A Hindi infinitive does not mark person, so its doer must come from syntax and context. In मैं जाना चाहता हूँ, मैं controls both wanting and going. In उसने मुझे जाने दिया, the matrix subject performs the allowing, but मुझे is the person who may go. In रीना का आना तय है, Reena is explicitly the subject of the verbal noun.
Agreement is a separate question. The infinitive usually appears in default masculine singular -ना, but in necessity and advisability constructions it can agree with an eligible unmarked object: मुझे किताब पढ़नी है, मुझे पत्र लिखने हैं. Learning which participant controls which form prevents both English transfer and overgeneralized agreement.
Three ways an infinitive gets a subject
| Subject relation | Pattern | Example |
|---|---|---|
| same-subject control | subject + infinitive + control verb | मैं जाना चाहता हूँ |
| different controller | matrix subject + participant + governed infinitive | उसने मुझे जाने दिया |
| explicit verbal-noun subject | subject + का/की/के + infinitive | रीना का आना |
These are not interchangeable word orders. Each larger predicate licenses its own participant pattern.
Same-subject control
With verbs such as चाहना “want,” सीखना “learn,” and जानना “know how,” the matrix subject is normally understood as the infinitive's subject too.
कविता अगले महीने गाड़ी चलाना सीखना चाहती है।
kavitā agle mahīne gāṛī calānā sīkhnā cāhtī hai.
Kavita wants to learn to drive next month.
Kavita is the wanter, learner, and eventual driver. Infinitives चलाना and सीखना do not express feminine agreement; finite चाहती है agrees with कविता.
मैं थोड़ी हिंदी पढ़ना जानता हूँ।
maĩ thoṛī hindī paṛhnā jāntā hū̃.
I know how to read a little Hindi. (male speaker)
English inserts how to; Hindi can place पढ़ना directly before जानना. The controller is still the matrix subject.
Different-subject control
Permission, causation, and reported instructions can introduce a participant who performs the infinitive but is not the main subject.
प्रबंधक ने कर्मचारियों को आज जल्दी जाने दिया।
prabandhak ne karmacāriyoṃ ko āj jaldī jāne diyā.
The manager allowed the employees to leave early today.
प्रबंधक performs दिया and therefore bears perfective ने. कर्मचारियों को identifies the leavers. Oblique जाने is governed by देना and remains unchanged.
मैंने रोहन से खिड़की बंद करने को कहा।
maĩne rohan se khiṛkī band karne ko kahā.
I told Rohan to close the window.
The speaker performs कहा; Rohan is understood as the closer. Hindi marks him with से in this pattern and marks the requested action with को. English simply places Rohan before to close, so copying English case marking would be unreliable.
The infinitive does not itself express whether the employee left or Rohan closed the window. Permission and instruction establish a relation, not completion.
An explicit subject with का/की/के
When an infinitive functions as a verbal noun, its subject can appear as a genitive dependent:
रीना का अचानक लौटना सबको अजीब लगा।
rīnā kā acānak lauṭnā sabko ajīb lagā.
Reena's sudden return seemed strange to everyone.
मेहमानों का समय पर पहुँचना ज़रूरी है।
mehmānoṃ kā samay par pahũcnā zarūrī hai.
It is important for the guests to arrive on time.
Direct infinitive लौटना/पहुँचना is masculine singular as a verbal noun, so the subject phrase uses का even when the doer is female or plural. रीना की लौटना and मेहमानों के पहुँचना are not standard in this direct construction.
Before another postposition, the shape changes:
रीना के लौटने के बाद हमने खाना खाया।
rīnā ke lauṭne ke bād hamne khānā khāyā.
After Reena returned, we ate.
The whole infinitive clause is oblique before के बाद, yielding रीना के लौटने. The surface के does not mean that Reena is masculine or plural.
Compare a finite and nominalized version:
यह तय है कि निदेशक कल आएँगे।
yah tay hai ki nideśak kal āẽge.
It is settled that the director will come tomorrow. (honorific)
निदेशक का कल आना तय है।
nideśak kā kal ānā tay hai.
The director's arrival tomorrow is settled.
