चाहना is the ordinary verb for wanting a state or action. It agrees with the person who experiences the desire, and it can take either a same-subject infinitive or a कि clause. In polite interaction, forms such as चाहूँगा and चाहेंगे soften what is said by presenting it as a wish, willingness, or invitation rather than a bare demand.
Same subject: infinitive + चाहना
When the person who wants and the person who will act are the same, Hindi normally uses an -ना infinitive followed by चाहना. The infinitive remains in its default masculine singular form; चाहना agrees with the desire-holder.
| Desire-holder | Present pattern | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| masculine singular | जाना चाहता है | he wants to go |
| feminine singular | जाना चाहती है | she wants to go |
| masculine / mixed plural | जाना चाहते हैं | they want to go |
| feminine plural | जाना चाहती हैं | they want to go |
मैं अगले साल हिंदी की परीक्षा देना चाहती हूँ।
maĩ agle sāl hindī kī parīkṣā denā cāhtī hū̃.
I want to take the Hindi exam next year. (female speaker)
रवि अभी इस बारे में बात नहीं करना चाहता।
ravi abhī is bāre meṃ bāt nahīṃ karnā cāhtā.
Ravi doesn't want to talk about this right now.
बच्चे छुट्टियों में दादा-दादी के पास रहना चाहते हैं।
bacce chuṭṭiyoṃ meṃ dādā-dādī ke pās rahnā cāhte haiṃ.
The children want to stay with their grandparents during the holidays.
The infinitive names the desired action as a unit. English marks the same-subject relationship only through interpretation—“I want to leave”—whereas Hindi visibly contrasts the infinitive with a finite कि clause.
Different subjects: चाहना कि + subjunctive
If one person wants another person to act, the second actor needs its own finite clause. Standard Hindi uses कि and normally a subjunctive verb.
हम चाहते हैं कि आप प्रस्ताव ध्यान से पढ़ें।
ham cāhte haiṃ ki āp prastāv dhyān se paṛheṃ.
We want you to read the proposal carefully.
माँ चाहती हैं कि बेटा अपने फैसले खुद ले।
mā̃ cāhtī haiṃ ki beṭā apne faisle khud le.
The mother wants her son to make his own decisions.
The matrix चाहना agrees with हम or honorific माँ; the embedded subjunctive agrees with its own subject. Hindi has no productive English-style construction want + object + to-infinitive. The complete distribution, including negation scope, is covered in the subjunctive after चाहना.
Wanting things: direct चाहना versus चाहिए
चाहना can take a noun object, especially when the desire is deliberate, contrastive, or rhetorically strong.
मैं पैसा नहीं, अपने समय पर नियंत्रण चाहता हूँ।
maĩ paisā nahīṃ, apne samay par niyantraṇ cāhtā hū̃.
I don't want money; I want control over my time. (male speaker)
In everyday transactions, however, English “I want a coffee” is rarely best translated word for word. Hindi generally presents the desired item as a need with मुझे ... चाहिए, or uses a conventional ordering expression. Bare मैं चाय चाहता हूँ is grammatical, but it can sound emphatic, literary, or unusually direct in a café.
मुझे बिना चीनी की चाय चाहिए।
mujhe binā cīnī kī cāy cāhie.
I'd like tea without sugar.
This is a difference of information structure and social convention, not a claim that noun-object चाहना is ungrammatical.
Polite prefaces with चाहना
The formula मैं ... करना चाहता/चाहती हूँ often frames the speaker's next move as an intention rather than imposing it abruptly. It is neutral and useful in meetings, interviews, and customer-service exchanges.
मैं आपसे एक बात स्पष्ट करना चाहता हूँ।
maĩ āpse ek bāt spaṣṭ karnā cāhtā hū̃.
I'd like to clarify one thing with you. (male speaker)
मैं जानना चाहूँगी कि नतीजे कब आएँगे।
maĩ jānnā cāhū̃gī ki natīje kab āẽge.
I would like to know when the results will come. (female speaker; formal/polite)
The future-shaped चाहूँगा / चाहूँगी in the second example often functions like English “I would like.” It is especially common in careful or formal speech. It remains grammatically a form of चाहना, not a separate conditional mood.
