उतारना is a transitive verb meaning take off, remove, lower, unload, or cause someone to get down. It is historically and synchronically related to intransitive उतरना “descend/get off,” but modern उतारना has its own broad collocations and argument frames.
Stem and principal forms
The stem is उतार-, with long आ.
| Category | Forms |
|---|---|
| infinitive | उतारना |
| habitual | उतारता / उतारती / उतारते |
| progressive | उतार रहा / उतार रही / उतार रहे |
| perfective | उतारा / उतारी / उतारे / उतारीं |
| conjunctive | उतारकर |
| simultaneous participle | उतारते हुए |
| prospective | उतारने वाला / उतारने वाली / उतारने वाले |
घर आते ही वह जूते उतार देता है।
ghar āte hī vah jūte utār detā hai.
He takes off his shoes as soon as he gets home.
मज़दूर ट्रक से सामान उतार रहे हैं।
mazdūr ṭrak se sāmān utār rahe haiṃ.
The workers are unloading goods from the truck.
The removed object is direct; the higher surface, vehicle, or source commonly takes से.
Clothing, loads, and vertical movement
With clothing and accessories, उतारना is the opposite of पहनना: कोट उतारना, चश्मा उतारना, जूते उतारना. With loads, it means unload; with a high position, bring or take down.
The event-versus-wearing-state side of this pair is developed under पहनना “to put on and wear”.
कृपया दीवार से वह पुरानी तस्वीर उतारिए।
kripyā dīvār se vah purānī tasvīr utārie.
Please take that old picture down from the wall.
ड्राइवर ने यात्रियों को होटल के सामने उतारा।
ḍrāivar ne yātriyoṃ ko hoṭal ke sāmne utārā.
The driver dropped the passengers off in front of the hotel.
The second frame treats the passengers as a specific animate object marked by को. The destination is a locative phrase.
उतारना versus उतरना
यात्री बस से उतरा means the passenger got off; चालक ने यात्री को उतारा means the driver caused or enabled the passenger to get off. Likewise, सामान उतरा presents descent/unloading without naming the handler, while मज़दूरों ने सामान उतारा names the handlers.
पहले यात्री उतरे, फिर कर्मचारियों ने उनका सामान उतारा।
pahle yātrī utre, phir karmacāriyoṃ ne unkā sāmān utārā.
First the passengers got off, then the employees unloaded their luggage.
The vowel alternation उतर- / उतार- changes valency. It is not tense morphology.
Perfective agreement
उतारना is transitive. A perfective actor takes ने. An unmarked object may control agreement; a को-marked animate object triggers default masculine singular उतारा.
नेहा ने अपनी भारी जैकेट उतारी।
nehā ne apnī bhārī jaikeṭ utārī.
Neha took off her heavy jacket.
कुलियों ने सारी पेटियाँ नीचे उतारीं।
kuliyoṃ ne sārī peṭiyā̃ nīce utārīṃ.
The porters lowered all the boxes.
Feminine singular जैकेट selects उतारी; feminine plural पेटियाँ selects उतारीं.
Future and subjunctive
| Person | Subjunctive | Future masculine | Future feminine |
|---|---|---|---|
| मैं | उतारूँ | उतारूँगा | उतारूँगी |
| तुम | उतारो | उतारोगे | उतारोगी |
| यह / वह | उतारे | उतारेगा | उतारेगी |
| हम / आप / ये / वे | उतारें | उतारेंगे | उतारेंगी |
मैं अगले मोड़ पर आपको उतार दूँगा।
maĩ agle moṛ par āpko utār dū̃gā.
I'll drop you off at the next turn. (male speaker)
ज़रूरी है कि कर्मचारी पहले भारी बक्से उतारें।
zarūrī hai ki karmacārī pahle bhārī bakse utāreṃ.
It is essential that the employees unload the heavy boxes first.
Imperatives and participles
The imperatives are intimate उतार, familiar उतारो, and respectful उतारिए. Participles include उतारकर, उतारते हुए, उतारा हुआ, and उतारने वाला.
गीले जूते बाहर उतारिए।
gīle jūte bāhar utārie.
Please take off your wet shoes outside.
ट्रक से उतारा हुआ सामान बरामदे में रखा है।
ṭrak se utārā huā sāmān barāmde meṃ rakhā hai.
The goods unloaded from the truck are in the veranda.
उतार देना, उतरवाना, and extensions
उतार देना presents removal, lowering, or drop-off as completed and can sound decisive. उतरवाना means arrange for unloading or have someone/something made to get down, with an intermediary commonly marked by से.
हमने कुलियों से सारा सामान उतरवाया।
hamne kuliyoṃ se sārā sāmān utarvāyā.
We had the porters unload all the luggage.
Although उतारना historically contains a causative relationship to उतरना, speakers learn it as an ordinary lexical verb. The further causative does not follow by simply adding material to the whole infinitive.
Idiomatic किसी की नकल उतारना means imitate or mimic someone, often humorously or mockingly (informal).
वह दोस्तों के सामने अभिनेता की नकल उतारने लगा।
vah dostoṃ ke sāmne abhinetā kī nakal utārne lagā.
He began imitating the actor in front of his friends. (informal)
Common Mistakes
❌ यात्री ने बस से उतारा।
Incorrect for getting off by oneself — use intransitive उतरना.
✅ यात्री बस से उतरा।
yātrī bas se utrā.
The passenger got off the bus.
❌ उसने दो पेटियाँ उतारा।
Incorrect — unmarked feminine plural पेटियाँ requires उतारीं.
✅ उसने दो पेटियाँ उतारीं।
usne do peṭiyā̃ utārīṃ.
She unloaded two boxes.
❌ ड्राइवर ने यात्रियों से होटल पर उतारा।
Incorrect — the passengers being dropped off take को.
✅ ड्राइवर ने यात्रियों को होटल पर उतारा।
ḍrāivar ne yātriyoṃ ko hoṭal par utārā.
The driver dropped the passengers at the hotel.
❌ आप कोट उतारो।
Incorrect — respectful आप requires उतारिए, not familiar उतारो.
✅ आप कोट उतारिए।
āp koṭ utārie.
Please take off your coat. (respectful)
Key Takeaways
उतारना is a transitive verb of removal, lowering, unloading, and drop-off. Source takes से, specific animate objects take को, and eligible unmarked objects control perfective agreement after ने. It is the causative/transitive partner of उतरना; उतार देना completes the removal and उतरवाना adds an arranger.
Related Topics
- पहनना pahannā: to put on and wearB1 — Reference पहनना across the event of putting on and the state of wearing, with transitive agreement, पहन लेना, and causative पहनाना.
- Intransitive-transitive-causative setsB2 — Learn Hindi verb families that contrast a spontaneous event, a caused transitive event, and an indirectly arranged causative event.
- 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.
- 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.
- देना as outward or other-directed vectorA2 — Use vector देना to present a result as released, made available, directed outward, or decisively brought about.