Before Hindi adds future -गा/-गी/-गे, it builds a personal base that distinguishes person, number, and honorific level. With करना, the bases are visible in करूँगा, करेगा, करोगे, करेंगे. The final element shows gender-number, but the material before it tells you whether the subject is मैं, तुम, आप, वह, हम, or another agreement class. This page concentrates on the personal base; the companion page on future suffixes -गा, -गी, -गे explains the agreement ending that follows it.
The four core base shapes
| Subject class | Base from कर- | Masculine future | Feminine future |
|---|---|---|---|
| मैं | करूँ- | करूँगा | करूँगी |
| तू / यह / वह | करे- | करेगा | करेगी |
| तुम | करो- | करोगे | करोगी |
| हम / आप / ये / वे | करें- | करेंगे | करेंगी |
The table separates the base with a teaching hyphen, but ordinary Devanagari writes the forms as one word. करें- surfaces before ग as करेंग-, romanized with the guide's homorganic nasal: kareṅg-.
मैं यह काम शाम तक करूँगा।
maĩ yah kām śām tak karū̃gā.
I will do this work by evening. (male speaker)
वह यह काम शाम तक करेगी।
vah yah kām śām tak karegī.
She will do this work by evening.
तुम यह काम शाम तक करोगे।
tum yah kām śām tak karoge.
You will do this work by evening. (familiar, male addressee)
हम यह काम शाम तक करेंगे।
ham yah kām śām tak kareṅge.
We will do this work by evening. (male or mixed group)
Person and gender are separate dimensions
The personal base stays the same when only gender changes.
मैं कल जल्दी निकलूँगा, लेकिन रीना देर से निकलेगी।
maĩ kal jaldī nikalū̃gā, lekin rīnā der se niklegī.
I will leave early tomorrow, but Reena will leave late. (male speaker)
आप कब लौटेंगी?
āp kab lauṭeṅgī?
When will you return? (respectful, female addressee)
First-person निकलूँ- remains first person before either -गा or -गी. Respectful आप selects plural/honorific लौटें-, while feminine -गी identifies the addressee's gender. English will shows none of these distinctions overtly.
Consonant-final stems
For many consonant-final stems, add the personal endings productively.
| Infinitive | मैं | तू/वह | तुम | हम/आप/वे |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| लिखना | लिखूँ- | लिखे- | लिखो- | लिखें- |
| चलना | चलूँ- | चले- | चलो- | चलें- |
| देखना | देखूँ- | देखे- | देखो- | देखें- |
मैं जवाब लिखूँगी और आप उसे देखेंगे।
maĩ javāb likhū̃gī aur āp use dekheṅge.
I will write the answer, and you will review it. (female speaker; respectful male addressee)
In actual futures, add the appropriate ending: लिखूँगी, देखेंगे. The base encodes first person versus respectful agreement before gender becomes visible at the end.
Vowel-final stems and high-frequency changes
Vowel-final verbs do not all attach the endings in an identical way. With आना/जाना, the long आ- remains before -ऊँ, -ए, -ओ, -एँ, giving आऊँ-, आए-, आओ-, आएँ- and the parallel जाऊँ-, जाए-, जाओ-, जाएँ-. लेना/देना instead have contracted first-person and familiar bases लूँ-/दूँ- and लो-/दो-, while होना has its own shorter non-first-person forms.
| Verb | मैं | वह | तुम | हम/आप/वे |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| जाना | जाऊँगा | जाएगा | जाओगे | जाएँगे |
| आना | आऊँगा | आएगा | आओगे | आएँगे |
| लेना | लूँगा | लेगा | लोगे | लेंगे |
| देना | दूँगा | देगा | दोगे | देंगे |
| होना | होऊँगा | होगा | होगे | होंगे |
मैं स्टेशन जाऊँगी और वहाँ टिकट लूँगी।
maĩ sṭeśan jāū̃gī aur vahā̃ ṭikaṭ lū̃gī.
I will go to the station and buy a ticket there. (female speaker)
वे आपको कल जवाब देंगे।
ve āpko kal javāb deṅge.