Questions with चाहेंगे: willingness, offers, and invitations
With honorific आप, क्या आप ... चाहेंगे? asks whether the listener would like or be willing to do something. It works naturally for offers and invitations.
क्या आप हमारे साथ खाना चाहेंगे?
kyā āp hamāre sāth khānā cāheṅge?
Would you like to eat with us?
क्या आप खिड़की के पास बैठना चाहेंगी?
kyā āp khiṛkī ke pās baiṭhnā cāheṅgī?
Would you like to sit by the window? (addressing a woman respectfully)
This pattern should not automatically replace a direct polite request. क्या आप यह फ़ॉर्म भरना चाहेंगे? genuinely asks about willingness and may sound like an optional offer; क्या आप यह फ़ॉर्म भर सकते हैं? requests that the person fill it out. The honorific request guide compares these choices.
Past desire and bounded intention
Habitual चाहता था / चाहती थी describes an ongoing or former wish. Perfective चाहा presents wanting as a bounded mental act and is common in narrative, often followed by a thwarted result. Because lexical चाहना is transitive, perfective clauses commonly mark the experiencer with ने.
मैं बचपन से समुद्र देखना चाहता था।
maĩ bacpan se samudra dekhnā cāhtā thā.
I had wanted to see the sea since childhood. (male speaker)
मीरा ने जवाब देना चाहा, लेकिन शब्द नहीं मिले।
mīrā ne javāb denā cāhā, lekin śabd nahīṃ mile.
Meera wanted to answer, but she couldn't find the words.
The perfective example is neutral in written narrative and somewhat less frequent than habitual चाहना in casual descriptions of desire.
Common Mistakes
Making the infinitive agree with the wanter
❌ पूजा घर जानी चाहती है।
Incorrect — the same-subject infinitive remains जाना.
✅ पूजा घर जाना चाहती है।
pūjā ghar jānā cāhtī hai.
Pooja wants to go home.
Letting the desired object control चाहना
❌ अमित नई नौकरी चाहती है।
Incorrect — चाहना agrees with अमित, not with नौकरी.
✅ अमित नई नौकरी चाहता है।
amit naī naukrī cāhtā hai.
Amit wants a new job.
Using an infinitive for a different subject
❌ मैं चाहता हूँ तुम जल्दी आना।
Incorrect in standard Hindi — the second subject needs a finite clause.
✅ मैं चाहता हूँ कि तुम जल्दी आओ।
maĩ cāhtā hū̃ ki tum jaldī āo.
I want you to come early. (male speaker)
Missing honorific agreement
❌ आप क्या पीना चाहता है?
Incorrect — आप requires honorific plural agreement.
✅ आप क्या पीना चाहते हैं?
āp kyā pīnā cāhte haiṃ?
What would you like to drink?
Key Takeaways
Use an infinitive when the wanter will also perform the desired action; use चाहना कि + subjunctive when the actors differ. चाहना agrees with the desire-holder, never with the infinitive or desired object. Future-shaped चाहूँगा / चाहूँगी makes a tactful speaker-oriented preface, while क्या आप ... चाहेंगे? asks about the addressee's willingness and is best for genuine offers or invitations.
Related Topics
- Subjunctive after चाहनाB1 — Choose between an infinitive and a कि-clause with the subjunctive after चाहना, while keeping desire-holder and embedded-subject agreement separate.
- चाहिए necessity and advisabilityA2 — Use invariant चाहिए for needs, advice, and normative necessity, with dative experiencers and agreement on infinitives or past auxiliaries.
- Control with चाहना सकना and कहनाB2 — Track the understood subject of Hindi non-finite complements with चाहना, सकना, and कहना, and know when a finite कि clause is required.
- Making requests across honorific levelsB1 — Match Hindi requests to intimate, familiar, and respectful relationships by coordinating address level, verb form, indirectness, particles, and tone.
- चाहना cāhnā: to want and loveA2 — Reference चाहना across desire, affection, infinitival and subjunctive complements, perfective agreement, and polite future-shaped forms.