खाना is both the verb “eat” and a masculine noun meaning “food/meal”: खाना खाना literally means “eat food.” The verb has stem खा-, perfective खाया, and irregular causative-family member खिलाना “feed.” As a transitive verb, its perfective uses ने and normally agrees with an unmarked food object.
Principal parts and food frames
| Category | Form | Illustration |
|---|---|---|
| stem | खा- | रोटी खा- |
| infinitive | खाना | फल खाना |
| habitual | खाता / खाती / खाते | वह खाती है |
| perfective | खाया / खाई / खाए / खाईं | उसने रोटी खाई |
| conjunctive | खाकर | खाना खाकर |
Food is normally an unmarked object: दाल खाना, आम खाना, खाना खाना. A specific animate object would generally take को, but ordinary food nouns do not receive को merely because English has an article.
हम रात का खाना आठ बजे खाते हैं।
ham rāt kā khānā āṭh baje khāte haiṃ.
We eat dinner at eight o'clock.
सोनिया मांस नहीं खाती।
soniyā māṃs nahīṃ khātī.
Sonia doesn't eat meat.
Common meal collocations include नाश्ता करना/खाना, दोपहर का खाना खाना, and रात का खाना खाना. Formal भोजन करना is common in announcements and careful writing, but is not the sole neutral way to say “eat.”
Questions and negation use the ordinary transitive frame. क्या तुमने खाना खाया? asks about a completed meal, while मैंने अभी तक कुछ नहीं खाया says that no eating event has occurred up to now. The negative item कुछ नहीं does not force a special form of खाना.
क्या आपने दोपहर का खाना खाया?
kyā āpne dopahar kā khānā khāyā?
Did you eat lunch? (respectful)
मैंने सुबह से कुछ नहीं खाया है।
maĩne subah se kuch nahīṃ khāyā hai.
I haven't eaten anything since morning.
Habitual and progressive
| Subject | Habitual present | Progressive present |
|---|---|---|
| मैं, masculine | खाता हूँ | खा रहा हूँ |
| मैं, feminine | खाती हूँ | खा रही हूँ |
| वह, masculine | खाता है | खा रहा है |
| वह, feminine | खाती है | खा रही है |
| हम / आप / वे, masculine or mixed | खाते हैं | खा रहे हैं |
| हम / वे, all feminine | खाती हैं | खा रही हैं |
बच्चे अभी रसोई में आम खा रहे हैं।
bacce abhī rasoī meṃ ām khā rahe haiṃ.
The children are eating mangoes in the kitchen right now.
The habitual describes diets and routines; the progressive presents an eating event in progress. The long vowel आ remains throughout the stem.
Perfective agreement
Canonical perfective खाना marks the eater with ने. The unmarked food controls खाया/खाई/खाए/खाईं. A को-marked object would block agreement and yield default खाया.
मीरा ने पूरी रोटी खाई।
mīrā ne pūrī roṭī khāī.
Meera ate the whole flatbread.
मेहमानों ने सारे आम खाए।
mehmānoṃ ne sāre ām khāe.
The guests ate all the mangoes.
हमने सुबह थोड़ा दलिया खाया था।
hamne subah thoṛā daliyā khāyā thā.
We had eaten a little porridge in the morning.
The perfective inserts written य in masculine खाया, while feminine खाई has the sequence आई. These are regular surface forms for vowel-final खा-, not separate lexical stems.
Future, subjunctive, and imperative
| Person | Subjunctive | Future masculine | Future feminine |
|---|---|---|---|
| मैं | खाऊँ | खाऊँगा | खाऊँगी |
| तुम | खाओ | खाओगे | खाओगी |
| वह / यह | खाए | खाएगा | खाएगी |
| हम / आप / वे / ये | खाएँ | खाएँगे | खाएँगी |
मैं रास्ते में कुछ हल्का खाऊँगी।
maĩ rāste meṃ kuch halkā khāū̃gī.
I'll eat something light on the way. (female speaker)
डॉक्टर ने कहा है कि आप कम नमक खाएँ।
ḍokṭar ne kahā hai ki āp kam namak khāẽ.
The doctor has said that you should eat less salt.
Imperatives are intimate खा, familiar खाओ, and respectful खाइए. Common non-finite forms are खाता, खाया, खाते हुए, खाकर, खाने, खाने वाला.
पहले कुछ खा लीजिए, फिर दवा लीजिए।
pahle kuch khā lījie, phir davā lījie.
Please eat something first, then take the medicine.
Causative खिलाना and compound verbs
The direct causative is खिलाना “feed,” not खानाना. The eater/recipient commonly takes को; the food remains a separate theme. Indirect खिलवाना means have someone feed.
पिता बच्चे को केला खिला रहे हैं।
pitā bacce ko kelā khilā rahe haiṃ.
The father is feeding the child a banana. (honorific reference)
हमने यात्रा से पहले बच्चों को खाना खिलवा दिया।
hamne yātrā se pahle baccoṃ ko khānā khilvā diyā.
We had the children fed before the journey.
Compound खा लेना presents eating as completed, often for the eater's practical benefit; खा जाना can present complete consumption and may sound intensive with a large amount.
देर हो रही है, इसलिए फल खा लो।
der ho rahī hai, islie phal khā lo.
It's getting late, so eat the fruit. (familiar)
Vector verbs contribute event structure and are not freely interchangeable. खाना also has idiomatic extensions: धोखा खाना “be deceived,” मार खाना “get beaten,” and कसम खाना “swear an oath.” These do not describe food.
Common Mistakes
❌ रीना ने रोटी खाया।
Incorrect — unmarked feminine रोटी controls खाई.
✅ रीना ने रोटी खाई।
rīnā ne roṭī khāī.
Reena ate the flatbread.
❌ बच्चों ने दो आम खाया।
Incorrect — plural आम controls खाए.
✅ बच्चों ने दो आम खाए।
baccoṃ ne do ām khāe.
The children ate two mangoes.
❌ मैं कल यहाँ खाऊँगा हूँ।
Incorrect — खाऊँगा is already a finite future form.
✅ मैं कल यहाँ खाऊँगा।
maĩ kal yahā̃ khāū̃gā.
I'll eat here tomorrow. (male speaker)
❌ माँ बच्चे को खाना खानाती है।
Incorrect — the causative of खाना is खिलाना.
✅ माँ बच्चे को खाना खिलाती है।
mā̃ bacce ko khānā khilātī hai.
The mother feeds the child.
Key Takeaways
खाना has stem खा-, perfective खाया, and causative खिलाना. Its canonical perfective takes ने, with an unmarked food object controlling agreement. Learn its meal collocations and idioms as complete predicates, and treat खा लेना/खा जाना as aspectually meaningful compounds rather than optional decoration.
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