The Hindi infinitive ends in -ना: करना “to do/doing,” पढ़ना “to read/reading,” जाना “to go/going.” It is non-finite because it does not by itself tell you person, tense, or mood. At the same time, it behaves like a masculine verbal noun: it can name an activity, serve as a subject or complement, and take its own objects and adverbs.
English divides these jobs between to read and reading. Hindi often uses the same पढ़ना form for both, so choosing the construction from the sentence's function is more useful than trying to match an English label.
Form: verb stem plus -ना
Attach -ना to the verb stem:
| Stem | Infinitive | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| कर- | करना | to do; doing |
| पढ़- | पढ़ना | to read; reading |
| आ- | आना | to come; coming |
| ले- | लेना | to take; taking |
| हो- | होना | to be/happen; being/happening |
As a free verbal noun, the infinitive normally appears in masculine singular direct form -ना. It can be modified by a masculine adjective:
रोज़ थोड़ा चलना अच्छी आदत है।
roz thoṛā calnā acchī ādat hai.
Walking a little every day is a good habit.
Here थोड़ा modifies the extent of walking, while feminine अच्छी agrees with आदत, not with the infinitive. The infinitive itself does not identify who walks or when without help from context.
Naming an activity as the subject
An infinitive phrase can stand where an ordinary noun phrase stands:
सुबह जल्दी उठना मेरे लिए मुश्किल है।
subah jaldī uṭhnā mere lie muśkil hai.
Getting up early in the morning is difficult for me.
खाने के बाद तुरंत सोना ठीक नहीं है।
khāne ke bād turant sonā ṭhīk nahīṃ hai.
Going to sleep immediately after eating is not a good idea.
The entire phrases सुबह जल्दी उठना and खाने के बाद तुरंत सोना act as subjects of मुश्किल है and ठीक नहीं है. Yet they retain verbal structure: जल्दी and तुरंत are adverbs, and खाने के बाद gives a temporal relation.
Keeping verbal objects and complements
A verbal noun does not lose the argument pattern of its verb:
नई भाषा सीखना समय और धैर्य माँगता है।
naī bhāṣā sīkhnā samay aur dhairya mā̃gtā hai.
Learning a new language takes time and patience.
बच्चों को रोज़ कहानी सुनाना आसान नहीं है।
baccoṃ ko roz kahānī sunānā āsān nahīṃ hai.
Telling the children a story every day is not easy.
नई भाषा remains the object of सीखना. In the second example, causative सुनाना keeps recipient बच्चों को and content कहानी. The whole action, not either object, is what आसान नहीं है describes.
This internal order remains Hindi: objects and adverbs normally precede the infinitive. English to tell the children a story cannot be copied as a verb-first sequence.
As the complement of another predicate
Infinitives occur after predicates of liking, wanting, beginning, forgetting, learning, and similar meanings. Their subject is often understood from the main clause.
मैं अगली गर्मियों में हिंदी सीखना चाहता हूँ।
maĩ aglī garmiyoṃ meṃ hindī sīkhnā cāhtā hū̃.
I want to learn Hindi next summer. (male speaker)
लीला को पुराने गाने सुनना पसंद है।
līlā ko purāne gāne sunnā pasand hai.
Leela likes listening to old songs.
In the first, मैं is understood as the learner as well as the wanter: this is same-subject control. In the second, dative experiencer लीला को is understood as the listener. सुनना stays masculine singular even though गाने is plural; it names the listening activity rather than agreeing with its object.
Compare a finite statement with a non-finite activity name:
अमन हर रविवार खाना बनाता है।
aman har ravivār khānā banātā hai.
Aman cooks every Sunday.
हर रविवार खाना बनाना अमन को अच्छा लगता है।
har ravivār khānā banānā aman ko acchā lagtā hai.
Aman enjoys cooking every Sunday.
बनाता है is finite: it agrees with Aman and places the habit in present time. बनाना simply names the activity; finite लगता है carries the clause's agreement and tense.
An infinitive can have its own expressed subject
When the doer of the infinitive must be stated, it can appear in a का/की/के phrase. The possessive form agrees with the masculine verbal noun, not with the natural gender of the doer:
रीना का इतनी देर से आना मुझे अच्छा नहीं लगा।
rīnā kā itnī der se ānā mujhe acchā nahīṃ lagā.
I did not like Reena arriving so late.
Reena is the subject of आना, while मुझे is the experiencer of अच्छा नहीं लगा. Because direct-form आना is masculine singular, the correct genitive is रीना का, not रीना की.
तुम्हारा हमारे साथ चलना ज़रूरी नहीं है।
tumhārā hamāre sāth calnā zarūrī nahīṃ hai.
It isn't necessary for you to come with us. (informal)
This different-subject structure is more explicit than हमारे साथ चलना ज़रूरी नहीं है, where context must supply who need not come. The dedicated page on infinitive subjects and agreement develops this contrast.
The infinitive does not carry tense
The -ना form itself is temporally neutral. Time comes from adverbs, the main predicate, or a larger construction:
कल समय पर पहुँचना मुश्किल था।
kal samay par pahũcnā muśkil thā.
Getting there on time yesterday was difficult.
कल समय पर पहुँचना मुश्किल होगा।
kal samay par pahũcnā muśkil hogā.
