infinitive-plus-लगना onset frames.
- Prospective वाला constructionsB1 — Use oblique infinitive plus agreeing वाला and a copula to place an event after a present or past reference point.