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लेना lenā: to take

लेना means “take,” “receive,” or “get,” depending on its argument frame. It is transitive, has irregular perfective लिया, and uses special first-person forms लूँ/लूँगा. After another verb stem, it is a high-frequency vector presenting an action as completed for, retained by, or brought under the actor's control.

Principal parts and lexical frames

CategoryFormIllustration
stemले-किताब ले-
infinitiveलेनादुकान से किताब लेना
habitualलेता / लेती / लेतेवह दवा लेती है
perfectiveलिया / ली / लिए / लींउसने छुट्टी ली
conjunctiveलेकरबैग लेकर

The source commonly takes से: रवि से किताब लेना, दुकान से दूध लेना. The thing taken is usually unmarked and can control agreement. लेना also appears in conventional predicates such as फ़ैसला लेना “make a decision,” साँस लेना “breathe,” जगह लेना “take up space,” and समय लेना “take time.”

वह रोज़ नाश्ते के बाद दवा लेती है।

vah roz nāśte ke bād davā letī hai.

She takes medicine every day after breakfast.

मैंने पुस्तकालय से दो किताबें लीं।

maĩne pustakālay se do kitābeṃ līṃ.

I borrowed/took two books from the library.

💡
English take has many idioms, and Hindi लेना has its own. Learn दवा लेना, छुट्टी लेना, and समय लेना as complete predicates instead of assuming every English phrase with take transfers directly.

Habitual and progressive

SubjectHabitual presentProgressive present
मैं, masculineलेता हूँले रहा हूँ
मैं, feminineलेती हूँले रही हूँ
वह, masculineलेता हैले रहा है
वह, feminineलेती हैले रही है
हम / आप / वे, masculine or mixedलेते हैंले रहे हैं
हम / वे, all feminineलेती हैंले रही हैं

हम अभी खाने का ऑर्डर ले रहे हैं।

ham abhī khāne kā orḍar le rahe haiṃ.

We are taking the food order now. (male or mixed group)

The participial layer agrees with the unmarked subject. In a completed transitive event, alignment changes.

Irregular perfective and ergative agreement

Canonical perfective लेना marks its agent with ने. The unmarked object controls लिया/ली/लिए/लीं; a को-marked object blocks agreement and gives default लिया.

कविता ने एक दिन की छुट्टी ली।

kavitā ne ek din kī chuṭṭī lī.

Kavita took one day off.

ग्राहकों ने सारे उपलब्ध टिकट ले लिए।

grāhkoṃ ne sāre uplabdh ṭikaṭ le lie.

The customers took all the available tickets.

मैंने बच्चे को गोद में लिया।

maĩne bacce ko god meṃ liyā.

I took the child in my arms.

In the last example, specific animate बच्चे को blocks object agreement. लिया is default masculine singular, regardless of the speaker's gender.

Future, subjunctive, and imperative

PersonSubjunctiveFuture masculineFuture feminine
मैंलूँलूँगालूँगी
तुमलोलोगेलोगी
वह / यहलेलेगालेगी
हम / आप / वे / येलेंलेंगेलेंगी

मैं रास्ते के लिए थोड़ा पानी ले लूँगी।

maĩ rāste ke lie thoṛā pānī le lū̃gī.

I'll take some water for the journey. (female speaker)

क्या हम यहाँ से टैक्सी लें?

kyā ham yahā̃ se ṭaiksī leṃ?

Shall we take a taxi from here?

Imperatives are intimate ले, familiar लो, and respectful लीजिए. The irregular polite form is also the vector form in many softened requests.

यह पर्ची अपने पास रख लीजिए।

yah parcī apne pās rakh lījie.

Please keep this slip with you.

Participles and causative meaning

Common non-finite forms are लेता, लिया, लेते हुए, लेकर, oblique लेने, and लेने वाला.

लेना does not have one everyday causative that mechanically means “make take” in every frame. दिलाना commonly means “get/obtain for someone,” while लेने देना means “allow to take,” and an explicit से ... लेने को कहना means “tell someone to take.” The rarer form लिवाना is restricted and should not be generalized as the default (regional or lexicalized in some uses).

मेरे भाई ने मुझे नई साइकिल दिलाई।

mere bhāī ne mujhe naī sāikil dilāī.

My brother got me a new bicycle.

लेना as an actor-oriented vector

After a bare verb stem, लेना often packages an action as completed for the actor's own purposes, retained result, or control: पढ़ लेना, लिख लेना, खरीद लेना, पूछ लेना. “Self-benefactive” is a useful tendency, not a claim that every event is selfish.

पता भूलने से पहले उसे लिख लो।

patā bhūlne se pahle use likh lo.

Write the address down before you forget it. (familiar)

मैंने बैठक से पहले पूरी रिपोर्ट पढ़ ली थी।

maĩne baiṭhak se pahle pūrī riporṭ paṛh lī thī.

I had read the entire report before the meeting.

Feminine रिपोर्ट controls पढ़ ली थी. Simple पढ़ी थी would report the reading; पढ़ ली थी presents it as accomplished and available to the actor. See the देना–लेना vector comparison.

An idiomatic extension is दिल पर ले लेना “take something to heart,” common in conversation.

Common Mistakes

❌ मैंने दो तस्वीर लिया।

Incorrect — feminine plural तस्वीरें requires लीं.

✅ मैंने दो तस्वीरें लीं।

maĩne do tasvīreṃ līṃ.

I took two photographs.

❌ मैं कल छुट्टी लेऊँगा।

Incorrect — first-person future uses लूँगा.

✅ मैं कल छुट्टी लूँगा।

maĩ kal chuṭṭī lū̃gā.

I'll take tomorrow off. (male speaker)

❌ कृपया यह रसीद लेइए।

Incorrect — the respectful imperative is लीजिए.

✅ कृपया यह रसीद लीजिए।

kripyā yah rasīd lījie.

Please take this receipt.

❌ रीना ने बच्चे को गोद में ली।

Incorrect — को blocks agreement, so the perfective defaults to लिया.

✅ रीना ने बच्चे को गोद में लिया।

rīnā ne bacce ko god meṃ liyā.

Reena took the child in her arms.

Key Takeaways

लेना has stem ले-, irregular perfective लिया, first-person लूँ, and polite imperative लीजिए. Lexical लेना is transitive: its canonical perfective takes ने, and an unmarked object controls agreement. Vector लेना contributes actor-oriented completion or a retained result, but only in natural lexical combinations.

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