Hindi can use the citation infinitive in -ना as a complete instruction: उपयोग से पहले हिलाना “shake before use,” कल समय पर आना “come on time tomorrow.” The form names the required action without a finite person ending. On packaging, checklists, headings, and terse recipes it sounds impersonal; in conversation it can serve as a familiar reminder about a later action.
English sometimes uses a bare verb (shake well) and sometimes a to-infinitive (to be completed). Neither maps word for word. Hindi keeps -ना, while the setting supplies the understood addressee, directive force, and future time.
The wider choice among imperatives, infinitives, and procedural descriptions is mapped on the instruction and recipe aspect page.
The form is the citation infinitive
Instructional infinitives use verb stem + -ना, including the full final element of a compound predicate:
| Lexical form | Instructional use | Typical setting |
|---|---|---|
| हिलाना | इस्तेमाल से पहले अच्छी तरह हिलाना | product label |
| भरना | सभी खाने साफ़ अक्षरों में भरना | form/checklist |
| रखना | ठंडी और सूखी जगह पर रखना | storage label |
| ले आना | कल पहचान-पत्र ले आना | familiar reminder |
दवा लेने से पहले बोतल अच्छी तरह हिलाना।
davā lene se pahle botal acchī tarah hilānā.
Shake the bottle well before taking the medicine. (label style)
फ़ॉर्म नीली स्याही से भरना।
form nīlī syāhī se bharnā.
Fill in the form in blue ink. (checklist style)
The endings do not agree with feminine बोतल or masculine फ़ॉर्म. Instructional हिलाना/भरना is an invariant non-finite directive, not a perfective or an agreeing adjective.
Infinitive versus finite imperative
A finite imperative directly addresses someone and overtly marks the social level. The infinitive suppresses that person marking and sounds more like a standing instruction, note, or reminder.
कृपया प्रवेश-द्वार पर पहचान-पत्र दिखाइए।
kripyā praveś-dvār par pahcān-patra dikhāie.
Please show your identification at the entrance. (respectful direct request)
प्रवेश-द्वार पर पहचान-पत्र दिखाना।
praveś-dvār par pahcān-patra dikhānā.
Show identification at the entrance. (posted instruction)
The proposition is similar, but the interaction is different. दिखाइए selects a respectful addressee; दिखाना presents a rule for whoever enters. A bare infinitive spoken abruptly to an unfamiliar individual may sound peremptory, so public-facing speech normally favors कृपया ... कीजिए/दिखाइए.
In familiar conversation, the infinitive is common for a future-oriented reminder:
कल आते समय मेरी किताब साथ ले आना।
kal āte samay merī kitāb sāth le ānā.
Bring my book with you when you come tomorrow. (familiar reminder)
रास्ते से माँ को फ़ोन करना मत भूलना।
rāste se mā̃ ko fon karnā mat bhūlnā.
Don't forget to call Mom on the way. (familiar)
The time words make the delayed action explicit. This use can feel warmer or more reminder-like than a sharp bare-stem command, but tone and relationship still matter.
Instructional time comes from the procedure
The infinitive carries no tense. Sequence words, postpositional phrases, and real-world order locate each action.
सबसे पहले मुख्य स्विच बंद करना।
sabse pahle mukhya svic band karnā.
First, turn off the main switch. (instruction sheet)
ढक्कन खोलने के बाद फ़िल्टर निकालना।
ḍhakkan kholne ke bād filṭar nikālnā.
After opening the lid, remove the filter. (instruction sheet)
अंत में मशीन को सूखे कपड़े से पोंछना।
ant meṃ maśīn ko sūkhe kapṛe se poñchnā.
Finally, wipe the machine with a dry cloth. (instruction sheet)
खोलने is oblique because के बाद governs it; final निकालना is the directive. Neither form says “past” or “future” by itself. The ordered document supplies the timeline.
This is one way Hindi packages a clause chain without forcing every action into a finite tense. English may coordinate imperatives; Hindi can subordinate prerequisites with postpositions or converbs and leave only the final directive as a bare infinitive.
Same understood subject across a chain
In a normal checklist, the same understood user performs each unexpressed action. -कर/-करके can compress earlier actions under that shared controller.
आवेदन भरकर आवश्यक दस्तावेज़ लगाना।
āvedan bharkar āvaśyak dastāvez lagānā.
Fill in the application and attach the required documents. (checklist style)
सभी पन्नों पर हस्ताक्षर करके फ़ाइल काउंटर पर जमा करना।
sabhī pannoṃ par hastākṣar karke fāil kāuṇṭar par jamā karnā.
Sign every page and submit the file at the counter. (checklist style)
The understood applicant fills and attaches, or signs and submits. भरकर/करके are invariant converbs; they do not take -ना and do not introduce a second finite subject. The final infinitive supplies the document's directive style.
Compare a version expanded into finite clauses:
पहले आवेदन भरिए। फिर आवश्यक दस्तावेज़ लगाइए और फ़ाइल काउंटर पर जमा कीजिए।
pahle āvedan bharie. phir āvaśyak dastāvez lagāie aur fāil kāuṇṭar par jamā kījie.
