पड़ना is an intransitive verb with several linked meanings: fall or lie/be situated, enter an unwanted state, mark sudden involuntary onset, and express externally imposed necessity after an infinitive. Its retroflex flap ड़ is romanized ṛ: paṛnā, not parnā.
Principal parts and lexical falling
| Category | Form | Illustration |
|---|---|---|
| stem | पड़- | नीचे पड़- |
| infinitive | पड़ना | ज़मीन पर पड़ना |
| habitual | पड़ता / पड़ती / पड़ते | धूप पड़ती है |
| perfective | पड़ा / पड़ी / पड़े / पड़ीं | किताब पड़ी |
| conjunctive | पड़कर | नीचे पड़कर |
For an object falling through space, गिरना is often the neutral verb. पड़ना frequently profiles the resulting position, impact, or incidence: मेज़ पर किताब पड़ी है, चेहरे पर धूप पड़ रही है, बारिश पड़ना in some regional usages.
रसीद मेज़ के नीचे पड़ी थी।
rasīd mez ke nīce paṛī thī.
The receipt was lying under the table.
सुबह इस कमरे में सीधी धूप पड़ती है।
subah is kamre meṃ sīdhī dhūp paṛtī hai.
Direct sunlight falls into this room in the morning.
Habitual, progressive, and perfective
| Controller | Habitual present | Progressive present | Perfective |
|---|---|---|---|
| masculine singular | पड़ता है | पड़ रहा है | पड़ा |
| feminine singular | पड़ती है | पड़ रही है | पड़ी |
| masculine/mixed plural | पड़ते हैं | पड़ रहे हैं | पड़े |
| feminine plural | पड़ती हैं | पड़ रही हैं | पड़ीं |
Because lexical पड़ना is intransitive, no perfective ने appears. The unmarked entity controls agreement.
तेज़ हवा में कई सूखी डालियाँ टूटकर सड़क पर आ पड़ीं।
tez havā meṃ kaī sūkhī ḍāliyā̃ ṭūṭkar saṛak par ā paṛīṃ.
Several dry branches broke off and landed on the road in the strong wind.
External necessity
Necessity uses को-marked obligor + agreeing infinitive + पड़ना. The infinitive phrase, not the actor, controls agreement.
मुझे अगले सप्ताह दो प्रस्तुतियाँ देनी पड़ेंगी।
mujhe agle saptāh do prastutiyā̃ denī paṛeṅgī.
I'll have to give two presentations next week.
रवि को कल देर तक रुकना पड़ा।
ravi ko kal der tak ruknā paṛā.
Ravi had to stay late yesterday.
अब आपको अलग से शुल्क नहीं देना पड़ेगा।
ab āpko alag se śulk nahīṃ denā paṛegā.
Now you won't have to pay a separate fee.
Negative पड़ना removes a requirement; it does not prohibit the action. The full alignment and tense system appears on external necessity with पड़ना.
Habitual pressure versus one imposed event
Aspect changes the time profile of the obligation. करना पड़ता है describes a recurring or generally applicable requirement; perfective करना पड़ा reports one requirement that actually arose. Progressive करना पड़ रहा है presents the pressure as currently in force, often with an unwelcome or temporary implication.
सड़क बंद होने के कारण हमें लंबा रास्ता लेना पड़ रहा है।
saṛak band hone ke kāraṇ hameṃ lambā rāstā lenā paṛ rahā hai.
Because the road is closed, we're having to take the long route.
नई नौकरी में उसे हर दूसरे शनिवार काम करना पड़ता है।
naī naukrī meṃ use har dūsre śanivār kām karnā paṛtā hai.
In the new job, she has to work every other Saturday.
English “had to” and “has to” do not show this aspectual contrast directly. Hindi lets the form of पड़ना distinguish one realized imposition, a recurring rule, and an obligation unfolding now.