The finite कि clause marks honorific plural आएँगे and future time. The infinitive version packages the arrival as a masculine verbal noun; कल and तय है supply its prospective interpretation.
Necessity: the logical subject takes को
In the common “have to” construction, the person under the obligation takes को, and होना supplies tense. Its wider modal contrasts are covered under होना obligation constructions.
मुझे आज बैंक जाना है।
mujhe āj baiṅk jānā hai.
I have to go to the bank today.
सोनिया को कल जल्दी निकलना था।
soniyā ko kal jaldī nikalnā thā.
Sonia had to leave early yesterday.
Intransitive जाना/निकलना appears in default masculine singular -ना. The को-marked person does not control gender agreement: Standard Hindi says सोनिया को निकलना था, not निकलनी थी.
Time belongs to the necessity construction, not to the infinitive. जाना remains the same with present है, past था, and future होगा.
Object-controlled agreement in necessity constructions
With a transitive infinitive, an unmarked object commonly controls adjective-like infinitive agreement:
| Eligible object | Infinitive form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| masculine singular | -ना | लेख लिखना है |
| masculine plural | -ने | लेख लिखने हैं |
| feminine singular | -नी | चिट्ठी लिखनी है |
| feminine plural | -नी + plural auxiliary | चिट्ठियाँ लिखनी हैं |
मुझे आज यह पूरी रिपोर्ट पढ़नी है।
mujhe āj yah pūrī riporṭ paṛhnī hai.
I have to read this entire report today.
हमें शाम तक चार पत्र भेजने हैं।
hameṃ śām tak cār patra bhejne haiṃ.
We have to send four letters by evening.
Feminine रिपोर्ट licenses पढ़नी है; masculine plural पत्र licenses भेजने हैं. In the second, -ने is a masculine plural agreement form, not an oblique infinitive followed by a postposition. The following हैं and the plural object make the analysis clear.
The same pattern appears with advisability चाहिए:
तुम्हें ये दवाइयाँ समय पर लेनी चाहिए।
tumheṃ ye davāiyā̃ samay par lenī cāhie.
You should take these medicines on time. (informal)
Modern चाहिए is normally unchanged here; feminine plural agreement is visible on लेनी, while दवाइयाँ supplies number semantically.
Marked objects do not control agreement
A को-marked object is unavailable for agreement, so the infinitive stays default masculine singular:
मुझे दोनों बच्चों को बुलाना है।
mujhe donoṃ baccoṃ ko bulānā hai.
I have to call both children.
हमें नई ग्राहक को जवाब देना है।
hameṃ naī grāhak ko javāb denā hai.
We have to reply to the new client.
In the first, बच्चों को cannot trigger plural बुलाने हैं. In the second, ग्राहक को is a recipient; masculine जवाब belongs inside predicate जवाब देना and default देना है is natural. Agreement must follow the Hindi structure, not the natural gender of a human participant.
Not every infinitive construction shows agreement
The necessity/advisability pattern should not be copied mechanically into all complements. With चाहना, the neutral Standard Hindi baseline keeps citation-form -ना, while finite चाहना agrees with its nominative subject:
नैना नई किताब खरीदना चाहती है।
nainā naī kitāb kharīdnā cāhtī hai.
Naina wants to buy a new book.
Object-agreeing variants can be heard in some conversational and regional usage, but learners should not infer from किताब खरीदनी है that every following verb requires खरीदनी. The governing predicate determines the pattern.
Avoiding dangling subjects
An unexpressed non-finite subject is usually resolved from the most plausible main-clause participant. That inference can fail in impersonal or passive sentences:
मेरे घर पहुँचने पर तेज़ बारिश शुरू हो गई।
mere ghar pahũcne par tez bāriś śurū ho gaī.
When I reached home, heavy rain began.
Naming मेरे prevents the nonsensical reading that बारिश reached home. In casual context, speakers may omit an obvious controller, but formal writing should state it whenever two interpretations compete.
करना versus करके and subject continuity
The infinitive names an action or enters a governed complement. The converb करके links an event and normally shares its subject with the following clause:
यह काम करना मुझे आता है।
yah kām karnā mujhe ātā hai.
