मारना is a transitive verb whose core meanings are hit, strike, shoot, or kill. The exact result depends on the object and instrument: गेंद मारना hit a ball, थप्पड़ मारना slap, गोली मारना shoot, and मच्छर मारना kill a mosquito. Its long आ distinguishes it from intransitive मरना “die.”
Stem and principal forms
The stem is मार-.
| Category | Forms |
|---|---|
| infinitive | मारना |
| habitual | मारता / मारती / मारते |
| progressive | मार रहा / मार रही / मार रहे |
| perfective | मारा / मारी / मारे / मारीं |
| conjunctive | मारकर |
| simultaneous participle | मारते हुए |
| prospective | मारने वाला / मारने वाली / मारने वाले |
बच्चे दीवार पर गेंद नहीं मारते।
bacce dīvār par gend nahīṃ mārte.
The children do not hit the ball against the wall.
वह मच्छर को अख़बार से मार रही है।
vah macchar ko axbār se mār rahī hai.
She is trying to kill the mosquito with a newspaper.
The instrument commonly takes से, while a target surface takes पर. Context determines whether the act is a blow, a shot, or a lethal event.
Object marking and result
Specific human and animate patients normally take को: उसे मारना, कुत्ते को मारना. An inanimate target or incorporated collocational noun may remain unmarked: गेंद मारना, लात मारना, छलाँग मारना.
किसी जानवर को पत्थर मत मारिए।
kisī jānvar ko patthar mat mārie.
Please do not throw stones at or hit any animal with a stone.
खिलाड़ी ने गेंद इतनी ज़ोर से मारी कि वह सीमा के बाहर चली गई।
khilāṛī ne gend itnī zor se mārī ki vah sīmā ke bāhar calī gaī.
The player hit the ball so hard that it went beyond the boundary.
मारना does not inherently entail death in every frame. गोली मारना means shoot, and context or a result phrase tells whether the victim died. मार डालना or मार देना more strongly presents a lethal endpoint.
Perfective transitivity and agreement
A perfective hitter takes ने. An unmarked object may control agreement; a को-marked patient blocks it and yields default masculine singular मारा.
नैना ने आख़िरी गेंद मारी।
nainā ne āxirī gend mārī.
Naina hit the last ball.
गार्ड ने मुझे नहीं मारा, केवल धक्का दिया।
gārḍ ne mujhe nahīṃ mārā, keval dhakkā diyā.
The guard did not hit me; he only pushed me.
मारना can describe a blow or a broader attack, but a precise animal bite uses काटना “bite.” The को-bearing pronoun मुझे blocks agreement.
Future and subjunctive
| Person | Subjunctive | Future masculine | Future feminine |
|---|---|---|---|
| मैं | मारूँ | मारूँगा | मारूँगी |
| तुम | मारो | मारोगे | मारोगी |
| यह / वह | मारे | मारेगा | मारेगी |
| हम / आप / ये / वे | मारें | मारेंगे | मारेंगी |
अगली बार मैं गेंद थोड़ा ऊँचा मारूँगा।
aglī bār maĩ gend thoṛā ū̃cā mārū̃gā.
Next time I'll hit the ball a little higher. (male speaker)
ध्यान रखें कि बच्चे सड़क की ओर गेंद न मारें।
dhyān rakheṃ ki bacce saṛak kī or gend na māreṃ.
Make sure the children do not hit the ball toward the road.
Imperatives and participles
The imperatives are intimate मार, familiar मारो, and respectful मारिए. Because the literal verb can describe violence, commands require careful context; sport instructions such as गेंद मारो are neutral, while commands to attack a person are harmful and socially marked.
गेंद सीधे साथी की ओर मारो।
gend sīdhe sāthī kī or māro.
Hit the ball straight toward your teammate. (familiar)
Participles include मारकर, मारते हुए, मारा हुआ, and मारने वाला. मारा हुआ may mean struck, killed, or defeated according to the noun and context.
मार देना, मार डालना, and the मरना family
मार देना presents a completed strike and often a lethal result with animate patients. मार डालना is a forceful completive and strongly favors “kill.” Both are more result-focused than simple मारना.
दवा ने सारे हानिकारक कीड़े मार दिए।
davā ne sāre hānikārak kīṛe mār die.
The treatment killed all the harmful insects.
Intransitive मरना has the dying entity as subject: कीड़े मर गए. Further causative मरवाना means arrange or cause a killing; it is semantically severe and often associated with criminal or coercive contexts.
दवा से कीड़े मर गए; किसी ने उन्हें हाथ से नहीं मारा।
davā se kīṛe mar gae; kisī ne unheṃ hāth se nahīṃ mārā.
The insects died from the treatment; no one killed them by hand.
See मरना “to die” for the intransitive alignment.
Noun collocations and idioms
मारना combines productively with nouns: थप्पड़ मारना slap, लात मारना kick, गोता मारना dive, छलाँग मारना leap, चक्कर मारना make a round/visit briefly, and नज़र मारना take a quick look (informal). The noun supplies the event type; मारना verbalizes it.
मैं बाज़ार का एक चक्कर मारकर आता हूँ।
maĩ bāzār kā ek cakkar mārkar ātā hū̃.
I'll make a quick trip around the market and come back. (informal; male speaker)
These combinations are not necessarily violent. Their gender can affect perfective agreement: feminine छलाँग मारी, masculine गोता मारा.
Common Mistakes
❌ पौधा गर्मी से मार गया।
Incorrect for dying — use intransitive मर जाना without long आ.
✅ पौधा गर्मी से मर गया।
paudhā garmī se mar gayā.
The plant died from the heat.
❌ उसने रीना मारी।
Incorrect in the ordinary specific-human frame — mark Reena with को and use default मारा.
✅ उसने रीना को मारा।
usne rīnā ko mārā.
He/She hit Reena.
❌ खिलाड़ी ने गेंद मारा।
Incorrect — unmarked feminine गेंद requires मारी.
✅ खिलाड़ी ने गेंद मारी।
khilāṛī ne gend mārī.
The player hit the ball.
❌ उसने एक छलाँग मारा।
Incorrect — feminine छलाँग requires मारी.
✅ उसने एक लंबी छलाँग मारी।
usne ek lambī chalā̃g mārī.
He/She made a long leap.
Key Takeaways
मारना is transitive “hit/strike/kill,” with ने and object agreement in canonical perfectives. Specific animate patients take को and trigger default मारा. Result vectors distinguish a strike from a lethal endpoint, and productive noun collocations extend the verb far beyond physical violence.
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- 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.
- Perfective object agreementA2 — Make a transitive perfective agree with an eligible unmarked direct object after ने, including gender-number and auxiliary-bearing forms.
- Intransitive-transitive-causative setsB2 — Learn Hindi verb families that contrast a spontaneous event, a caused transitive event, and an indirectly arranged causative event.
- डालना as forceful completionB1 — Use vector डालना to present an event as forcefully, thoroughly, abruptly, or evaluatively carried through to its endpoint.
- Causative argument markingC1 — Assign ने, को, and से to the causer, affected participant, intermediary, and patient in Hindi causative clauses.