An infinitival complement names an action inside a larger predicate: वह तैरना सीख रही है “she is learning to swim,” मैं जल्दी निकलना चाहता हूँ “I want to leave early,” उसने बच्चों को खेलने दिया “he or she let the children play.” Unlike a finite कि clause, an infinitive has no independent person marking and ordinarily no tense of its own. Its controller and form come from the matrix predicate.
There is no single Hindi equivalent of English to + verb. Some predicates select direct -ना, others an oblique -ने form, and still others add a postposition such as को. The larger predicate must be learned with its complement frame.
Direct -ना complements with shared control
Verbs such as चाहना “want,” सीखना “learn,” जानना “know how,” भूलना “forget,” and शुरू करना “begin” commonly take an infinitival action whose performer is the matrix subject.
सोनिया अगले महीने मोटरसाइकिल चलाना सीखना चाहती है।
soniyā agle mahīne moṭarsāikil calānā sīkhnā cāhtī hai.
Sonia wants to learn to ride a motorcycle next month.
Sonia is the wanter, learner, and future rider. The two infinitives do not mark feminine person; finite चाहती है agrees with सोनिया.
मैं रास्ते में दूध लेना भूल गया।
maĩ rāste meṃ dūdh lenā bhūl gayā.
I forgot to buy milk on the way. (male speaker)
The speaker is understood as the buyer and the forgetter. The complement describes an unrealized action; infinitival syntax itself does not say whether the action occurred.
An infinitive may contain a time expression—अगले महीने, कल सुबह, बैठक से पहले—without becoming finite. Such expressions locate the intended activity relative to context, while the matrix predicate still supplies assertion, tense, and mood. This is why कल सुबह निकलना चाहता है remains an infinitival complement even though its time is specific.
बच्चों ने बरामदे में शोर मचाना शुरू कर दिया।
baccoṃ ne barāmde meṃ śor macānā śurū kar diyā.
The children started making noise on the veranda.
The children control मचाना and perfective matrix शुरू कर दिया. The matrix subject takes ने because the larger predicate is perfective and transitive in this construction.
Oblique -ने complements selected by the predicate
Some larger predicates govern the oblique form even without an ordinary postposition translated in English.
सुरक्षा-कर्मी ने दर्शकों को अंदर जाने दिया।
surakṣā-karmī ne darśakoṃ ko andar jāne diyā.
The security guard allowed the spectators to go inside.
Matrix सुरक्षा-कर्मी ने performs the allowing. दर्शकों को controls the leaving, and जाने is the form selected by देना in the permission construction.
Onset लगना also takes -ने:
घंटी बजते ही बच्चे हँसने लगे।
ghaṇṭī bajte hī bacce hãsne lage.
As soon as the bell rang, the children began to laugh.
Unmarked plural बच्चे controls both laughing and finite plural लगे. This is not a postpositional infinitive and not direct हँसना; lexical लगना selects हँसने.
Reported instructions often use -ने को or -ने के लिए, with the addressee marked separately:
मैंने अरुण से मेहमानों के लिए पानी रखने को कहा।
maĩne aruṇ se mehmānoṃ ke lie pānī rakhne ko kahā.
I told Arun to set out water for the guests.
The speaker controls कहा; अरुण से identifies the intended actor of रखने. English simply places Arun before to set out, so copying English nominative order misses the Hindi case frame.
Same subject versus a finite different subject
An infinitive under चाहना normally shares the matrix subject:
शालिनी गर्मियों में अकेले यात्रा करना चाहती है।
śālinī garmiyoṃ meṃ akele yātrā karnā cāhtī hai.
Shalini wants to travel alone during the summer.
To express a different subject, Hindi uses a finite कि complement with its own subject and mood:
शालिनी चाहती है कि उसकी बेटी गर्मियों में अकेले यात्रा करे।
śālinī cāhtī hai ki uskī beṭī garmiyoṃ meṃ akele yātrā kare.
Shalini wants her daughter to travel alone during the summer.
English uses Shalini wants her daughter to travel, but Hindi does not normally insert बेटी as a nominative subject inside direct यात्रा करना. Subjunctive करे marks the desired event, and बेटी is licensed locally inside the finite clause.
This is a core clause-boundary diagnostic: a finite complement supports its own subject and mood; a controlled infinitive depends on the matrix predicate.
Infinitives as constituent-sized complements
An infinitival complement contains its own object, adverbs, and postpositional phrases:
हमने अगली बैठक से पहले पूरा मसौदा दोबारा पढ़ना तय किया।
hamne aglī baiṭhak se pahle pūrā masaudā dobārā paṛhnā tay kiyā.
We decided to reread the entire draft before the next meeting.
The complement constituent is [अगली बैठक से पहले पूरा मसौदा दोबारा पढ़ना]. Matrix हमने ... तय किया evaluates that whole proposed action. Internal masculine मसौदा does not independently turn the infinitive finite.
A nominal predicate can also select an activity:
मुझे सुबह अकेले टहलना पसंद है।
mujhe subah akele ṭahalnā pasand hai.
I like walking alone in the morning.
Dative मुझे is the experiencer and understood walker. Direct टहलना packages the activity as preferred content.
Agreement inside tightly integrated infinitives
Most direct activity infinitives appear in default masculine singular -ना. Selected necessity and restructuring-like predicates can show agreement with an eligible unmarked object:
मुझे आज यह लंबी रिपोर्ट पढ़नी है।
mujhe āj yah lambī riporṭ paṛhnī hai.