Future, subjunctive, and imperative
| Person/controller | Subjunctive | Future masculine | Future feminine |
|---|---|---|---|
| मैं / masculine singular | पड़ूँ | पड़ूँगा | पड़ूँगी |
| तुम | पड़ो | पड़ोगे | पड़ोगी |
| वह / यह | पड़े | पड़ेगा | पड़ेगी |
| हम / आप / वे / ये | पड़ें | पड़ेंगे | पड़ेंगी |
In the necessity construction, the future forms agree with the infinitive phrase, not grammatical person: मुझे जाना पड़ेगा, हमें किताबें लौटानी पड़ेंगी. Direct imperatives पड़, पड़ो, पड़िए are limited because falling and external necessity are normally non-volitional; a command usually chooses लेटो “lie down” or a more specific action.
Common non-finite forms are पड़ता, पड़ा, पड़ते हुए, पड़कर, पड़ने, पड़ने वाला.
Sudden involuntary onset
After a bare verb stem, पड़ना can mark a sudden or hard-to-control beginning: रो पड़ना, हँस पड़ना, बोल पड़ना. The first verb supplies the event; पड़ना carries agreement and aspect.
पुरानी तस्वीर देखकर दादी हँस पड़ीं।
purānī tasvīr dekhkar dādī hãs paṛīṃ.
On seeing the old photo, Grandmother suddenly laughed. (honorific)
ख़बर सुनते ही बच्चा रो पड़ा।
xabar sunte hī baccā ro paṛā.
The child burst into tears as soon as he heard the news.
This vector is lexically selective and does not mean literal falling. It foregrounds abrupt onset and often reduced control.
Causation and idioms
There is no single productive causative of every पड़ना sense. Physical placement or dropping commonly uses डालना or रखना; causing necessity uses an explicit obligation or causative predicate. Forms such as पड़वाना occur in restricted lexical contexts but should not be generalized.
An important idiom is मुसीबत में पड़ना “get into trouble.” पल्ले पड़ना means “be understood” in informal speech: मेरे पल्ले नहीं पड़ा “I couldn't make sense of it.”
Common Mistakes
❌ रवि को रात भर जागनी पड़ी।
Incorrect — intransitive जागना takes default masculine singular agreement here.
✅ रवि को रात भर जागना पड़ा।
ravi ko rāt bhar jāgnā paṛā.
Ravi had to stay awake all night.
❌ सीमा ने अचानक हँस पड़ी।
Incorrect — sudden-onset पड़ना is intransitive and takes no ने.
✅ सीमा अचानक हँस पड़ी।
sīmā acānak hãs paṛī.
Seema suddenly burst out laughing.
❌ हमें दो फ़ॉर्म भरना पड़ेंगे।
Incorrect — masculine plural फ़ॉर्म controls भरने पड़ेंगे.
✅ हमें दो फ़ॉर्म भरने पड़ेंगे।
hameṃ do form bharne paṛeṅge.
We'll have to fill in two forms.
❌ आपको कल नहीं आना पड़ेगा मत।
Incorrect — negative necessity uses नहीं; मत belongs to negative commands.
✅ आपको कल नहीं आना पड़ेगा।
āpko kal nahīṃ ānā paṛegā.
You won't have to come tomorrow.
Key Takeaways
पड़ना is an intransitive verb of incidence, resulting position, and involuntary change. It also forms external necessity after an agreeing infinitive and sudden-onset compounds after a bare stem. None of these perfectives takes ने. Agreement follows the unmarked entity or infinitive phrase, not automatically the semantic actor.
Related Topics
- पड़ना external necessityB1 — Use infinitive plus पड़ना when circumstances impose an action, with dative obligors and agreement controlled by the infinitive phrase.
- चाहिए versus पड़ना versus होनाB1 — Choose चाहिए for advice or norms, infinitive plus होना for a settled agenda, and infinitive plus पड़ना for necessity imposed by circumstances.
- पड़ना as sudden involuntary onsetB1 — Use vector पड़ना to present crying, laughing, speaking, motion, and other events as sudden or weakly controlled onsets.
- Intransitive perfective agreementA2 — Make ordinary intransitive perfectives agree with their unmarked subject while recognizing agentive exceptions and experiencer structures.
- रखना rakhnā: to keep and putA2 — Reference रखना across placement, possession, maintained states, perfective agreement, causative रखवाना, and resultative vector uses.
- Volitional and non-volitional predicatesA1 — Contrast controlled actions with experiences, accidental events, and states whose semantic experiencer is not an ordinary subject.