सिखाना means teach: cause or enable someone to learn knowledge, a skill, a behavior, or a lesson. It is the transitive causative partner of सीखना “learn.” Knowing सिखाना therefore requires tracking three semantic roles—teacher, learner, and content—even when one is left unspoken.
Stem and principal forms
The stem is सिखा-, with short इ and long final आ. This vowel pattern distinguishes it from learner-centered सीख-.
| Category | Forms |
|---|---|
| infinitive | सिखाना |
| habitual | सिखाता / सिखाती / सिखाते |
| progressive | सिखा रहा / सिखा रही / सिखा रहे |
| perfective | सिखाया / सिखाई / सिखाए / सिखाईं |
| conjunctive | सिखाकर |
| simultaneous participle | सिखाते हुए |
| prospective | सिखाने वाला / सिखाने वाली / सिखाने वाले |
मेरे पिता मुझे हर रविवार खाना बनाना सिखाते हैं।
mere pitā mujhe har ravivār khānā banānā sikhāte haiṃ.
My father teaches me to cook every Sunday. (honorific)
प्रशिक्षक नई टीम को सुरक्षा के नियम सिखा रही है।
praśikṣak naī ṭīm ko surakṣā ke niyam sikhā rahī hai.
The trainer is teaching the new team the safety rules. (female trainer)
In nonperfective forms, the teacher controls agreement. The learner is normally marked by को, while the content can be an unmarked noun or a full infinitival activity.
Teacher, learner, and content
The core frame is teacher + learner-को + content + सिखाना. Pronouns use the corresponding oblique/dative forms: मुझे, तुम्हें, उसे, हमें, उन्हें.
दादी ने हमें पुराने लोकगीत सिखाए।
dādī ne hameṃ purāne lokgīt sikhāe.
Grandmother taught us old folk songs.
उन्होंने बच्चों को पेड़ पहचानना सिखाया।
unhoṃne baccoṃ ko peṛ pahcānnā sikhāyā.
They taught the children to identify trees. (honorific)
The content noun लोकगीत is masculine plural and controls सिखाए in the first perfective. The infinitival content पेड़ पहचानना is treated as masculine singular for सिखाया. The को-marked learner does not control agreement.
सिखाना versus पढ़ाना
Both can translate “teach,” but their lexical centers differ. सिखाना emphasizes causing acquisition of a skill, behavior, procedure, or knowledge. पढ़ाना is especially natural for teaching an academic subject, teaching a class, or working as a teacher. They overlap for subjects such as गणित or हिंदी.
वह स्कूल में विज्ञान पढ़ाती है और शाम को बच्चों को कोडिंग सिखाती है।
vah skūl meṃ vigyān paṛhātī hai aur śām ko baccoṃ ko koḍiṅg sikhātī hai.
She teaches science at school and teaches children coding in the evening.
English does not force this distinction, so both Hindi verbs must be learned with their preferred complements rather than as perfect synonyms.
Perfective alignment
सिखाना is transitive. A completed teaching event marks the teacher with ने. If the content object is unmarked, it may control agreement; if it is को-marked or absent, the verb is default masculine singular सिखाया.
कोच ने खिलाड़ियों को नई रणनीति सिखाई।
koc ne khilāṛiyoṃ ko naī raṇnīti sikhāī.
The coach taught the players a new strategy.
उस अनुभव ने मुझे बहुत कुछ सिखाया।
us anubhav ne mujhe bahut kuch sikhāyā.
That experience taught me a great deal.
The teacher need not be human. अनुभव is an abstract causer, मुझे is the learner, and default masculine singular कुछ supports सिखाया.
Future and subjunctive
| Person | Subjunctive | Future masculine | Future feminine |
|---|---|---|---|
| मैं | सिखाऊँ | सिखाऊँगा | सिखाऊँगी |
| तुम | सिखाओ | सिखाओगे | सिखाओगी |
| यह / वह | सिखाए | सिखाएगा | सिखाएगी |
| हम / आप / ये / वे | सिखाएँ | सिखाएँगे | सिखाएँगी |
अगले हफ़्ते मैं आपको नया सिस्टम इस्तेमाल करना सिखाऊँगा।
agle hafte maĩ āpko nayā sisṭam istemāl karnā sikhāū̃gā.
Next week I'll teach you how to use the new system. (male speaker)
हम चाहते हैं कि विशेषज्ञ कर्मचारियों को प्राथमिक उपचार सिखाएँ।
ham cāhte haiṃ ki viśeṣagya karmacāriyoṃ ko prāthamik upcār sikhāeṃ.
