पीना means “drink,” but some of its high-frequency forms show a stem-vowel sequence learners cannot predict by simply removing -ना: पिया, पिऊँगा, पियो. It is transitive, so canonical perfectives use ने and agree with an unmarked drink object. Its irregular causative-family member is पिलाना “give to drink.”
Principal parts and drink objects
| Category | Form | Illustration |
|---|---|---|
| basic stem | पी- | पानी पी- |
| infinitive | पीना | चाय पीना |
| habitual | पीता / पीती / पीते | वह पीती है |
| perfective | पिया / पी / पिए / पीं | उसने चाय पी |
| conjunctive | पीकर | पानी पीकर |
Liquids are normally unmarked objects: पानी पीना, चाय पीना, दूध पीना. Hindi also says सिगरेट पीना for “smoke a cigarette,” an important collocation that does not follow English drink.
मैं सुबह चाय पीती हूँ, कॉफ़ी नहीं।
maĩ subah cāy pītī hū̃, kofī nahīṃ.
I drink tea in the morning, not coffee. (female speaker)
वह अब सिगरेट नहीं पीता।
vah ab sigreṭ nahīṃ pītā.
He no longer smokes cigarettes.
Negation and questions retain the same object syntax. In a perfective question, क्या marks the whole clause as interrogative without English-style auxiliary inversion. A habitual negative can describe a preference or long-term practice, while a perfective negative denies a particular drinking event.
क्या आपने आज पर्याप्त पानी पिया?
kyā āpne āj paryāpt pānī piyā?
Did you drink enough water today?
मैं रात को चाय नहीं पीती।
maĩ rāt ko cāy nahīṃ pītī.
I don't drink tea at night. (female speaker)
Habitual and progressive
| Subject | Habitual present | Progressive present |
|---|---|---|
| मैं, masculine | पीता हूँ | पी रहा हूँ |
| मैं, feminine | पीती हूँ | पी रही हूँ |
| वह, masculine | पीता है | पी रहा है |
| वह, feminine | पीती है | पी रही है |
| हम / आप / वे, masculine or mixed | पीते हैं | पी रहे हैं |
| हम / वे, all feminine | पीती हैं | पी रही हैं |
बच्चे बाहर बैठकर नींबू पानी पी रहे हैं।
bacce bāhar baiṭhkar nīmbū pānī pī rahe haiṃ.
The children are sitting outside drinking lemonade.
The long ई remains in habitual and progressive forms. The progressive layer रहे हैं supplies ongoing viewpoint and present time.
Perfective forms and agreement
Canonical perfective पीना marks the drinker with ने. An unmarked object controls the perfective: masculine दूध पिया, feminine चाय पी, masculine plural दो गिलास पिए, and feminine plural दो बोतलें पीं when the containers stand for their contents.
अनिल ने सारा दूध पिया।
anil ne sārā dūdh piyā.
Anil drank all the milk.
सबा ने ठंडी चाय पी।
sabā ne ṭhaṇḍī cāy pī.
Saba drank the cold tea.
मेहमानों ने दो-दो गिलास जूस पिए।
mehmānoṃ ne do-do gilās jūs pie.
The guests drank two glasses of juice each.
The feminine perfective पी is identical in spelling to the bare stem but has a different grammatical function. Its controller and the perfective clause frame identify it.
Future and subjunctive
| Person | Subjunctive | Future masculine | Future feminine |
|---|---|---|---|
| मैं | पिऊँ | पिऊँगा | पिऊँगी |
| तुम | पियो | पियोगे | पियोगी |
| वह / यह | पिए | पिएगा | पिएगी |
| हम / आप / वे / ये | पिएँ | पिएँगे | पिएँगी |
दौड़ के बाद मैं खूब पानी पिऊँगा।
dauṛ ke bād maĩ khūb pānī piū̃gā.
I'll drink plenty of water after the run. (male speaker)
ध्यान रखिए कि बच्चा पर्याप्त पानी पिए।
dhyān rakhie ki baccā paryāpt pānī pie.
Make sure the child drinks enough water.
Imperative and non-finite forms
Imperatives are intimate पी, familiar पियो, and respectful पीजिए. Common non-finite forms include पीता, पिया, पीते हुए, पीकर, पीने, पीने वाला.
दवा खाने के बाद यह घोल पीजिए।
davā khāne ke bād yah ghol pījie.
Drink this solution after taking the medicine. (respectful)
Causative पिलाना and compound behavior
The direct causative is पिलाना, not पीनाना. It means give someone something to drink or cause them to drink. The drinker usually takes को and the liquid remains the theme. Indirect पिलवाना means arrange for another person to give the drink.
दादी ने बच्चे को गुनगुना दूध पिलाया।
dādī ne bacce ko gungunā dūdh pilāyā.
Grandmother gave the child lukewarm milk to drink.
माँ ने आया से बच्चे को दूध पिलवाया।
mā̃ ne āyā se bacce ko dūdh pilvāyā.
The mother had the nanny feed the child milk.
Compound पी लेना presents drinking as completed, often as practical advice; पी जाना can mean drink up completely and may add intensity.
गला सूख रहा है तो थोड़ा पानी पी लो।
galā sūkh rahā hai to thoṛā pānī pī lo.
If your throat is dry, drink a little water. (familiar)
An idiomatic informal extension is किसी का ख़ून पीना, literally “drink someone's blood,” meaning harass someone relentlessly. It is strong and should not be used as a neutral synonym for “annoy.”
Common Mistakes
❌ मैंने चाय पिया।
Incorrect — unmarked feminine चाय controls पी.
✅ मैंने चाय पी।
maĩne cāy pī.
I drank tea.
❌ मैं बाद में पीऊँगा।
Incorrect standard spelling — first-person future is पिऊँगा.
✅ मैं बाद में पिऊँगा।
maĩ bād meṃ piū̃gā.
I'll drink it later. (male speaker)
❌ कृपया पानी पीइए।
Incorrect — the respectful imperative is पीजिए.
✅ कृपया पानी पीजिए।
kripyā pānī pījie.
Please drink some water.
❌ उसने बच्चे को दूध पीनाया।
Incorrect — the causative of पीना is पिलाना.
✅ उसने बच्चे को दूध पिलाया।
usne bacce ko dūdh pilāyā.
They gave the child milk to drink.
Key Takeaways
पीना has basic stem पी-, but its paradigm includes पिया, पिऊँ, पियो, पिए. The canonical perfective takes ने and agrees with an unmarked drink object. Learn पिलाना/पिलवाना as its causative family, and remember that collocations such as सिगरेट पीना do not map word for word onto English drink.
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- Perfective object agreementA2 — Make a transitive perfective agree with an eligible unmarked direct object after ने, including gender-number and auxiliary-bearing forms.
- Direct causatives in -ā-B2 — Form and use Hindi -ā- causatives for direct, closely controlled causation while tracking lexical stem changes and ordinary agreement.
- Indirect causatives in -vā-B2 — Use Hindi -vā- causatives to present an arranged, mediated, or delegated event, with the causative stem carrying ordinary TAM and agreement.
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