काम करना covers two central ideas: an animate participant does work, or a thing, method, or medicine functions and produces its intended result. English uses work in both ways too, but the Hindi predicate is transparently built from masculine noun काम “work” plus करना “do.” That structure explains its perfective काम किया, its causatives काम कराना/करवाना, and many of its collocations.
Core forms
The noun काम does not inflect inside this predicate; करना carries tense, aspect, mood, person, and gender-number morphology.
| Category | Common form | Typical value |
|---|---|---|
| infinitive | काम करना | to work; to function |
| habitual | काम करता / करती / करते | works; normally functions |
| progressive | काम कर रहा / रही / रहे | is working |
| perfective | काम किया | worked; did the job |
| conjunctive | काम करके | having worked; by working |
| prospective | काम करने वाला / वाली / वाले | about to work; one that works |
मैं आज पास वाले कैफ़े से काम कर रही हूँ।
maĩ āj pās vāle kaife se kām kar rahī hū̃.
I’m working from the nearby café today. (female speaker)
पुराना प्रिंटर अब भी ठीक काम करता है।
purānā priṇṭar ab bhī ṭhīk kām kartā hai.
The old printer still works properly.
The first subject is an agent doing a job; the second is an inanimate system functioning. Neither use is auxiliary: in both, काम करना is the lexical predicate. For the general inflection of करना, see करना: to do.
Human work and its complements
A workplace or organization commonly takes में: बैंक में काम करना. A task, document, or project under active attention often takes पर: रिपोर्ट पर काम करना. A beneficiary or employer can take के लिए, and a collaborator takes के साथ. English work on therefore corresponds to पर, but English work for may be के लिए or a locative organization phrase depending on the relationship meant.
नीलम अस्पताल में बच्चों के साथ काम करती है।
nīlam aspatāl meṃ baccoṃ ke sāth kām kartī hai.
Neelam works with children at a hospital.
हम इस हफ़्ते नई वेबसाइट पर काम कर रहे हैं।
ham is hafte naī vebsāiṭ par kām kar rahe haiṃ.
We’re working on the new website this week.
वह एक छोटी संस्था के लिए काम करता है।
vah ek choṭī saṃsthā ke lie kām kartā hai.
He works for a small organization.
When काम means a bounded task rather than employment, it can be modified or counted: यह काम, दो काम, ज़रूरी काम. The phrase is then closer to “do a task,” although Hindi still uses करना.
पहले यह ज़रूरी काम कर लो, फिर आराम करना।
pahle yah zarūrī kām kar lo, phir ārām karnā.
Finish this important task first, then rest.
Functioning and producing an effect
With machines, software, plans, and methods, काम करना means “function” or “work as intended.” With a remedy or intervention it means “take effect.” These subjects are not metaphorical workers: Hindi has extended the noun-plus-करना predicate to successful operation.
अगर यह लिंक काम न करे, तो मुझे संदेश भेज देना।
agar yah liṅk kām na kare, to mujhe sandeś bhej denā.
If this link doesn’t work, send me a message.
दवा ने आधे घंटे में काम किया।
davā ne ādhe ghaṇṭe meṃ kām kiyā.
The medicine took effect within half an hour.
पहली योजना काम नहीं करेगी, क्योंकि बजट बहुत कम है।
pahlī yojnā kām nahīṃ karegī, kyoṅki bajaṭ bahut kam hai.
The first plan won’t work because the budget is far too small.
काम करना focuses on functioning or effectiveness. चलना can also describe a machine running, a service operating, or a business continuing; काम आना means “be useful”; काम बनना means that a desired outcome works out. They overlap in English translation but are not freely interchangeable.
यह छोटा औज़ार मुश्किल समय में बहुत काम आता है।
yah choṭā auzār muśkil samay meṃ bahut kām ātā hai.
This small tool is very useful in a difficult situation.
Perfective alignment and agreement
काम करना is normally agentive and transitive in its human sense. In a perfective clause, the agent takes ने and the fixed masculine nominal element gives किया. The same pattern is natural when an inanimate cause is construed as producing an effect: दवा ने काम किया. This differs from an ordinary unaccusative “happen” predicate.
तकनीशियन ने रात भर काम किया और सर्वर ठीक कर दिया।
taknīśiyan ne rāt bhar kām kiyā aur sarvar ṭhīk kar diyā.
The technician worked all night and fixed the server.
नई तरकीब ने तुरंत काम किया।
naī tarkīb ne turant kām kiyā.
The new trick worked immediately.
Because काम is the incorporated masculine noun, किया remains masculine singular; it does not agree with a feminine worker or with a later पर-phrase. This lexical agreement is discussed more broadly on the perfective of करना page.
