उठना is the intransitive verb for rising, getting up, waking and leaving bed, or arising as a question, sound, pain, or movement. Its transitive relative उठाना means raise, lift, pick up, or cause to rise, while उठवाना adds an arranger. Keeping this participant chain clear prevents some of the most common English-transfer errors.
Principal forms
The stem is उठ-. The aspiration in ठ belongs to the stem and remains in every form.
| Category | Forms |
|---|---|
| infinitive | उठना |
| habitual | उठता / उठती / उठते |
| progressive | उठ रहा / उठ रही / उठ रहे |
| perfective | उठा / उठी / उठे / उठीं |
| conjunctive | उठकर |
| simultaneous participle | उठते हुए |
| prospective | उठने वाला / उठने वाली / उठने वाले |
मैं काम वाले दिनों में छह बजे उठता हूँ।
maĩ kām vāle dinoṃ meṃ chah baje uṭhtā hū̃.
I get up at six on workdays. (male speaker)
सब लोग राष्ट्रगान के लिए खड़े हो रहे थे, इसलिए हम भी उठ गए।
sab log rāṣṭragān ke lie khaṛe ho rahe the, islie ham bhī uṭh gae.
Everyone was standing for the national anthem, so we got up too.
English distinguishes “wake up,” “get up,” and “rise.” Hindi उठना commonly covers waking/getting up and physical rising, but जागना focuses specifically on becoming awake. A person can जाग गया लेकिन उठा नहीं “wake up but not get out of bed.”
Intransitive agreement and argument frames
उठना is intransitive. Its unmarked subject controls agreement, and its perfective never requires ने.
घंटी बजते ही सभी छात्राएँ अपनी जगह से उठीं।
ghaṇṭī bajte hī sabhī chātrāẽ apnī jagah se uṭhīṃ.
As soon as the bell rang, all the female students rose from their places.
The starting point often takes से: कुर्सी से उठना, बिस्तर से उठना. The reason or purpose may take के लिए. There is no direct object in this frame.
Abstract subjects
Questions, doubts, sounds, smoke, smells, pain, and waves can “rise” with उठना. This is ordinary neutral Hindi, not necessarily figurative or literary.
बैठक में बजट को लेकर कई सवाल उठे।
baiṭhak meṃ bajaṭ ko lekar kaī savāl uṭhe.
Several questions arose in the meeting about the budget.
रात में अचानक उसके सीने में तेज़ दर्द उठा।
rāt meṃ acānak uske sīne meṃ tez dard uṭhā.
A sharp pain suddenly flared up in his chest at night.
The experiencer in a body-state expression is often encoded inside a genitive or locative phrase rather than as an agent. The abstract subject—सवाल or दर्द—still controls verbal agreement.
Future and subjunctive
| Person | Subjunctive | Future masculine | Future feminine |
|---|---|---|---|
| मैं | उठूँ | उठूँगा | उठूँगी |
| तुम | उठो | उठोगे | उठोगी |
| यह / वह | उठे | उठेगा | उठेगी |
| हम / आप / ये / वे | उठें | उठेंगे | उठेंगी |
कल मैं थोड़ा पहले उठूँगी ताकि ट्रेन न छूटे।
kal maĩ thoṛā pahle uṭhū̃gī tāki ṭren na chūṭe.
Tomorrow I'll get up a little earlier so that I don't miss the train. (female speaker)
ज़रूरी है कि आप बीच-बीच में कुर्सी से उठें।
zarūrī hai ki āp bīc-bīc meṃ kursī se uṭheṃ.
It is important that you get up from your chair from time to time.
Imperatives and participles
The imperatives are intimate उठ, familiar उठो, and respectful उठिए. Because commands to rise can sound abrupt, ज़रा उठिए or a reason often softens a request.
ज़रा उठिए, मुझे खिड़की बंद करनी है।
zarā uṭhie, mujhe khiṛkī band karnī hai.
Please get up for a moment; I need to close the window.
Participial patterns include उठा हुआ हाथ “a raised hand,” उठते हुए “while getting up,” and उठकर “having got up.” In उठा हुआ सवाल, the phrase can mean “a question that has been raised,” even though उठा is formally tied to the intransitive/result state.
उठ जाना and sudden-initiation uses
उठ जाना adds a reached endpoint: someone gets fully up, leaves a sitting position, or departs from a gathering. जाना bears the finite inflection.
फ़ोन बजते ही वह मेज़ से उठ गया।
fon bajte hī vah mez se uṭh gayā.
As soon as the phone rang, he got up from the table.
After another bare stem, उठना can mark sudden initiation, especially with sounds, speech, emotion, or collective action: हँस उठना, बोल उठना, चीख उठना. The person need not physically rise.
नतीजा सुनकर पूरा कमरा खुशी से चिल्ला उठा।
natījā sunkar pūrā kamrā khuśī se cillā uṭhā.
On hearing the result, the whole room suddenly erupted in cheers.
This vector use is covered more fully under उठना as sudden initiation.
उठाना and उठवाना
उठाना introduces a causer: lift a box, raise a hand, pick up a phone, collect an item, or awaken someone. उठवाना adds an intermediary or arranger: have furniture removed, have a parcel collected, or get someone woken.
कृपया यह भारी डिब्बा अकेले मत उठाइए।
kripyā yah bhārī ḍibbā akele mat uṭhāie.
Please don't lift this heavy box by yourself.
हमने सुबह मज़दूरों से पुराना सामान उठवाया।
hamne subah mazdūroṃ se purānā sāmān uṭhvāyā.
We had the workers remove the old belongings in the morning.
The second is a perfective causative: arranger हमने bears ने, intermediary मज़दूरों से bears से, and masculine unmarked सामान controls उठवाया. These valency changes belong to the lexical family, not to tense.
An idiomatic expression is कदम उठाना “take a step/measure,” which uses transitive उठाना rather than intransitive उठना.
Common Mistakes
❌ मैंने आज देर से उठा।
Incorrect — intransitive उठना takes an unmarked subject in the perfective.
✅ मैं आज देर से उठा।
maĩ āj der se uṭhā.
I got up late today. (male speaker)
❌ रीना ने कुर्सी उठी।
Incorrect for lifting a chair — an external causer requires उठाना.
✅ रीना ने कुर्सी उठाई।
rīnā ne kursī uṭhāī.
Reena lifted the chair.
❌ लड़कियाँ अपनी सीट से उठा।
Incorrect — feminine plural लड़कियाँ requires उठीं.
✅ लड़कियाँ अपनी सीट से उठीं।
laṛkiyā̃ apnī sīṭ se uṭhīṃ.
The girls rose from their seats.
❌ मैं सात बजे उठाता हूँ।
Incorrect for getting oneself up — उठाता means that the speaker raises or wakes someone/something.
✅ मैं सात बजे उठता हूँ।
maĩ sāt baje uṭhtā hū̃.
I get up at seven. (male speaker)
Key Takeaways
उठना is intransitive “rise/get up/arise,” with subject agreement and no perfective ने. It pairs with transitive उठाना and indirect causative उठवाना. उठ जाना highlights the completed change of position, while bare stem + उठना can mark sudden initiation without literal rising.
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