लगना is a highly polysemous intransitive verb. It can mean “seem/feel,” “be attached/applied,” “take” time or money, produce a bodily sensation, or mark the beginning of another event. Its form is regular, but each meaning has its own argument frame and agreement controller.
Principal parts
| Category | Form | Illustration |
|---|---|---|
| stem | लग- | अच्छा लग- / काम में लग- |
| infinitive | लगना | समय लगना |
| habitual | लगता / लगती / लगते | कहानी अच्छी लगती है |
| perfective | लगा / लगी / लगे / लगीं | ठंड लगी |
| conjunctive | लगकर | काम में लगकर |
Because लगना is intransitive, its perfective normally has no ने. The challenge is locating the unmarked stimulus, sensation, entity attached, duration, or onset participant that controls agreement.
Seeming and evaluation
The evaluated stimulus is unmarked; the experiencer optionally takes को. The stimulus controls both an agreeing adjective and लगना.
मुझे यह कमरा थोड़ा अँधेरा लगता है।
mujhe yah kamrā thoṛā ãdherā lagtā hai.
This room seems a little dark to me.
दर्शकों को आख़िरी दो कहानियाँ अधूरी लगीं।
darśakoṃ ko āxirī do kahāniyā̃ adhūrī lagīṃ.
The last two stories seemed incomplete to the audience.
With a clause, default लगता है introduces an assessment: मुझे लगता है कि.... English often makes the experiencer the subject of think, but Hindi makes it dative.
Sensation, attachment, time, and cost
Bodily-sensation frames put the experiencer in the dative and the sensation in the unmarked position.
बाहर निकलते ही मुझे ठंड लगी।
bāhar nikalte hī mujhe ṭhaṇḍ lagī.
As soon as I went outside, I felt cold.
Attachment or application uses a location phrase, often पर/में. The attached entity controls agreement.
दरवाज़े पर नया ताला लगा है।
darvāze par nayā tālā lagā hai.
A new lock has been fitted on the door.
Time and cost frames make the measure expression central.
मरम्मत में तीन घंटे लगे और काफ़ी पैसे भी लगे।
marammat meṃ tīn ghaṇṭe lage aur kāfī paise bhī lage.
The repair took three hours and cost quite a lot of money too.
These are not interchangeable translations of one English verb. Learn ठंड लगना, ताला लगना, समय लगना, पैसे लगना as lexical frames.
Beginning: oblique infinitive + लगना
Onset uses an infinitive in -ने: हँसने लगना, बारिश होने लगना, काम करने लगना. The participant beginning the event controls लगना.
बात सुनकर सभी बच्चे हँसने लगे।
bāt sunkar sabhī bacce hãsne lage.
After hearing it, all the children began to laugh.
शाम होते ही हवा ठंडी होने लगी।
śām hote hī havā ṭhaṇḍī hone lagī.
As evening fell, the air began to get cold.
The lexical event is in the -ने phrase, लगना adds onset, and perfective लगा/लगी/लगे/लगीं presents the boundary. See infinitive plus लगना.
Habitual, progressive, future, and subjunctive
| Controller | Habitual present | Progressive present | Future |
|---|---|---|---|
| masculine singular | लगता है | लग रहा है | लगेगा |
| feminine singular | लगती है | लग रही है | लगेगी |
| masculine/mixed plural | लगते हैं | लग रहे हैं | लगेंगे |
| feminine plural | लगती हैं | लग रही हैं | लगेंगी |
Subjunctive forms are लगूँ, लगो, लगे, लगें. First-person “seem” is fully possible when the speaker is the evaluated stimulus, as in अगर मैं आपको थका हुआ लगूँ... “if I seem tired to you...” (male speaker). It is simply less frequent in basic paradigms because many common लगना frames have a third-person stimulus, sensation, or measure as controller.
इस काम में कम-से-कम दो दिन लगेंगे।
is kām meṃ kam-se-kam do din lageṅge.