I know how to do this work.
यह काम करके मैं घर लौटूँगा।
yah kām karke maĩ ghar lauṭū̃gā.
After doing this work, I will return home. (male speaker)
The first has an infinitival activity whose understood doer is dative मुझे. The second links doing and returning with shared subject मैं. Bare कर can replace करके in compact style, but करना cannot perform that event-linking job.
A compressed requirement and its expansion
सभी सदस्यों का समय पर पहुँचना और पहचान-पत्र दिखाना आवश्यक है।
sabhī sadasyoṃ kā samay par pahũcnā aur pahcān-patra dikhānā āvaśyak hai.
All members are required to arrive on time and show identification. (formal written style)
The genitive subject सभी सदस्यों का scopes over both coordinated infinitives. An expanded version makes the addressees and mood explicit:
सभी सदस्य समय पर पहुँचें और अपना पहचान-पत्र दिखाएँ; ऐसा करना आवश्यक है।
sabhī sadasya samay par pahũceṃ aur apnā pahcān-patra dikhāẽ; aisā karnā āvaśyak hai.
All members must arrive on time and show their identification; doing so is required. (formal)
The expansion uses finite plural subjunctives पहुँचें/दिखाएँ. The compressed version instead treats compliance as a nominal requirement.
Common Mistakes
1. Using a nominative subject in the necessity construction
❌ मैं आज बैंक जाना है।
Incorrect — the person under obligation takes को.
✅ मुझे आज बैंक जाना है।
mujhe āj baiṅk jānā hai.
I have to go to the bank today.
2. Making the genitive agree with a female subject
❌ लीला की देर से पहुँचना चिंता की बात है।
Incorrect — direct verbal noun पहुँचना is masculine, so use लीला का.
✅ लीला का देर से पहुँचना चिंता की बात है।
līlā kā der se pahũcnā cintā kī bāt hai.
Leela's arriving late is a cause for concern.
3. Missing object agreement in a standard obligation
❌ मुझे दो रिपोर्ट लिखना है।
Incorrect in the standard agreeing pattern — feminine plural रिपोर्ट controls लिखनी हैं.
✅ मुझे दो रिपोर्ट लिखनी हैं।
mujhe do riporṭ likhnī haiṃ.
I have to write two reports.
4. Agreeing with a को-marked object
❌ हमें उन मेहमानों को बुलाने हैं।
Incorrect — मेहमानों को cannot control plural infinitive agreement.
✅ हमें उन मेहमानों को बुलाना है।
hameṃ un mehmānoṃ ko bulānā hai.
We have to invite those guests.
5. Using an infinitive to link completed events
❌ काम करना मैं घर लौट आया।
Incorrect — activity-naming करना cannot link a prior event to लौट आया.
✅ काम करके मैं घर लौट आया।
kām karke maĩ ghar lauṭ āyā.
After doing the work, I returned home. (male speaker)
Key Takeaways
- An infinitive's subject may be controlled by the main subject, supplied by another participant, or expressed with का/की/के.
- In direct verbal-noun phrases, का agrees with masculine infinitive -ना, not with the doer's gender or number.
- Obligation uses a को-marked logical subject; intransitive infinitives remain default masculine singular.
- In necessity and advisability constructions, an eligible unmarked object can trigger -ना/-ने/-नी agreement, but a को-marked object cannot.
- The governing predicate determines control and agreement; do not export one infinitive pattern to every other construction.
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Start learning Hindi →Related Topics
- The infinitive in -nāA1 — Form Hindi infinitives with -ना and distinguish their citation, complement, verbal-noun, and agreeing obligation uses from finite predicates.
- चाहिए necessity and advisabilityA2 — Use invariant चाहिए for needs, advice, and normative necessity, with dative experiencers and agreement on infinitives or past auxiliaries.
- होना obligation constructionsB1 — Use an agreeing infinitive plus होना for assigned, scheduled, intended, or contextually required actions.
- 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.
- Embedded finite versus infinitive clausesC1 — Choose between an independently tensed कि clause and a controlled or nominalized infinitive by tracking subject reference, proposition type, agreement, and time.