आना is the basic intransitive motion verb “come,” with stem आ- and irregular perfective आया. Its viewpoint is deictic: motion is toward the speaker, listener, or a place currently treated as the center. It also appears in directional compounds and idioms such as समझ में आना “make sense.”
Principal parts and motion frames
| Category | Form | Illustration |
|---|---|---|
| stem | आ- | घर आ- |
| infinitive | आना | समय पर आना |
| habitual | आता / आती / आते | वह आती है |
| perfective | आया / आई / आए / आईं | वे आए |
| conjunctive | आकर | यहाँ आकर |
The endpoint may be bare (घर आना, दिल्ली आना) or expressed with में, पर, तक, के पास. The source uses से: जयपुर से आना. English come to does not require a word-for-word को before every destination.
निधि रोज़ बस से दफ़्तर आती है।
nidhi roz bas se daftar ātī hai.
Nidhi comes to the office by bus every day.
मेरे दोस्त अगले हफ़्ते मुंबई से आएँगे।
mere dost agle hafte mumbaī se āẽge.
My friends will come from Mumbai next week.
This deictic center also explains a common translation mismatch. English Come with me can invite the listener to move away from the place where both people are standing. Hindi then normally uses मेरे साथ चलो, because the relevant motion is departure together, not arrival at “here.” Use मेरे साथ आओ when the destination is conceptualized as the speaker's or another established center.
मेरे साथ चलो; मैं तुम्हें रास्ता दिखा दूँगा।
mere sāth calo; maĩ tumheṃ rāstā dikhā dū̃gā.
Come with me; I'll show you the way. (familiar; male speaker)
Habitual and progressive
| Subject | Habitual present | Progressive present |
|---|---|---|
| मैं, masculine | आता हूँ | आ रहा हूँ |
| मैं, feminine | आती हूँ | आ रही हूँ |
| वह, masculine | आता है | आ रहा है |
| वह, feminine | आती है | आ रही है |
| हम / आप / वे, masculine or mixed | आते हैं | आ रहे हैं |
| हम / वे, all feminine | आती हैं | आ रही हैं |
मैं अभी स्टेशन से वापस आ रही हूँ।
maĩ abhī sṭeśan se vāpas ā rahī hū̃.
I'm coming back from the station now. (female speaker)
The lexical stem आ-, progressive रही, and auxiliary हूँ are separate layers. A present habitual describes repeated arrival; the progressive presents motion in progress or an arrival already under way.
Irregular perfective and intransitive agreement
The perfective is आया, आई, आए, आईं. आना is intransitive, so its subject is unmarked, controls agreement, and does not take ergative ने.
कूरियर सुबह नौ बजे आया।
kūriyar subah nau baje āyā.
The courier came at nine in the morning.
मेरी दोनों बहनें कल रात आईं।
merī donoṃ bahneṃ kal rāt āīṃ.
Both my sisters came last night.
प्रोफ़ेसर अभी तक नहीं आए हैं।
profesar abhī tak nahīṃ āe haiṃ.
The professor has not arrived yet. (honorific)
The last example uses honorific plural agreement for one respected person. Present perfect adds हैं after आए; the irregular lexical perfective stays visible.
Future and subjunctive
| Person | Subjunctive | Future masculine | Future feminine |
|---|---|---|---|
| मैं | आऊँ | आऊँगा | आऊँगी |
| तुम | आओ | आओगे | आओगी |
| वह / यह | आए | आएगा | आएगी |
| हम / आप / वे / ये | आएँ | आएँगे | आएँगी |
अगर समय मिला तो मैं समारोह में आऊँगा।
agar samay milā to maĩ samāroh meṃ āū̃gā.
If I have time, I'll come to the ceremony. (male speaker)
अच्छा होगा कि आप थोड़ा पहले आएँ।
acchā hogā ki āp thoṛā pahle āẽ.
It would be good if you came a little earlier.
Imperatives and participles
The main imperative levels are intimate आ, familiar आओ, and respectful आइए. Negative commands use मत.
अंदर आइए और आराम से बैठिए।
andar āie aur ārām se baiṭhie.
Please come in and sit comfortably. (respectful)
Non-finite forms include आता, आया, आते हुए, आकर, oblique आने, and prospective आने वाला.
घर आकर मुझे फ़ोन कर देना।
ghar ākar mujhe fon kar denā.
Call me after you get home. (familiar reminder)
Directional compounds, causation, and idioms
Directional combinations refine the path: वापस आना “come back,” निकल आना “come out,” चले आना “come along,” and ले आना “bring.” Compound आ जाना often presents arrival as completed or unexpectedly achieved.
बारिश शुरू होने से पहले सब लोग अंदर आ गए।
bāriś śurū hone se pahle sab log andar ā gae.
Everyone came inside before the rain started.
Modern Hindi does not form an everyday causative आवाना meaning “make come.” It uses lexical बुलाना “call/invite” for causing a person to come, लाना for bringing someone or something, and मँगवाना for having something brought or ordered.
An important idiomatic frame is समझ में आना, literally “come into understanding.”
अब मुझे आपकी बात समझ में आ रही है।
ab mujhe āpkī bāt samajh meṃ ā rahī hai.
Now I understand what you're saying.
Here feminine बात controls आ रही है; dative मुझे is the experiencer. See intransitive perfective agreement for the general alignment.
Common Mistakes
❌ रीना कल आया।
Incorrect — feminine रीना requires आई.
✅ रीना कल आई।
rīnā kal āī.
Reena came yesterday.
❌ मेहमानों ने देर से आए।
Incorrect — intransitive आना does not take ergative ने.
✅ मेहमान देर से आए।
mehmān der se āe.
The guests arrived late.
❌ मैं शाम को आऊँगा हूँ।
Incorrect — आऊँगा is already finite and takes no present copula.
✅ मैं शाम को आऊँगा।
maĩ śām ko āū̃gā.
I'll come in the evening. (male speaker)
❌ कृपया अंदर आएँइए।
Incorrect — the respectful imperative is the irregular आइए.
✅ कृपया अंदर आइए।
kripyā andar āie.
Please come in.
Key Takeaways
आना has stem आ-, irregular perfective आया, first-person future आऊँगा, and respectful imperative आइए. It is intransitive and never selects perfective ergative ने. Learn sources and destinations with their natural frames, and treat directional and idiomatic combinations such as ले आना and समझ में आना as part of the lexeme's grammar.
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Start learning Hindi →Related Topics
- जाना jānā: to goA1 — Reference जाना as a motion verb, its suppletive perfective गया, its future and imperative forms, and its passive and vector uses.
- ले आना le ānā: to bringA2 — Reference ले आना as a speakerward directional compound, with आना-based inflection, argument patterns, and the contrast with ले जाना.
- Intransitive perfective agreementA2 — Make ordinary intransitive perfectives agree with their unmarked subject while recognizing agentive exceptions and experiencer structures.
- Irregular polite imperativesB1 — Master high-frequency respectful forms such as कीजिए, दीजिए, लीजिए, and पीजिए, including their regular alternatives and vector uses.
- Compound verbs: lexical stem plus vectorA2 — Build Hindi compound verbs from a bare lexical stem and an inflected vector that profiles completion, direction, affectedness, or attitude.
- पता होना and पता चलनाB2 — Contrast information already available with information becoming known, and separate both from actively finding something out.