पहनना covers two meanings that English separates: put on a garment or accessory, and wear it as a state. Hindi aspect and participial constructions distinguish the change from the resulting state. The verb is transitive: clothes, shoes, jewelry, glasses, or protective equipment are its object.
Stem and principal forms
The stem is पहन-. When infinitive -ना is added, adjacent n-sounds give पहनना, romanized pahannā.
| Category | Forms |
|---|---|
| infinitive | पहनना |
| habitual | पहनता / पहनती / पहनते |
| progressive | पहन रहा / पहन रही / पहन रहे |
| perfective | पहना / पहनी / पहने / पहनीं |
| conjunctive | पहनकर |
| simultaneous participle | पहनते हुए |
| prospective | पहनने वाला / पहनने वाली / पहनने वाले |
राघव दफ़्तर में अक्सर नीली कमीज़ पहनता है।
rāghav daftar meṃ aksar nīlī kamīz pahantā hai.
Raghav often wears a blue shirt to the office.
मीरा अभी अपना कोट पहन रही है।
mīrā abhī apnā koṭ pahan rahī hai.
Meera is putting on her coat now.
Habitual पहनता है can describe a repeated wearing choice. Progressive पहन रहा है most naturally describes the act of putting an item on, not simply the static fact that it is already on.
Event versus resulting state
For “is wearing,” Hindi often uses either an object-agreeing resultative such as उसने सूट पहना हुआ है or a wearer-centered state phrase such as वह सूट पहने (हुए) है. In attributive descriptions, bare पहने is especially robust and does not agree with the wearer.
आज उसने काला सूट पहना हुआ है।
āj usne kālā sūṭ pahnā huā hai.
He is wearing a black suit today.
लाल टोपी पहने बच्ची मेरी भतीजी है।
lāl ṭopī pahne baccī merī bhatījī hai.
The girl wearing the red cap is my niece.
In the first sentence, पहना हुआ agrees with masculine सूट inside an ergative possessive/result construction. In the second, bare पहने is a conventional state modifier whose understood object is लाल टोपी. Longer wearer-centered forms show speaker variation in the agreement of हुआ, so these frequent whole patterns are safer than mechanically translating English progressive “is wearing.”
Objects and body placement
The worn item is normally unmarked: जूते पहनना, साड़ी पहनना, चश्मा पहनना. A body location can be added with में, पर, or a possessive expression when useful, but ordinary collocations usually need no body-part phrase.
प्रयोगशाला में प्रवेश करने से पहले दस्ताने पहनिए।
prayogśālā meṃ praveś karne se pahle dastāne pahnie.
Please put on gloves before entering the laboratory.
English distinguishes put on clothes, wear glasses, and don protective gear; neutral Hindi commonly uses पहनना for all three.
Perfective transitivity and agreement
A perfective wearer takes ने. An unmarked worn item controls agreement: कोट पहना, साड़ी पहनी, जूते पहने, चूड़ियाँ पहनीं. A specific को-marked item blocks agreement and gives default पहना.
अनिता ने शादी में हरी साड़ी पहनी।
anitā ne śādī meṃ harī sāṛī pahnī.
Anita wore a green sari at the wedding.
बच्चों ने नए जूते पहने।
baccoṃ ne nae jūte pahne.
The children put on new shoes.
The same perfective can describe the completed act or the garment worn on an occasion; surrounding time expressions determine the English translation.
Future and subjunctive
| Person | Subjunctive | Future masculine | Future feminine |
|---|---|---|---|
| मैं | पहनूँ | पहनूँगा | पहनूँगी |
| तुम | पहनो | पहनोगे | पहनोगी |
| यह / वह | पहने | पहनेगा | पहनेगी |
| हम / आप / ये / वे | पहनें | पहनेंगे | पहनेंगी |
ठंड बढ़ी तो मैं ऊनी टोपी पहनूँगा।
ṭhaṇḍ baṛhī to maĩ ūnī ṭopī pahanū̃gā.
If it gets colder, I'll put on a woolen cap. (male speaker)
ज़रूरी है कि सभी सवार हेलमेट पहनें।
zarūrī hai ki sabhī savār helmeṭ pahneṃ.
It is essential that all riders wear helmets.
Imperatives and participles
The imperatives are intimate पहन, familiar पहनो, and respectful पहनिए. Participles include पहनकर, पहनते हुए, पहना हुआ, and पहनने वाला.
बारिश शुरू होने से पहले जैकेट पहन लो।
bāriś śurū hone se pahle jaikeṭ pahan lo.
Put on your jacket before the rain starts. (familiar)
वर्दी पहनकर ही अंदर आइए।
vardī pahankar hī andar āie.
Please come inside only after putting on the uniform.
पहन लेना, पहनाना, and पहनवाना
पहन लेना presents putting on as successfully completed, often for the wearer's own readiness. पहन stays bare and लेना bears agreement.
मैंने जल्दी से जूते पहन लिए और बाहर निकल गया।
maĩne jaldī se jūte pahan lie aur bāhar nikal gayā.
I quickly put on my shoes and went outside. (male speaker)
Direct causative पहनाना means dress someone or put an item on them. The wearer normally takes को; an unmarked garment may control perfective agreement. पहनवाना means arrange for someone to be dressed or made to wear something.
माँ ने बच्चे को गर्म टोपी पहनाई।
mā̃ ne bacce ko garm ṭopī pahnāī.
The mother put a warm cap on the child.
Feminine टोपी controls पहनाई, while बच्चे को is the causee. The lexical family is discussed under irregular causatives.
An idiomatic extension किसी को टोपी पहनाना can mean deceive or fool someone (informal); context distinguishes it from literally putting on a cap.
Common Mistakes
❌ मीरा साड़ी पहन रही है।
Potentially wrong for a static ‘is wearing’ reading — the progressive normally depicts putting it on.
✅ मीरा ने साड़ी पहनी हुई है।
mīrā ne sāṛī pahnī huī hai.
Meera is wearing a sari.
❌ अनिता ने लाल साड़ी पहना।
Incorrect — unmarked feminine साड़ी controls पहनी.
✅ अनिता ने लाल साड़ी पहनी।
anitā ne lāl sāṛī pahnī.
Anita wore a red sari.
❌ माँ ने बच्चे को टोपी पहनी।
Incorrect for dressing someone else — use causative पहनाना.
✅ माँ ने बच्चे को टोपी पहनाई।
mā̃ ne bacce ko ṭopī pahnāī.
The mother put a cap on the child.
❌ आप दस्ताने पहनो।
Incorrect — respectful आप requires पहनिए, not familiar पहनो.
✅ आप दस्ताने पहनिए।
āp dastāne pahnie.
Please put on gloves. (respectful)
Key Takeaways
पहनना is a transitive verb for putting on and wearing. Perfective wearers take ने, and unmarked garments control agreement. Aspect separates the donning event from the wearing state; पहन लेना completes the action, while पहनाना/पहनवाना add a direct or arranging dresser.
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