Hindi coordination can join noun phrases, predicates, or whole clauses. The central question is what material the conjuncts share. In रीना और मोहन आए, two nouns form one plural subject. In रीना आई और बैठ गई, one subject is shared by two predicates. In उसने किताब खरीदी और पढ़ी, both perfective predicates share one object, which controls their agreement. Case and agreement reveal these constituent structures more reliably than English word order does.
Subject coordination also interacts with the broader rules for agreement resolution with coordinated nouns.
Coordinating noun phrases
और “and” forms an additive coordinate phrase; या “or” forms an alternative. A coordinated subject normally triggers plural agreement.
रीना और मोहन समय पर आए।
rīnā aur mohan samay par āe.
Reena and Mohan arrived on time.
रीना और सीमा समय पर आईं।
rīnā aur sīmā samay par āīṃ.
Reena and Seema arrived on time.
Mixed-gender coordination normally uses masculine plural आए; an all-feminine group can use feminine plural आईं in the standalone perfective. This is agreement with the coordinate phrase as a whole, not with the nearest name.
चाय या कॉफ़ी चलेगी।
cāy yā kofī calegī.
Tea or coffee will be fine.
With या, agreement can be sensitive to number, proximity, and whether the alternatives are conceived as a single choice. In this sentence both alternatives are feminine singular, so चलेगी is unproblematic. Mixed-feature alternatives often encourage restructuring or repeating the predicate to avoid an awkward agreement choice.
One postposition can scope over the whole coordination
A postposition placed after the final conjunct can mark the entire coordinate phrase.
मैंने रीना और मोहन से बात की।
maĩne rīnā aur mohan se bāt kī.
I spoke with Reena and Mohan.
प्रबंधक ने कविता और नीलम को बुलाया।
prabandhak ne kavitā aur nīlam ko bulāyā.
The manager called Kavita and Neelam over.
The constituents are [रीना और मोहन] से and [कविता और नीलम] को. In the second, को marks the full coordinated object, so neither woman controls the perfective; बुलाया is default masculine singular.
Repeating a postposition can separate or contrast the conjuncts:
मैंने रीना से भी और मोहन से भी बात की।
maĩne rīnā se bhī aur mohan se bhī bāt kī.
I spoke with both Reena and Mohan.
Here each conjunct is independently marked and focused by भी. Repetition is structural and semantic, not merely stylistic padding.
Sharing one subject across predicates
Hindi often states a subject once and coordinates two predicates that have the same understood subject.
नैना कमरे में आई और चुपचाप बैठ गई।
nainā kamre meṃ āī aur cupcāp baiṭh gaī.
Naina came into the room and sat down quietly.
Both intransitive perfectives agree with feminine Naina. The missing second subject is recoverable because the coordinated predicates form a coherent sequence with one actor.
नैना हर सुबह चाय बनाती है और बालकनी में पीती है।
nainā har subah cāy banātī hai aur bālkanī meṃ pītī hai.
Naina makes tea every morning and drinks it on the balcony.
Habitual बनाती/पीती both agree with Naina. The object चाय is overt in the first conjunct and understood in the second; context supplies it, while subject agreement remains visible.
Shared subject with different predicate frames
A shared participant can enter different case-and-agreement relations in coordinated events. Hindi frequently allows a single overt subject followed by a transitive perfective and an intransitive perfective:
सबा ने खाना खाया और जल्दी सो गई।
sabā ne khānā khāyā aur jaldī so gaī.
Saba ate the food and went to sleep early.
The first conjunct licenses ergative ने and has object agreement खाना खाया. The second intransitive predicate shows feminine सो गई, revealing its local relation to Saba. Coordination makes one referent available to both conjuncts, but it does not force the same agreement rule onto every predicate.
Where a new subject is possible or the case transition could be misparsed, repeat a pronoun or noun phrase:
सबा ने खाना खाया और फिर वह सो गई।
sabā ne khānā khāyā aur phir vah so gaī.
Saba ate the food, and then she went to sleep.
The overt वह explicitly begins the second clause. The choice between compact sharing and repetition concerns constituency and ambiguity; marked stylistic rearrangements belong in the word-order group.
Sharing one object across perfective predicates
When two transitive perfectives share an unmarked object after a ने-marked subject, that object can control both predicates.
आदित्य ने किताब खरीदी और उसी रात पढ़ी।
āditya ne kitāb xarīdī aur usī rāt paṛhī.
Aditya bought the book and read it that same night.
Feminine किताब controls खरीदी and understood-object पढ़ी. The second agreement form is evidence that the omitted object remains structurally recoverable.
मीरा ने दोनों रिपोर्टें जाँचीं और संपादक को भेजीं।
mīrā ne donoṃ riporṭeṃ jā̃cīṃ aur sampādak ko bhejīṃ.
Meera checked both reports and sent them to the editor.
Feminine plural रिपोर्टें controls both standalone perfectives. Recipient संपादक को cannot control भेजीं.
If the second verb selects a different case frame, the shared phrase may no longer be eligible in the same way. Repeat the object or use a pronoun when case or reference would otherwise be unclear.
Coordinated predicates with separate objects
One ने-marked subject can be shared while each predicate agrees with its own object.