This work will take at least two days.
जैसे ही संकेत मिले, सब काम में लग जाएँ।
jaise hī saṅket mile, sab kām meṃ lag jāẽ.
As soon as the signal comes, everyone should get to work.
Direct imperatives लग, लगो, लगिए are natural in volitional frames such as काम में लगो or लाइन में लगिए, not in involuntary “feel cold” or “seem” frames. Common non-finite forms are लगता, लगा, लगते हुए, लगकर, लगने, लगने वाला.
Negation preserves the frame: मुझे ठीक नहीं लगता rejects an evaluation, while काम शुरू नहीं लगा is not a neutral onset construction; Hindi says काम शुरू नहीं हुआ or denies the infinitive-plus-लगना predicate. Questions likewise keep the experiencer dative.
क्या आपको यह रंग बहुत गहरा लगता है?
kyā āpko yah raṅg bahut gahrā lagtā hai?
Does this color seem too dark to you?
Causatives and compounds
Transitive लगाना means attach, apply, install, set, or cause a relevant contact; लगवाना means have it attached/applied by someone else.
तकनीशियन ने दीवार पर नया स्विच लगाया।
taknīśiyan ne dīvār par nayā svic lagāyā.
The technician installed a new switch on the wall.
हमने खिड़कियों पर नए पर्दे लगवाए।
hamne khiṛkiyoṃ par nae parde lagvāe.
We had new curtains put on the windows.
Compound लग जाना often presents attachment or onset as achieved: आग लग गई, ताला लग गया, मन लग गया. A useful idiom is मन लगना, “become engaged/interested; feel settled.”
Common Mistakes
❌ मैं यह कहानी अच्छी लगता हूँ।
Incorrect — the experiencer takes को, and feminine कहानी controls agreement.
✅ मुझे यह कहानी अच्छी लगती है।
mujhe yah kahānī acchī lagtī hai.
I like/find this story good.
❌ बच्चे हँसना लगे।
Incorrect — onset लगना requires the oblique infinitive हँसने.
✅ बच्चे हँसने लगे।
bacce hãsne lage.
The children began to laugh.
❌ मरम्मत में तीन घंटे लगा।
Incorrect — plural घंटे controls लगे.
✅ मरम्मत में तीन घंटे लगे।
marammat meṃ tīn ghaṇṭe lage.
The repair took three hours.
❌ मुझे ठंड ने लगी।
Incorrect — involuntary लगना has no ergative ने.
✅ मुझे ठंड लगी।
mujhe ṭhaṇḍ lagī.
I felt cold.
Key Takeaways
लगना is regular in form but lexically diverse. It takes dative experiencers in seeming and sensation frames, unmarked measures in time/cost frames, and an oblique infinitive in onset predicates. It has no perfective ने. Transitive लगाना and indirect लगवाना belong to the same lexical family but introduce a causer.
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- लगना seeming and beginningB1 — Distinguish experiencer लगना ‘seem’ from infinitive-plus-लगना ‘begin,’ and track the different agreement controllers in each pattern.
- बनना रहना लगना as copular verbsA1 — Distinguish बनना ‘become,’ रहना ‘remain,’ and लगना ‘seem/feel’ as copular predicates with different event structures and agreement patterns.
- Infinitive plus लगना onsetC1 — Use the oblique infinitive with लगना to locate the beginning of an activity, process, habit, or emerging state.
- Raising-like लगना constructionsC1 — Analyze Hindi लगना ‘seem’ as a raising-like predicate, with a dative experiencer, an agreeing stimulus, and a distinct finite कि-clause alternative.
- Volitional and non-volitional predicatesA1 — Contrast controlled actions with experiences, accidental events, and states whose semantic experiencer is not an ordinary subject.
- मन लगना and मन करनाB2 — Express absorbed attention, emotional settledness, and spontaneous desire through the distinct frames मन लगना and मन करना.