In a control construction, an unspoken participant inside a non-finite complement is understood from an argument of the higher verb. With चाहना, the wanter normally controls the subject of an infinitive; with modal सकना, the same participant performs the bare-stem event and has the ability; with directive कहना, an addressee can control the subject of a करने को complement. A separate overt embedded subject normally requires a finite कि clause.
These patterns form part of the wider system of infinitival complement clauses.
Why control matters
Hindi commonly leaves the embedded doer unpronounced, but that silence is grammatically structured. Compare these three neutral patterns:
| Higher predicate | Complement shape | Understood embedded subject |
|---|---|---|
| चाहना | infinitive in -ना | higher subject |
| सकना | bare verb stem + सकना | subject of the whole modal predicate |
| कहना (directive) | addressee + करने को | higher addressee |
नैना जल्दी घर लौटना चाहती है।
nainā jaldī ghar lauṭnā cāhtī hai.
Naina wants to return home early.
नैना आज जल्दी घर लौट सकती है।
nainā āj jaldī ghar lauṭ saktī hai.
Naina can return home early today.
माँ ने नैना से जल्दी घर लौटने को कहा।
mā̃ ne nainā se jaldī ghar lauṭne ko kahā.
Mother told Naina to return home early.
Naina is the understood returner in all three, but for different structural reasons: subject control with चाहना, one shared subject in the modal chain, and addressee control with कहना.
Subject control with चाहना
In रीमा गाना चाहती है, the unexpressed singer is Reema. The higher subject bears the agreement of the nonperfective matrix predicate; the infinitive itself normally appears in masculine singular citation form in this basic pattern.
हम अगले साल कश्मीर जाना चाहते हैं।
ham agle sāl kaśmīr jānā cāhte haiṃ.
We want to go to Kashmir next year.
अर्जुन यह बात किसी को नहीं बताना चाहता।
arjun yah bāt kisī ko nahīṃ batānā cāhtā.
Arjun does not want to tell anyone this.
The controller need not stand next to the infinitive; constituency, not adjacency, supplies the interpretation. नहीं most naturally scopes over the wanting-plus-action complex here: Arjun lacks the desire to tell. Context and placement can contrast “want not to tell” with “not want to tell,” but speakers often paraphrase when that distinction matters.
A different embedded subject needs कि
If the desired event has its own overt subject, Hindi uses a finite complement.
रीमा चाहती है कि उसका भाई समय पर आए।
rīmā cāhtī hai ki uskā bhāī samay par āe.
Reema wants her brother to arrive on time.
English uses “her brother to arrive,” but Hindi does not ordinarily place an independent nominative subject inside the simple infinitive after चाहना. कि opens a new finite clause, and subjunctive आए belongs to that clause.
रीमा खुद समय पर आना चाहती है।
rīmā xud samay par ānā cāhtī hai.
Reema herself wants to arrive on time.
The controlled contrast is structural: the infinitive has the same subject as चाहना; the कि clause licenses a different one.
Modal सकना: bare stem and one subject
Productive modal सकना follows a bare lexical stem, not an infinitive: कर सकना, जा सकना, पढ़ सकना. The whole predicate has one subject, which controls सकना’s agreement in ordinary clauses.
सबा बिना चश्मे के भी छोटे अक्षर पढ़ सकती है।
sabā binā caśme ke bhī choṭe akṣar paṛh saktī hai.
Saba can read small print even without glasses.
हम इतनी जल्दी फ़ैसला नहीं कर सकते।
ham itnī jaldī faislā nahīṃ kar sakte.
We cannot decide this quickly.
Feminine Saba controls सकती है; plural हम controls सकते. The objects अक्षर/फ़ैसला do not control because the modal predicate is imperfective or finite modal rather than a ने-marked transitive perfective.
There is no slot for a second overt subject between the lexical stem and सकना. To say that one person believes another can act, build a finite complement:
मुझे लगता है कि सबा यह रिपोर्ट पढ़ सकती है।
mujhe lagtā hai ki sabā yah riporṭ paṛh saktī hai.
I think Saba can read this report.
The experiencer मुझे belongs to matrix लगना; Saba is the subject of the embedded modal clause.
Negation with सकना
नहीं कर सकता normally denies ability or practical possibility. When the intended meaning is permission, Hindi often uses नहीं कर सकते in context, but explicit इजाज़त नहीं है removes ambiguity. Scope can also distinguish inability to act from ability to refrain.
मैं इतना भारी डिब्बा अकेले नहीं उठा सकता।
maĩ itnā bhārī ḍibbā akele nahīṃ uṭhā saktā.
I can’t lift such a heavy box alone. (male speaker)
मैं चाहूँ तो जवाब न देने का फ़ैसला कर सकता हूँ।
maĩ cāhū̃ to javāb na dene kā faislā kar saktā hū̃.
If I want, I can decide not to answer. (male speaker)
The second embeds negation inside a nominalized infinitive जवाब न देने का, avoiding the misleading interpretation “cannot answer.”
Addressee control with कहना
Directive कहना can take an addressee marked with से or, in widespread usage, को, plus an oblique infinitive followed by को: रवि से/रवि को दरवाज़ा बंद करने को कहना. The addressee is understood as the one who should perform the action.
प्रबंधक ने रवि से दरवाज़ा बंद करने को कहा।
prabandhak ne ravi se darvāzā band karne ko kahā.
The manager told Ravi to close the door.
मैंने बच्चों को बाहर शोर न करने को कहा।
maĩne baccoṃ ko bāhar śor na karne ko kahā.
I told the children not to make noise outside.