रवि ने दरवाज़ा खोला और खिड़कियाँ बंद कीं।
ravi ne darvāzā kholā aur khiṛkiyā̃ band kīṃ.
Ravi opened the door and closed the windows.
Masculine दरवाज़ा controls खोला; feminine plural खिड़कियाँ controls कीं. The shared subject does not impose one invariant perfective across the coordination.
टीम ने प्रस्ताव पढ़ा, कमियाँ पहचानीं और नई सूची बनाई।
ṭīm ne prastāv paṛhā, kamiyā̃ pahcānīṃ aur naī sūcī banāī.
The team read the proposal, identified the shortcomings, and made a new list.
Each predicate finds its own unmarked object. This local agreement is a strong diagnostic for three coordinated predicate phrases rather than one unanalyzed verbal string.
Negation and focus scope
Negation can take scope over the full coordination or only one conjunct. Repetition makes narrow scope clearer.
अमन ने चाय नहीं बनाई और नाश्ता भी नहीं किया।
aman ne cāy nahīṃ banāī aur nāśtā bhī nahīṃ kiyā.
Aman did not make tea and did not have breakfast either.
अमन ने चाय बनाई, लेकिन पी नहीं।
aman ne cāy banāī, lekin pī nahīṃ.
Aman made the tea but did not drink it.
In the second, ellipsis retrieves feminine चाय as the object of पी, and narrow negation rejects only drinking. The contrastive connector marks separate predicate domains.
Paired focus न ... न ... coordinates two negative alternatives:
न रीना आई, न मोहन आया।
na rīnā āī, na mohan āyā.
Neither Reena nor Mohan came.
Each clause retains its own singular agreement; English “neither...nor” does not force plural Hindi agreement across two finite clauses.
Coordination across an embedded boundary
Whole complement clauses can be coordinated, and each retains its own subject, case, and agreement.
सोनल ने कहा कि रवि ने टिकट खरीदे हैं और मीरा ने होटल बुक किया है।
sonal ne kahā ki ravi ne ṭikaṭ xarīde haiṃ aur mīrā ne hoṭal buk kiyā hai.
Sonal said that Ravi has bought the tickets and Meera has booked the hotel.
Matrix सोनल ने कहा has a single coordinated कि complement. Inside it, Ravi and Meera head separate perfective clauses. Masculine plural टिकट controls खरीदे हैं; unmarked masculine singular होटल controls किया है in the noun-plus-करना predicate बुक किया है. No agreement crosses the finite conjunct boundary.
Common Mistakes
❌ मीरा और कबीर देर से पहुँचा।
Incorrect — the coordinated mixed-gender subject requires masculine plural पहुँचे.
✅ मीरा और कबीर देर से पहुँचे।
mīrā aur kabīr der se pahũce.
Meera and Kabir arrived late.
❌ हमने नीलम से और कबीर बात की।
Incorrect — the shared postposition must scope over the whole coordination or be repeated on both conjuncts.
✅ हमने नीलम और कबीर से बात की।
hamne nīlam aur kabīr se bāt kī.
We spoke with Neelam and Kabir.
❌ अमन ने ताला खोला और बत्तियाँ बंद किया।
Incorrect — each coordinated predicate agrees with its own unmarked object.
✅ अमन ने ताला खोला और बत्तियाँ बंद कीं।
aman ne tālā kholā aur battiyā̃ band kīṃ.
Aman opened the lock and switched off the lights.
❌ कल कविता पहुँचा और रोहन पहुँची।
Incorrect — the two past predicates have their singular gender agreement reversed.
✅ कल कविता पहुँची और रोहन पहुँचा।
kal kavitā pahũcī aur rohan pahũcā.
Kavita arrived yesterday, and so did Rohan.
Key Takeaways
Coordination may join noun phrases, predicates, or full clauses. A coordinated subject normally triggers plural resolution; a final postposition can mark the whole coordinate phrase. Shared subjects and objects remain interpretable across coordinated predicates, and repeated agreement helps diagnose their roles. Each predicate still applies its own case-and-agreement rules, so a shared ने subject can accompany different local object forms or an intransitive predicate. Negation, focus, and finite clause boundaries determine whether coordination forms one constituent or several independent domains.
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Start learning Hindi →Related Topics
- और coordinationA1 — Join words, phrases, predicates, and clauses with neutral Hindi और while keeping case, agreement, and punctuation clear.
- या and अथवा alternativesA2 — Present choices with everyday या, paired या तो…या, and formal अथवा while keeping scope and punctuation clear.
- Coordinated nouns and agreement resolutionB1 — Coordinate Hindi noun phrases with और while resolving plural agreement, case marking, and shared postpositions accurately.
- Mixed-gender coordinationB1 — Resolve agreement when masculine and feminine Hindi nouns are joined, while keeping case and perfective alignment separate.
- Agreement hierarchy overviewA2 — Choose the Hindi predicate's agreement controller from case marking and clause structure rather than word order or meaning.
- Gapping and ellipsisC1 — Recover omitted Hindi subjects, objects, and predicates from parallel structure while preserving case, agreement, scope, and clause boundaries.