समझना means understand, interpret, regard, or consider. It can take a simple object, a कि content clause, or an object plus a result complement: उसे दोस्त समझना “consider him a friend.” English uses different verbs for these readings; Hindi connects them as ways of assigning an interpretation.
Stem and principal forms
The stem is समझ-. Its final consonant remains in all forms, but the inherent vowel after stem-final झ is absent in the usual pronunciation samajhnā.
| Category | Forms |
|---|---|
| infinitive | समझना |
| habitual | समझता / समझती / समझते |
| progressive | समझ रहा / समझ रही / समझ रहे |
| perfective | समझा / समझी / समझे / समझीं |
| conjunctive | समझकर |
| simultaneous participle | समझते हुए |
| prospective | समझने वाला / समझने वाली / समझने वाले |
अब मैं आपकी समस्या समझ रहा हूँ।
ab maĩ āpkī samasyā samajh rahā hū̃.
Now I'm beginning to understand your problem. (male speaker)
बच्चे उदाहरण देखकर नियम जल्दी समझते हैं।
bacce udāharaṇ dekhkar niyam jaldī samajhte haiṃ.
Children understand the rule quickly when they see an example.
The progressive often presents understanding as developing at the moment: “I see what you mean now.” A stable claim of comprehension more often uses simple समझता हूँ or perfect/result समझ गया हूँ.
Objects and content clauses
A noun can name the thing understood. A कि clause gives propositional content. Question-word clauses can name what is understood without changing to English embedded-question order.
मैं समझता हूँ कि हमें योजना बदलनी चाहिए।
maĩ samajhtā hū̃ ki hameṃ yojnā badalnī cāhie.
I think/understand that we should change the plan. (male speaker)
क्या आप समझे कि मशीन क्यों रुकी?
kyā āp samjhe ki maśīn kyoṃ rukī?
Did you understand why the machine stopped?
In मैं समझता हूँ कि..., the verb can shade from “understand” into “consider/believe.” Context determines whether the speaker claims comprehension or offers a judgment. See कि complement clauses for clause structure.
Object complements: considering X to be Y
The frame X-को + Y + समझना means regard or mistake X as Y. The को-marked object is the entity classified; Y is the unmarked interpretation or role.
सब लोग उसे टीम का सबसे अनुभवी सदस्य समझते हैं।
sab log use ṭīm kā sabse anubhavī sadasya samajhte haiṃ.
Everyone considers him the most experienced member of the team.
मैंने दूर से रस्सी को साँप समझा।
maĩne dūr se rassī ko sā̃p samjhā.
From a distance, I mistook the rope for a snake.
Because रस्सी is marked by को, perfective समझा is default masculine singular; it does not agree with feminine रस्सी or masculine result साँप. The result complement never becomes the agreement controller.
Perfective transitivity
With an expressed object, समझना is transitive. A perfective experiencer/understander takes ने. An unmarked object can control agreement; a को-marked object or clausal content gives default समझा.
मीरा ने मेरी बात तुरंत समझी।
mīrā ne merī bāt turant samjhī.
Meera understood my point immediately.
Feminine बात controls समझी. Compare मीरा ने मुझे समझा “Meera understood me,” where मुझे blocks agreement and समझा is default. In the simple perfective with no expressed object, however, समझना can omit ने and agree with the understander: मैं नहीं समझा / समझी “I did not understand.” This is a lexical alternation; समझ लेना still uses the transitive pattern, as in मैंने समझ लिया “I got it.”
Future and subjunctive
| Person | Subjunctive | Future masculine | Future feminine |
|---|---|---|---|
| मैं | समझूँ | समझूँगा | समझूँगी |
| तुम | समझो | समझोगे | समझोगी |
| यह / वह | समझे | समझेगा | समझेगी |
| हम / आप / ये / वे | समझें | समझेंगे | समझेंगी |
चित्र देखोगे तो प्रक्रिया आसानी से समझोगे।
citr dekhoge to prakriyā āsānī se samjhoge.
If you look at the diagram, you'll understand the process easily. (familiar)
मैं चाहता हूँ कि आप मेरी चिंता समझें।
maĩ cāhtā hū̃ ki āp merī cintā samjheṃ.
I want you to understand my concern. (male speaker)
Imperatives and participles
The imperatives are intimate समझ, familiar समझो, and respectful समझिए. Bare समझो कि... can mean “suppose that...” when setting up a hypothetical scenario.
समझो कि ट्रेन छूट गई—फिर तुम क्या करोगे?
samjho ki ṭren chūṭ gaī—phir tum kyā karoge?
Suppose the train has been missed—what will you do then? (familiar)
Participial patterns include समझा हुआ, समझते हुए, समझकर, and समझने वाला. Because “understood” can sound awkward as an attributive participle, Hindi often prefers a relative clause when the intended participant is ambiguous.
समझ लेना, समझ जाना, and समझाना
समझ लेना profiles successful grasp, often after attention or effort; the actor remains ergative in a perfective compound. समझ जाना presents arrival at understanding, with जाना as final verb and typically no ने.
दोबारा समझाने पर मैंने नियम समझ लिया।
dobārā samjhāne par maĩne niyam samajh liyā.
After it was explained again, I grasped the rule.
उसकी चुप्पी देखकर मैं सब समझ गया।
uskī cuppī dekhkar maĩ sab samajh gayā.
Seeing his silence, I understood everything. (male speaker)
The contrast shows why compound selection affects alignment: लेना preserves a transitive completed grasp, while जाना profiles the resulting state. Causative समझाना means make someone understand, explain to, or persuade; the recipient/learner normally takes को. Indirect समझवाना means have something explained.
An idiomatic, often confrontational question is तुम अपने आपको क्या समझते हो? “Who do you think you are?” (informal). Its force comes from the object-complement frame, not from a special conjugation.
Common Mistakes
❌ मैंने आपकी बात समझा।
Incorrect — unmarked feminine बात controls समझी.
✅ मैंने आपकी बात समझी।
maĩne āpkī bāt samjhī.
I understood your point.
❌ वह मुझे दोस्त के रूप में समझती है।
Overtranslated and unnatural for the ordinary classification frame.
✅ वह मुझे दोस्त समझती है।
vah mujhe dost samajhtī hai.
She considers me a friend.
❌ मैं सब समझ लिया।
Incorrect — perfective transitive समझ लेना requires ने.
✅ मैंने सब समझ लिया।
maĩne sab samajh liyā.
I understood everything.
❌ उसने मुझे नियम समझा।
Incorrect for ‘explained the rule to me’ — use causative समझाना.
✅ उसने मुझे नियम समझाया।
usne mujhe niyam samjhāyā.
She explained the rule to me.
Key Takeaways
समझना covers comprehension, judgment, and classification. It takes noun, clausal, and object-complement frames. Perfectives with an expressed object use ने and object agreement, while an objectless simple perfective can omit ने and agree with the understander. समझ लेना emphasizes achieved grasp, समझ जाना arrival at understanding, and causative समझाना adds a person who explains or persuades.
Now practice Hindi
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Hindi →Related Topics
- बताना batānā: to tell and explainB1 — Reference बताना with recipient-को and noun, clause, and question-word content frames, plus agreement, compounds, and causation.
- 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.
- Complement clauses with किB2 — Use कि to embed a finite proposition as the content of speech, thought, knowledge, perception, evaluation, or desire while preserving local syntax.
- लेना as self-directed or completive vectorA2 — Use vector लेना to present a result as secured for the agent, brought under control, or carried through to completion.
- जाना as completion separation or passive vectorA2 — Distinguish bare-stem plus जाना compounds of completion and separation from participle plus जाना passive predicates.