The infinitive is oblique करने because it is followed by को. Negative न belongs inside the commanded content: the children are told [not to make noise]. Neither matrix agent मैंने nor addressee बच्चों को controls agreement on कहा, which is default masculine singular.
कहना with कि is content, not addressee control
Ordinary “say that” takes a finite कि complement. Its embedded subject is licensed inside that clause.
रवि ने कहा कि वह दरवाज़ा बंद कर देगा।
ravi ne kahā ki vah darvāzā band kar degā.
Ravi said that he would close the door.
The pronoun वह can refer to Ravi, but that interpretation comes from discourse reference, not obligatory syntactic control. It can also refer to another salient male person. By contrast, Ravi is necessarily the understood closer in रवि दरवाज़ा बंद करना चाहता है.
प्रबंधक ने कहा कि रवि दरवाज़ा बंद करे।
prabandhak ne kahā ki ravi darvāzā band kare.
The manager said that Ravi should close the door.
Here finite subject Ravi and subjunctive करे make the embedded responsibility explicit. The absence of an addressee phrase changes the structure from “tell Ravi to...” to propositional/jussive content.
Agreement is calculated in each domain
With चाहना and सकना in the present, the shared subject normally controls the higher predicate. Perfective चाहना can participate in infinitival agreement patterns, but usage varies; the basic syntax remains that the infinitive’s understood subject is controlled by the wanter. Directive कहना has a ने-marked matrix agent and normally default कहा when followed by a clausal or non-finite content complement.
माया ने नई किताब पढ़नी चाही, लेकिन वह समय पर खत्म नहीं कर सकी।
māyā ne naī kitāb paṛhnī cāhī, lekin vah samay par xatm nahīṃ kar sakī.
Maya wanted to read the new book, but she couldn’t finish it in time.
Feminine किताब supports the agreeing infinitive-plus-perfective पढ़नी चाही. In the coordinated second clause, unmarked feminine Maya controls intransitive modal perfective कर सकी. This agreement contrast helps diagnose two different predicate structures.
A naturally embedded multi-clause example
सीमा ने बताया कि निदेशक ने कर्मचारियों से रिपोर्ट दोबारा जाँचने को कहा है।
sīmā ne batāyā ki nirdeśak ne karmacāriyoṃ se riporṭ dobārā jā̃cne ko kahā hai.
Seema explained that the director has told the employees to check the report again.
Matrix सीमा ने बताया takes a कि complement and has default agreement. Inside it, निदेशक ने is the matrix subject of directive कहना, कर्मचारियों से is the addressee, and the employees control the silent checker inside रिपोर्ट दोबारा जाँचने को. Clause and phrase boundaries, not English word order, recover every participant.
Focus and constituent diagnostics
A focus particle can attach to the controller or to the action phrase without changing which argument supplies the silent subject.
आरती ही अकेले जाना चाहती है।
ārtī hī akele jānā cāhtī hai.
Only Aarti wants to go alone.
आरती सिर्फ़ सामान लेने जाना चाहती है, घूमने नहीं।
ārtī sirf sāmān lene jānā cāhtī hai, ghūmne nahīṃ.
Aarti wants to go only to collect the luggage, not to sightsee.
In both, Aarti controls जाना. ही focuses the wanter in the first; सिर्फ़ narrows the purpose complex in the second. Focus scope changes the contrast set, not the control relation.
Common Mistakes
❌ मीरा उसका भाई आना चाहती है।
Incorrect — a different overt embedded subject requires a finite कि clause.
✅ मीरा चाहती है कि उसका भाई आए।
mīrā cāhtī hai ki uskā bhāī āe.
Meera wants her brother to come.
❌ रीना तैरना सकती है।
Incorrect — modal सकना follows the bare stem तैर-, not the infinitive.
✅ रीना तैर सकती है।
rīnā tair saktī hai.
Reena can swim.
❌ मैंने रोहन दरवाज़ा बंद करने कहा।
Incorrect — mark the addressee and the directive infinitive’s को phrase.
✅ मैंने रोहन से दरवाज़ा बंद करने को कहा।
maĩne rohan se darvāzā band karne ko kahā.
I told Rohan to close the door.
❌ उसने वह कल आएगा कहा।
Incorrect English-order calque — place the finite content in a कि clause rather than before कहा.
✅ उसने कहा कि वह कल आएगा।
usne kahā ki vah kal āegā.
He/She said that he would come tomorrow.
Key Takeaways
चाहना normally has subject control: the wanter is the silent subject of its infinitive, while a different subject requires कि. Modal सकना forms a one-subject chain with a bare stem. Directive कहना lets an addressee marked by से/को control an oblique -ने को complement; propositional कहना instead takes a finite कि clause. Agreement and negation follow these constituent boundaries, so semantic plausibility cannot substitute for identifying the actual controller.
Related Topics
- Infinitival complement clausesB2 — Choose direct, oblique, controlled, and agreeing Hindi infinitival complements while keeping their controller distinct from the matrix subject and finite clauses.
- Complement clauses with किB2 — Use कि to embed a finite proposition as the content of speech, thought, knowledge, perception, evaluation, or desire while preserving local syntax.
- चाहना desire and polite requestsA2 — Express wants with चाहना and use its conditional and future-shaped forms to frame tactful questions, offers, and request prefaces.
- सकना ability and possibilityA2 — Use सकना to express ability, practical possibility, and context-dependent permission while keeping its agreement and tense marking clear.
- कहना kahnā: to sayA1 — Reference कहना across its speech-complement frames, perfective agreement, future and imperative forms, and causative extensions.
- Infinitive subjects and agreementA2 — Identify who performs a Hindi infinitive and distinguish default -ना from object-controlled infinitive agreement in necessity constructions.