Getting there on time tomorrow will be difficult.
The infinitive पहुँचना is identical. Past था and future होगा, together with the context of कल, locate the difficulty. Hindi कल can mean yesterday or tomorrow; the finite predicate disambiguates it here.
An infinitive also does not itself say whether its event occurred. मैं टिकट खरीदना चाहता था expresses a past desire, not successful purchase.
Infinitive versus -कर/-करके
An infinitive names an action. The conjunctive participle -कर/-करके links a completed or accompanying action to another event.
घर पर खाना बनाना सस्ता पड़ता है।
ghar par khānā banānā sastā paṛtā hai.
Cooking at home works out cheaper.
खाना बनाकर नील दफ़्तर चला गया।
khānā banākar nīl daftar calā gayā.
After cooking, Neel left for the office.
In the first, बनाना is the activity being evaluated. In the second, बनाकर links cooking as a prior event to Neel's departure. English may translate both with an -ing form in some contexts, but Hindi keeps the nominal and event-linking functions distinct.
A compressed written instruction and its expansion
Formal notices often coordinate infinitives to name required actions:
समय पर पहुँचना और पहचान-पत्र दिखाना अनिवार्य है।
samay par pahũcnā aur pahcān-patra dikhānā anivārya hai.
Arriving on time and showing identification are mandatory. (formal notice)
The same content can be expanded into finite instructions:
आप समय पर पहुँचें और अपना पहचान-पत्र दिखाएँ; दोनों बातें अनिवार्य हैं।
āp samay par pahũceṃ aur apnā pahcān-patra dikhāẽ; donoṃ bāteṃ anivārya haiṃ.
Please arrive on time and show your identification; both requirements are mandatory. (formal)
The infinitive version is compact and impersonal. The expanded version explicitly addresses आप and marks respectful subjunctive commands. Compression changes information packaging, not the basic actions.
Negating the named activity
न is common before an infinitive in concise rules and formal recommendations; नहीं is common in ordinary personal statements. Neither makes the infinitive finite.
बिना बताए अनुपस्थित न होना नियम का हिस्सा है।
binā batāe anupasthit na honā niyam kā hissā hai.
Not being absent without notice is part of the rule. (formal wording)
In everyday speech, a finite instruction such as बिना बताए ग़ायब मत होना would be more direct. Register and clause type determine the negative choice.
Common Mistakes
1. Using a finite habitual where an activity noun is required
❌ तैरता अच्छा व्यायाम है।
Incorrect — तैरता is a participial finite-pattern form, not the name of the activity.
✅ नियमित तैरना अच्छा व्यायाम है।
niyamit tairnā acchā vyāyām hai.
Swimming regularly is good exercise.
2. Making the infinitive agree with its object
❌ मुझे पुरानी फ़िल्में देखनी पसंद है।
Wrong in this verbal-noun construction — the activity is expressed by direct-form देखना.
✅ मुझे पुरानी फ़िल्में देखना पसंद है।
mujhe purānī filmeṃ dekhnā pasand hai.
I like watching old films.
3. Making the genitive agree with a female doer
❌ सारा की जल्दी जाना ठीक नहीं लगा।
Incorrect — the genitive agrees with masculine verbal noun जाना, not with Sara.
✅ सारा का जल्दी जाना ठीक नहीं लगा।
sārā kā jaldī jānā ṭhīk nahīṃ lagā.
Sara's leaving early did not seem right.
4. Putting a finite verb after चाहना
❌ मैं आज घर जाता चाहता हूँ।
Incorrect — चाहना takes the infinitive for the desired action.
✅ मैं आज जल्दी घर जाना चाहता हूँ।
maĩ āj jaldī ghar jānā cāhtā hū̃.
I want to go home early today. (male speaker)
5. Confusing an activity name with a linked event
❌ नाश्ता करना वह बस पकड़ने निकली।
Incorrect — the completed prior action must be linked with -कर/-करके.
✅ नाश्ता करके वह बस पकड़ने निकली।
nāśtā karke vah bas pakaṛne niklī.
After having breakfast, she left to catch the bus.
Key Takeaways
- The direct infinitive is formed with verb stem + ना and normally behaves as a masculine singular verbal noun.
- It is noun-like as a whole but keeps verbal objects, adverbs, and participant relations inside it.
- Its subject may be controlled by the main clause or expressed with का/की/के; the genitive agrees with the infinitive.
- The infinitive itself carries no tense and does not assert that its event happened.
- Use -ना to name an activity and -कर/-करके to link one event to another.
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Start learning Hindi →Related Topics
- 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.
- Infinitive subjects and agreementA2 — Identify who performs a Hindi infinitive and distinguish default -ना from object-controlled infinitive agreement in necessity constructions.
- Conjunctive participle in -karB1 — Use invariant Hindi -कर converbs to connect a shared-subject event with a following finite event as sequence, means, cause, or manner.
- The infinitive in -nāA1 — Form Hindi infinitives with -ना and distinguish their citation, complement, verbal-noun, and agreeing obligation uses from finite predicates.
- Neutral subject-object-verb orderA1 — Build neutral Hindi SOV clauses and understand how topic, focus, prosody, and marked orders reshape the same proposition.