First fill in the application. Then attach the required documents and submit the file at the counter. (respectful)
The expanded version addresses the reader directly and makes each step independently finite. The compressed version is denser and typical of forms, notices, and procedural notes.
A different subject must be made recoverable
An infinitival instruction has an understood addressee, but a subordinate event may have its own overt subject. Hindi makes that boundary visible with a finite clause or a nominalized infinitive phrase.
बच्चे सो जाएँ तो बरामदे की बत्ती बंद करना।
bacce so jāẽ to barāmde kī battī band karnā.
When the children have gone to sleep, turn off the veranda light. (familiar instruction)
दूध उबलने पर गैस धीमी कर देना।
dūdh ubalne par gais dhīmī kar denā.
When the milk boils, turn the gas down. (familiar instruction)
In the first, बच्चे controls finite सो जाएँ; the addressee controls बंद करना. In the second, दूध is the understood subject of nominalized उबलने पर, while the addressee performs कर देना. This is not dangling: each event has a recoverable controller.
An English-style opening such as “while boiling, turn off the gas” is dangerous because it could imply that the addressee is boiling. Hindi normally names दूध or uses a clear passive/procedural clause.
Negative instructions
Terse labels commonly use न + infinitive: धूप में न रखना, मशीन चालू न करना. Familiar reminders often use मत with an infinitive, especially मत भूलना.
दवा बच्चों की पहुँच में न रखना।
davā baccoṃ kī pahũc meṃ na rakhnā.
Do not keep the medicine within children's reach. (label style)
गीले हाथों से प्लग को मत छूना।
gīle hāthoṃ se plag ko mat chūnā.
Don't touch the plug with wet hands. (familiar warning)
For a respectfully addressed person, choose a finite polite negative: कृपया प्लग को मत छूइए. The label's impersonality is not automatically politeness.
Nominal label versus directive label
Some labels merely name a function rather than order an action: आपातकालीन निकास “emergency exit,” पीने का पानी “drinking water,” बैठने की जगह “place to sit.” These use nouns or infinitives inside noun phrases. A standalone दरवाज़ा बंद रखना directs the reader to maintain a state.
यहाँ जूते रखने की जगह है।
yahā̃ jūte rakhne kī jagah hai.
This is the place for keeping shoes.
जूते बाहर रखना।
jūte bāhar rakhnā.
Leave shoes outside. (posted instruction)
The first is a finite identification sentence with oblique रखने की modifying जगह. The second is a directive. English may translate both with an -ing expression, but their Hindi syntax is different.
Common Mistakes
1. Making the directive agree with its object
❌ बोतल अच्छी तरह हिलानी।
Wrong for a neutral label — feminine हिलानी suggests an obligation/plan construction, not the invariant directive infinitive.
✅ खोलने से पहले बोतल अच्छी तरह हिलाना।
kholne se pahle botal acchī tarah hilānā.
Shake the bottle well before opening it. (label style)
2. Using the infinitive as a polite form by itself
❌ सर, यहाँ हस्ताक्षर करना।
Abrupt to an unfamiliar addressee — the infinitive does not encode respect.
✅ सर, कृपया यहाँ हस्ताक्षर कीजिए।
sar, kripyā yahā̃ hastākṣar kījie.
Sir, please sign here.
3. Giving a converb its own infinitive ending
❌ फ़ॉर्म भरनाकर काउंटर पर देना।
Incorrect — the prior same-subject action uses invariant भरकर.
✅ फ़ॉर्म भरकर काउंटर पर देना।
form bharkar kāuṇṭar par denā.
Fill in the form and hand it in at the counter. (instruction note)
4. Leaving a different subject unclear
❌ उबलने पर गैस बंद करना।
Unclear in isolation — the sentence does not identify what boils.
✅ पानी उबलने लगे तो गैस बंद कर देना।
pānī ubalne lage to gais band kar denā.
When the water begins to boil, turn off the gas. (familiar instruction)
Key Takeaways
- Standalone -ना can function as an impersonal directive on labels, checklists, recipes, and notes.
- It is non-finite and invariant; sequence and context supply its future instructional time.
- A finite imperative marks the addressee's social level, while the infinitive does not inherently express politeness.
- -कर/-करके compresses prior actions under the same understood controller; a different subordinate subject must be made explicit or structurally recoverable.
- Do not confuse directive रखना with oblique रखने inside a postpositional or nominal phrase.
Related Topics
- The infinitive as verbal nounA2 — Use the Hindi -ना form to name an action while preserving its objects, modifiers, and understood or expressed subject.
- Oblique infinitive -neA2 — Recognize and form the Hindi oblique infinitive in -ने before postpositions and in purpose, onset, and related non-finite constructions.
- Infinitive with postpositionsA2 — Combine the oblique Hindi infinitive with postpositions to express purpose, time, cause, means, condition, duration, and alternatives.
- Aspect choice in instructions and recipesC1 — Choose event boundaries, ongoing views, and procedural habits when giving Hindi directions, recipes, and step-by-step demonstrations.
- Imperative overview by honorific levelB1 — Choose Hindi command forms for intimate तू, familiar तुम, and respectful or plural आप while keeping polarity and predicate layers aligned.
- Negative imperatives with मतB1 — Form direct Hindi prohibitions with मत while preserving the command form appropriate to तू, तुम, or आप.