We want specialists to teach the employees first aid.
Imperatives and participles
The imperatives are intimate सिखा, familiar सिखाओ, and respectful सिखाइए. A request normally states both learner and skill when they are not obvious.
मुझे भी यह धुन बजाना सिखाइए।
mujhe bhī yah dhun bajānā sikhāie.
Please teach me to play this tune too.
Participial forms include सिखाने वाला शिक्षक, सिखाई हुई तकनीक, सिखाते हुए, and सिखाकर. Resultative participles agree with the content noun.
प्रशिक्षण में सिखाई हुई तकनीकें रोज़ दोहराइए।
praśikṣaṇ meṃ sikhāī huī taknīkeṃ roz dohrāie.
Practice the techniques taught in the training every day.
सिखा देना, सिखवाना, and idiom
सिखा देना presents the teaching as decisively or successfully carried out, sometimes with a promise or threat-like edge depending on context. सिखवाना means arrange for a learner to be taught by someone else.
कुछ दिन मेरे साथ काम करो; मैं सब सिखा दूँगी।
kuch din mere sāth kām karo; maĩ sab sikhā dū̃gī.
Work with me for a few days; I'll teach you everything. (familiar; female speaker)
उन्होंने बच्चों को स्थानीय कलाकार से मिट्टी के खिलौने बनाना सिखवाया।
unhoṃne baccoṃ ko sthānīya kalākār se miṭṭī ke khilaune banānā sikhvāyā.
They arranged for a local artist to teach the children to make clay toys.
In the indirect causative, उन्होंने is the arranger, कलाकार से the intermediary teacher, बच्चों को the learners, and the infinitive the content. This layered frame is treated generally under causative argument marking.
सबक सिखाना literally means teach a lesson and can be neutral, but उसे सबक सिखाऊँगा often means “I'll teach him a lesson” in a punitive or threatening sense (informal). Context and tone matter.
Common Mistakes
❌ मेरी बहन मुझे तैरना सीखती है।
Incorrect for ‘teaches me’ — सीखना presents the learner; सिखाना introduces a teacher.
✅ मेरी बहन मुझे तैरना सिखाती है।
merī bahan mujhe tairnā sikhātī hai.
My sister teaches me to swim.
❌ कोच ने खिलाड़ियों से नई चाल सिखाई।
Incorrect — the learners normally take को, not से.
✅ कोच ने खिलाड़ियों को नई चाल सिखाई।
koc ne khilāṛiyoṃ ko naī cāl sikhāī.
The coach taught the players a new move.
❌ पिता ने बेटी को दो गाने सिखाया।
Incorrect — unmarked masculine plural गाने requires सिखाए.
✅ पिता ने बेटी को दो गाने सिखाए।
pitā ne beṭī ko do gāne sikhāe.
The father taught his daughter two songs.
❌ आप मुझे यह सिखाओ।
Incorrect — आप requires the respectful imperative सिखाइए, not familiar सिखाओ.
✅ आप मुझे यह सिखाइए।
āp mujhe yah sikhāie.
Please teach me this.
Key Takeaways
सिखाना is the causative “teach” partner of सीखना. Its core frame is teacher + learner-को + content. Nonperfective agreement follows the teacher; in perfectives the teacher takes ने, while eligible unmarked content may control agreement. सिखा देना adds decisive completion, and सिखवाना adds an arranging causer and intermediary teacher.
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- सीखना sīkhnā: to learnA2 — Reference सीखना with noun and infinitive complements, transitive perfective agreement, completion with सीख लेना, and the teaching causative.
- पढ़ना paṛhnā: to read and studyA2 — Reference पढ़ना across reading and studying, its aspirated retroflex flap, transitive perfective agreement, causatives, and पढ़ लेना.
- Causative argument markingC1 — Assign ने, को, and से to the causer, affected participant, intermediary, and patient in Hindi causative clauses.
- Causatives with ने and कोC1 — Track the causer, caused participant, theme, and agreement controller in Hindi causatives using ने, को, and से.
- Intransitive-transitive-causative setsB2 — Learn Hindi verb families that contrast a spontaneous event, a caused transitive event, and an indirectly arranged causative event.
- Perfective object agreementA2 — Make a transitive perfective agree with an eligible unmarked direct object after ने, including gender-number and auxiliary-bearing forms.