जीना means be alive or live one's life. It does not normally express residence—that is रहना, covered separately in the रहना reference. जीना focuses on life, survival, duration, or manner: लंबा जीना, खुशी से जीना, अपने तरीके से जीना. With a cognate object such as ज़िंदगी, it can also pattern transitively.
Irregular principal forms
The stem is जी-, but several forms insert य or short इ: perfective जिया, subjunctive जिऊँ, and familiar imperative जियो.
| Category | Forms |
|---|---|
| infinitive | जीना |
| habitual | जीता / जीती / जीते |
| progressive | जी रहा / जी रही / जी रहे |
| perfective | जिया / जी / जिए / जीं |
| conjunctive | जीकर |
| simultaneous participle | जीते हुए |
| prospective | जीने वाला / जीने वाली / जीने वाले |
यह कछुआ सौ साल से ज़्यादा जी सकता है।
yah kachuā sau sāl se zyādā jī saktā hai.
This tortoise can live for more than a hundred years.
वह मुश्किल हालात में भी उम्मीद के साथ जी रही है।
vah muśkil hālāt meṃ bhī ummīd ke sāth jī rahī hai.
She is living with hope even in difficult circumstances.
Manner, duration, and means
Manner often takes से, के साथ, की तरह, or an adverbial phrase: इज़्ज़त से जीना, डर के साथ जीना, राजा की तरह जीना. Duration is usually unmarked: नब्बे साल जीना. Means of support may use पर: कम आय पर जीना.
वे बहुत कम आय पर सादगी से जीते हैं।
ve bahut kam āy par sādgī se jīte haiṃ.
They live simply on a very low income.
दादी छियानवे साल जीं।
dādī chiyānve sāl jīṃ.
Grandmother lived for ninety-six years. (honorific)
The honorific/feminine plural form जीं is compact and irregular-looking. No residence meaning is implied.
Intransitive and cognate-object frames
Simple जीना is intransitive: वह लंबा जिया, with no ने and subject agreement. With an explicit life object such as ज़िंदगी/जीवन, speakers often use a transitive perfective: उसने कठिन ज़िंदगी जी.
उसने गाँव में लंबी और संतोषभरी ज़िंदगी जी।
usne gā̃v meṃ lambī aur santoṣbharī zindagī jī.
She lived a long and fulfilling life in the village.
वह बीमारी के बाद भी कई साल जिया।
vah bīmārī ke bād bhī kaī sāl jiyā.
He lived for several years even after the illness.
This valency alternation is lexical. Do not add ने mechanically whenever English has a past-tense “lived”; it appears when जीना has a transitive cognate object, not in the basic intransitive duration frame.
Future and subjunctive
| Person | Subjunctive | Future masculine | Future feminine |
|---|---|---|---|
| मैं | जिऊँ | जिऊँगा | जिऊँगी |
| तुम | जियो | जियोगे | जियोगी |
| यह / वह | जिए | जिएगा | जिएगी |
| हम / आप / ये / वे | जिएँ | जिएँगे | जिएँगी |
मैं डरकर नहीं, अपने मूल्यों के अनुसार जिऊँगा।
maĩ ḍarkar nahīṃ, apne mūlyoṃ ke anusār jiū̃gā.
I will live by my values, not in fear. (male speaker)
हम चाहते हैं कि हर बच्चा सुरक्षित और सम्मान से जिए।
ham cāhte haiṃ ki har baccā surakṣit aur sammān se jie.
We want every child to live safely and with dignity.
Imperatives and participles
Imperatives are intimate जी, familiar जियो, and respectful जीजिए. They commonly occur as encouragement or blessing rather than as literal commands to remain biologically alive.
अपने सपनों के लिए जियो, दूसरों के डर के लिए नहीं।
apne sapnoṃ ke lie jiyo, dūsroṃ ke ḍar ke lie nahīṃ.
Live for your dreams, not for other people's fears. (familiar)
The blessing जीते रहो “live long/remain blessed” is familiar and affectionate. Respectful blessings often use दीर्घायु हों (formal).
Participles include जीता हुआ, जीते हुए, जीकर, and जीने वाला. जिया हुआ अनुभव means lived experience.
उस उपन्यास में लेखक का जिया हुआ अनुभव दिखाई देता है।
us upanyās meṃ lekhak kā jiyā huā anubhav dikhāī detā hai.
The author's lived experience is visible in that novel.
जी लेना, जी उठना, and causation
जी लेना means manage to live, live out an opportunity, or experience something fully. जी उठना can mean revive or come vividly alive, literally or figuratively.
छुट्टी के उन दो दिनों में हमने जैसे पूरा साल जी लिया।
chuṭṭī ke un do dinoṃ meṃ hamne jaise pūrā sāl jī liyā.
In those two vacation days, it felt as though we lived a whole year.
पुराना गीत सुनते ही उसकी यादें जी उठीं।
purānā gīt sunte hī uskī yādeṃ jī uṭhīṃ.
As soon as she heard the old song, her memories came alive.
The inherited causative जिलाना exists, especially for “revive” or “keep alive,” but it is lexical and comparatively literary rather than an everyday causative for every sense of जीना. Ordinary Hindi more often uses ज़िंदा रखना “keep alive,” जीने देना “let live,” or जान बचाना “save a life,” depending on meaning.
The idiom जी-जान से means wholeheartedly or with total effort.
Common Mistakes
❌ मैं मुंबई में जीता हूँ।
Incorrect for ordinary residence — use रहना.
✅ मैं मुंबई में रहता हूँ।
maĩ mumbaī meṃ rahtā hū̃.
I live in Mumbai. (male speaker)
❌ उसने सौ साल जिया।
Incorrect in the simple intransitive duration frame — no ने.
✅ वह सौ साल जिया।
vah sau sāl jiyā.
He lived for a hundred years.
❌ वह कठिन ज़िंदगी जिया।
Incorrect in the transitive cognate-object frame — use ने and agree with feminine ज़िंदगी.
✅ उसने कठिन ज़िंदगी जी।
usne kaṭhin zindagī jī.
He/She lived a difficult life.
❌ मैं ऐसे जीऊँगा।
Incorrect standard spelling — first-person future is जिऊँगा.
✅ मैं अपने तरीके से जिऊँगा।
maĩ apne tarīke se jiū̃gā.
I'll live in my own way. (male speaker)
Key Takeaways
जीना expresses being alive and the manner, duration, or quality of life; residence normally uses रहना. Learn its irregular forms जिया, जिऊँ, जियो, जिएँ. It is basically intransitive but permits a transitive cognate-object frame, and compounds such as जी लेना and जी उठना add fulfillment or revival.
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- मरना marnā: to dieB1 — Reference मरना across dying, death states, cause expressions, irregular-looking contrasts with मारना, light-verb extensions, and respectful alternatives.
- जन्म लेना janm lenā: to be bornB1 — Reference जन्म लेना as a noun-plus-लेना predicate for being born and coming into existence, without an English passive calque.
- Intransitive perfective agreementA2 — Make ordinary intransitive perfectives agree with their unmarked subject while recognizing agentive exceptions and experiencer structures.
- Transitive perfective with नेA2 — Mark the actor with ने in canonical transitive perfectives and choose verb agreement from the eligible object rather than the semantic doer.
- Participles with हुआB1 — Use हुआ to expand imperfective and perfective participles, with agreement in noun modifiers and controlled -ते हुए adverbials.
- लेना as self-directed or completive vectorA2 — Use vector लेना to present a result as secured for the agent, brought under control, or carried through to completion.