रखना means “put,” “keep,” or “maintain,” depending on the complement. It is a regular transitive verb: canonical perfectives take ने, and an unmarked object controls agreement. It also forms resultative predicates such as दरवाज़ा बंद रखना and advance-action compounds such as खाना बना रखना.
Principal parts and placement frames
| Category | Form | Illustration |
|---|---|---|
| stem | रख- | किताब रख- |
| infinitive | रखना | मेज़ पर रखना |
| habitual | रखता / रखती / रखते | वह रखती है |
| perfective | रखा / रखी / रखे / रखीं | उसने चाबी रखी |
| conjunctive | रखकर | बैग रखकर |
The destination takes the postposition appropriate to its geometry: मेज़ पर रखना, डिब्बे में रखना, अपने पास रखना. English put often requires a location, and Hindi रखना likewise normally needs an understood or expressed resulting place or state.
मैं चाबियाँ हमेशा इस दराज़ में रखती हूँ।
maĩ cābiyā̃ hameśā is darāz meṃ rakhtī hū̃.
I always keep the keys in this drawer. (female speaker)
कृपया अपना फ़ोन अपने पास रखिए।
kripyā apnā fon apne pās rakhie.
Please keep your phone with you.
Habitual and progressive
| Subject | Habitual present | Progressive present |
|---|---|---|
| मैं, masculine | रखता हूँ | रख रहा हूँ |
| मैं, feminine | रखती हूँ | रख रही हूँ |
| वह, masculine | रखता है | रख रहा है |
| वह, feminine | रखती है | रख रही है |
| हम / आप / वे, masculine or mixed | रखते हैं | रख रहे हैं |
| हम / वे, all feminine | रखती हैं | रख रही हैं |
कर्मचारी अभी नए डिब्बे गोदाम में रख रहे हैं।
karmacārī abhī nae ḍibbe godām meṃ rakh rahe haiṃ.
The employees are putting the new boxes in the warehouse now.
Habitual रखना can express a recurring practice or continued possession; progressive रखना presents a placement action currently unfolding.
Perfective agreement
Canonical perfective रखना marks the agent with ने. An unmarked object controls रखा/रखी/रखे/रखीं; a को-marked object blocks agreement and yields default रखा.
नैना ने टिकट सुरक्षित जगह पर रखे।
nainā ne ṭikaṭ surakṣit jagah par rakhe.
Naina put the tickets in a safe place.
मैंने सारी रसीदें एक फ़ाइल में रखीं।
maĩne sārī rasīdeṃ ek fāil meṃ rakhīṃ.
I put all the receipts in one file.
उन्होंने बच्चे को आगे की सीट पर रखा।
unhoṃne bacce ko āge kī sīṭ par rakhā.
They placed the child in the front seat.
Specific animate बच्चे को blocks agreement, so रखा is default. The agent's number or gender does not control the perfective.
Future, subjunctive, and imperative
| Person | Subjunctive | Future masculine | Future feminine |
|---|---|---|---|
| मैं | रखूँ | रखूँगा | रखूँगी |
| तुम | रखो | रखोगे | रखोगी |
| वह / यह | रखे | रखेगा | रखेगी |
| हम / आप / वे / ये | रखें | रखेंगे | रखेंगी |
मैं आपके लिए एक सीट खाली रखूँगा।
maĩ āpke lie ek sīṭ khālī rakhū̃gā.
I'll keep a seat free for you. (male speaker)
फ़ाइलें इस अलमारी में रखिए; बाहर मत छोड़िए।
fāileṃ is almārī meṃ rakhie; bāhar mat choṛie.
Put the files in this cupboard; don't leave them outside. (respectful)
Imperatives are intimate रख, familiar रखो, and respectful रखिए. Common non-finite forms are रखता, रखा, रखते हुए, रखकर, रखने, रखने वाला.
Negation stands before the verb complex, while initial क्या can form a yes–no question without changing argument order. The location complement remains necessary when the intended sense is “put.”
क्या आपने दवाइयाँ ठंडी जगह पर रखी हैं?
kyā āpne davāiyā̃ ṭhaṇḍī jagah par rakhī haiṃ?
Have you kept the medicines in a cool place?
Maintained states and advance-action compounds
With an adjective or participial complement, रखना means keep something in a state: दरवाज़ा बंद रखना, कमरा साफ़ रखना. The object controls agreeing state material where applicable.
गर्मी में खिड़कियाँ खुली रखो।
garmī meṃ khiṛkiyā̃ khulī rakho.
Keep the windows open in summer. (familiar)
After a lexical perfective stem, रखना can preserve a result or present an action as completed in advance: लिख रखना, खरीद रखना, तैयार कर रखना.
मैंने मेहमानों के लिए खाना बना रखा है।
maĩne mehmānoṃ ke lie khānā banā rakhā hai.
I have food prepared for the guests.
This is not mere past tense. बना supplies the achieved result, रखा presents it as maintained, and है anchors the state now. See रखना as a maintained-result vector.
Causative रखवाना and idioms
रखवाना means have/get something placed or kept, commonly with the intermediary marked by से.
हमने मज़दूरों से अलमारी ऊपर की मंज़िल पर रखवाई।
hamne mazdūroṃ se almārī ūpar kī maṃzil par rakhvāī.
We had the workers put the cupboard on the upper floor.
High-frequency idioms include ध्यान रखना “take care / keep in mind,” ख़याल रखना “look after,” and नाम रखना “name.” Their English meanings are not predictable from put alone.
Common Mistakes
❌ मैंने किताब मेज़ में रखी।
Incorrect for placement on the tabletop — use पर, not containment में.
✅ मैंने किताब मेज़ पर रखी।
maĩne kitāb mez par rakhī.
I put the book on the table.
❌ रीना ने दो बैग रखा।
Incorrect — unmarked plural बैग controls रखे.
✅ रीना ने दो बैग रखे।
rīnā ne do baig rakhe.
Reena put down two bags.
❌ उसने लड़की को आगे की सीट पर रखी।
Incorrect — को blocks agreement, so the perfective defaults to रखा.
✅ उसने लड़की को आगे की सीट पर रखा।
usne laṛkī ko āge kī sīṭ par rakhā.
They placed the girl in the front seat.
❌ मैंने सामान रखवाना हूँ।
Incorrect — the causative infinitive is not a finite present predicate.
✅ मैं सामान रखवा रहा हूँ।
maĩ sāmān rakhvā rahā hū̃.
I'm having the luggage put away. (male speaker)
Key Takeaways
रखना is a regular transitive verb of placement, keeping, and maintained state. Its perfective takes ने and agrees with an unmarked object. Learn location postpositions with the intended spatial relation, distinguish result-maintaining रखना from simple completion, and use रखवाना when another agent performs the placement.
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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.
- 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.
- रखना as maintained result or advance actionB1 — Use रखना compounds for an earlier action whose result is deliberately maintained, available, or prepared for a later need.
- ध्यान देना and ध्यान रखनाB1 — Distinguish focusing ध्यान देना from protective or prospective ध्यान रखना, with their normal postpositions and related ध्यान predicates.
- पर for surfaces locations and occasionsA2 — Use पर for surfaces, location points, activity sites, media, and occasions while distinguishing it from में and predicate-selected uses.