I have to read this long report today.
रोशनी ने वह कविता याद करनी चाही।
rośnī ne vah kavitā yād karnī cāhī.
Roshni wanted to memorize that poem. (agreeing pattern)
Feminine रिपोर्ट/कविता supports पढ़नी/करनी. In the second sentence it also supports matrix perfective चाही. Nonagreeing कविता याद करना चाहा occurs for many speakers and contexts; the variation is real, not a license to mix forms as करनी चाहा. The limits are detailed under long-distance agreement.
If an object bears को, it is unavailable for this agreement:
रोशनी ने उस छात्रा को बुलाना चाहा।
rośnī ne us chātrā ko bulānā cāhā.
Roshni wanted to call that student over.
The marked object cannot produce बुलानी चाही. With matrix ने also blocking subject agreement, default masculine singular appears.
Time and negation come from the larger structure
An infinitive does not independently say past, present, or future:
ईशा ने कल नौकरी छोड़ना चाहा था, लेकिन आज उसने रुकने का फ़ैसला किया है।
īśā ne kal naukrī choṛnā cāhā thā, lekin āj usne rukne kā faislā kiyā hai.
Isha wanted to quit her job yesterday, but today she has decided to stay.
Past चाहा था and present perfect फ़ैसला किया है locate the intended actions. छोड़ना and रुकने themselves do not carry tense.
Neutral negation typically precedes the element whose content it denies:
वह अब उस विषय पर बात नहीं करना चाहती।
vah ab us viṣay par bāt nahīṃ karnā cāhtī.
She no longer wants to talk about that subject.
For a clearer matrix-scope denial, Hindi can use a finite clause: वह नहीं चाहती कि हम उस विषय पर बात करें “she does not want us to discuss that subject.” This also supplies the different embedded subject हम.
A naturally embedded chain
प्रबंधक ने बताया कि वह नए कर्मचारियों को पहले प्रशिक्षण पूरा करने देगा और फिर घर से काम करने की अनुमति देगा।
prabandhak ne batāyā ki vah nae karmacāriyoṃ ko pahle praśikṣaṇ pūrā karne degā aur phir ghar se kām karne kī anumati degā.
The manager said that he would first let the new employees complete the training and then permit them to work from home. (formal)
Matrix बताया introduces a finite कि clause. Inside it, वह is the allower, while कर्मचारियों को controls पूरा करने and is understood again with काम करने. Future देगा supplies the finite TAM; neither infinitive does.
Common Mistakes
1. Using direct -ना where permission देना selects -ने
❌ अध्यापक ने बच्चों को बाहर खेलना दिया।
Incorrect — the permission construction selects खेलने दिया.
✅ अध्यापक ने बच्चों को बाहर खेलने दिया।
adhyāpak ne baccoṃ ko bāhar khelne diyā.
The teacher allowed the children to play outside.
2. Using oblique -ने after a direct-control predicate
❌ मोहित जल्दी घर लौटने चाहता है।
Incorrect — चाहना takes direct लौटना in this same-subject pattern.
✅ मोहित जल्दी घर लौटना चाहता है।
mohit jaldī ghar lauṭnā cāhtā hai.
Mohit wants to return home early.
3. Forcing a different subject into a controlled infinitive
❌ दीपा अपने भाई जल्दी आने चाहती है।
Incorrect — a different desired subject requires a finite कि clause.
✅ दीपा चाहती है कि उसका भाई जल्दी आए।
dīpā cāhtī hai ki uskā bhāī jaldī āe.
Deepa wants her brother to come early.
4. Mixing agreeing and nonagreeing patterns
❌ माया ने कहानी लिखनी चाहा।
Incorrect mixed pattern — agreeing लिखनी requires agreeing चाही.
✅ माया ने कहानी लिखनी चाही।
māyā ne kahānī likhnī cāhī.
Maya wanted to write the story. (agreeing pattern)
5. Giving the infinitive independent tense
❌ हम कल रिपोर्ट भेजेगा तय किया।
Incorrect hybrid — the infinitival complement is भेजना; tense belongs to the matrix clause or a finite कि clause.
✅ हमने रिपोर्ट अगले दिन भेजना तय किया।
hamne riporṭ agle din bhejnā tay kiyā.
We decided to send the report the following day.
Key Takeaways
- Infinitival complements lack independent person and TAM; their controller and form come from the matrix predicate.
- Direct -ना commonly appears with same-subject control; -ने and -ने को occur in selected permission, onset, and instruction frames.
- A different subject under desire normally requires a finite कि clause.
- Infinitives form constituents with their own objects and modifiers.
- Agreement through an infinitive is construction-specific; को-marked objects cannot control it.
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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.
- The infinitive as verbal nounA2 — Use the Hindi -ना form to name an action while preserving its objects, modifiers, and understood or expressed subject.
- Infinitive subjects and agreementA2 — Identify who performs a Hindi infinitive and distinguish default -ना from object-controlled infinitive agreement in necessity constructions.
- Oblique infinitive -neA2 — Recognize and form the Hindi oblique infinitive in -ने before postpositions and in purpose, onset, and related non-finite constructions.
- Long-distance agreement limitsA2 — See when Hindi agreement can extend through a tightly integrated infinitival predicate and why finite clauses, case marking, and lexical structure block it.
- 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.