Future, subjunctive, and commands
| Person | Subjunctive | Future masculine | Future feminine |
|---|---|---|---|
| मैं | काम करूँ | काम करूँगा | काम करूँगी |
| तुम | काम करो | काम करोगे | काम करोगी |
| यह / वह | काम करे | काम करेगा | काम करेगी |
| हम / आप / ये / वे | काम करें | काम करेंगे | काम करेंगी |
उम्मीद है कि यह तरीका सबके लिए काम करे।
ummīd hai ki yah tarīkā sabke lie kām kare.
I hope this method works for everyone.
The imperatives are intimate काम कर, familiar काम करो, and respectful काम कीजिए. काम करें is a respectful jussive or collaborative “let us work,” depending on context. A bare command may sound abrupt; ज़रा, कृपया, or a reason can soften it.
कृपया ऑफ़लाइन रहकर काम कीजिए, ताकि ध्यान न बँटे।
kripyā oflāin rahkar kām kījie, tāki dhyān na bãṭe.
Please work offline so that you aren’t distracted.
Participles, compounds, and causation
Common participial forms are काम करते हुए “while working,” काम करके “after/by working,” काम किया हुआ “worked on/done,” and काम करने वाला “a person or thing that works.” Context decides whether वाला describes an occupation, a function, or an imminent action.
काम करते हुए वह फ़ोन बंद रखती है।
kām karte hue vah fon band rakhtī hai.
She keeps her phone switched off while working.
Vector verbs add event shape. काम कर लेना presents work as completed for one’s own purposes; काम कर देना foregrounds prompt or beneficiary-oriented completion; काम करते रहना presents continuation. These vectors carry the inflection while काम कर- remains the lexical core.
तुम ग्राहक से बात कर लो; बाकी काम मैं कर दूँगी।
tum grāhak se bāt kar lo; bākī kām maĩ kar dū̃gī.
You speak with the customer; I’ll do the rest of the work. (female speaker)
The direct causative काम कराना means make or have someone work, or get work done. काम करवाना more strongly suggests arranging it through another person. The worker commonly takes से; the task can remain an unmarked काम phrase.
मकान मालिक ने मिस्त्री से छत का काम करवाया।
makān mālik ne mistrī se chat kā kām karvāyā.
The landlord had the mason do the roof work.
Idiom and false equivalents
अपने काम से काम रखना literally means “keep to one’s own work” and idiomatically means “mind one’s own business.” It is neutral to sharp depending on intonation. English work out is not generally काम करना: exercise is कसरत करना, solve a problem is हल करना, and a situation “working out” may be काम बन जाना. English work someone as manipulation also needs a different verb.
मैंने उससे कहा कि वह अपने काम से काम रखे।
maĩne usse kahā ki vah apne kām se kām rakhe.
I told him/her to mind his/her own business.
Common Mistakes
❌ मैं नई रिपोर्ट में काम कर रहा हूँ।
Incorrect for ‘working on the report’ — the active project takes पर, not में.
✅ मैं नई रिपोर्ट पर काम कर रहा हूँ।
maĩ naī riporṭ par kām kar rahā hū̃.
I’m working on the new report.
❌ सीमा ने देर तक काम की।
Incorrect — काम करना has perfective काम किया even with a feminine agent.
✅ सीमा ने देर तक काम किया।
sīmā ne der tak kām kiyā.
Seema worked until late.
❌ यह दवा मेरे लिए नहीं चलती है।
Incorrect for intended therapeutic effect in this context; काम करना expresses whether the remedy works.
✅ यह दवा मेरे लिए काम नहीं करती है।
yah davā mere lie kām nahīṃ kartī hai.
This medicine doesn’t work for me.
❌ मालिक ने मज़दूर को रात भर काम करवाया।
Awkward marking in the causative frame — the actual worker is normally marked with से.
✅ मालिक ने मज़दूर से रात भर काम करवाया।
mālik ne mazdūr se rāt bhar kām karvāyā.
The owner had the laborer work all night.
Key Takeaways
काम करना is a masculine noun-plus-करना predicate with both agentive “work” and inanimate “function/take effect” uses. Its complements distinguish workplace में, project पर, beneficiary के लिए, and collaborator के साथ. Perfective agents normally take ने and the predicate is काम किया; causatives introduce the worker with से. Its compounds and neighboring predicates refine completion, usefulness, operation, and successful outcome.
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- करना karnā: to doA1 — Reference करना across its major paradigms, including irregular किया, ergative perfectives, causatives, and productive noun-plus-करना predicates.
- लगना lagnā: to seem feel attach and beginA2 — Reference लगना across seeming, bodily sensation, attachment, time and cost, and infinitive-plus-लगना onset frames.
- Perfective of करनाA2 — Use irregular किया, की, किए, and कीं in simple and auxiliary-bearing perfectives, with agreement determined by object marking.
- Direct causatives in -ā-B2 — Form and use Hindi -ā- causatives for direct, closely controlled causation while tracking lexical stem changes and ordinary agreement.
- 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.
- देना as outward or other-directed vectorA2 — Use vector देना to present a result as released, made available, directed outward, or decisively brought about.