They will give you an answer tomorrow. (male or mixed group; respectful object)
The patterns are systematic within each row, but the infinitive spelling alone does not tell you which row a high-frequency vowel-final verb follows. First-person होना also has the established variants हूँगा/हूँगी alongside होऊँगा/होऊँगी; the table uses the transparent longer forms. Full lexeme-by-lexeme paradigms belong in Verb Reference; this page supplies the productive architecture and the most important exceptions.
Honorificity belongs to the base
तू, तुम, आप use different personal bases even when all refer to one addressee.
तू मेरे साथ चलेगा?
tū mere sāth calegā?
Will you come with me? (intimate, male addressee)
तुम मेरे साथ चलोगे?
tum mere sāth caloge?
Will you come with me? (familiar, male addressee)
आप मेरे साथ चलेंगे?
āp mere sāth caleṅge?
Will you come with me? (respectful, male addressee)
The suffix is masculine in all three, but चले-/चलो-/चलें- indexes honorific level. Pronoun choice and verb agreement form one system, not two independent politeness decorations.
Negatives and questions retain the base
मैं आज देर तक नहीं रुकूँगी।
maĩ āj der tak nahīṃ rukū̃gī.
I will not stay late today. (female speaker)
क्या वे हमारे साथ रुकेंगे?
kyā ve hamāre sāth rukeṅge?
Will they stay with us? (male or mixed group)
नहीं precedes the complete future predicate; initial क्या marks a yes–no question. Neither operation replaces the personal base or adds a separate English-style will.
Agreement when the actor is marked
In a dative necessity construction, the semantic actor does not supply the future personal base.
हमें कल तीन आवेदन जाँचने पड़ेंगे।
hameṃ kal tīn āvedan jā̃cne paṛeṅge.
We will have to check three applications tomorrow.
Actor हमें does not yield first-person पड़ूँ-/पड़ेंगे by itself. Masculine plural आवेदन controls third-person plural पड़ेंगे. Agreement follows the Hindi construction, not English subject “we.”
Infinitive versus future base
मुझे कल वहाँ जाना है।
mujhe kal vahā̃ jānā hai.
I have to go there tomorrow.
Infinitive जाना under obligation is not the future base. A simple future is मैं कल वहाँ जाऊँगा/जाऊँगी. Future reference can arise pragmatically without future morphology, so identify the construction rather than relying on the word tomorrow.
Common Mistakes
Attaching -गा directly to the infinitive
❌ मैं कल करनागा।
Incorrect — remove -ना and build first-person करूँ- before -गा.
✅ मैं कल करूँगा।
maĩ kal karū̃gā.
I will do it tomorrow. (male speaker)
Using the third-person base with तुम
❌ तुम कब आएगा?
Incorrect for familiar तुम — use आओ- plus an agreeing ending.
✅ तुम कब आओगे?
tum kab āoge?
When will you come? (familiar, male addressee)
Using the तुम base with आप
❌ आप कब आओगे?
Incorrect in respectful agreement — आप requires आएँ-.
✅ आप कब आएँगे?
āp kab āẽge?
When will you come? (respectful, male addressee)
Regularizing लेना mechanically
❌ मैं टिकट लेऊँगा।
Incorrect — standard first-person future uses लूँगा.
✅ मैं टिकट लूँगा।
maĩ ṭikaṭ lū̃gā.
I will buy/take the ticket. (male speaker)
Adding a separate present auxiliary
❌ वे कल आएँगे हैं।
Incorrect — आएँगे is already finite.
✅ वे कल आएँगे।
ve kal āẽge.
They will come tomorrow. (male or mixed group)
Key Takeaways
- Future personal bases distinguish मैं -ूँ, तू/वह -े, तुम -ो, हम/आप/वे -ें before gender-number endings.
- Gender changes the final -गा/-गी/-गे, not the personal base.
- Vowel-final and frequent verbs such as जाना, लेना, देना, होना require learned base alternations.
- Simple futures are finite without हूँ/है/हैं, and dative actors need not control the future form.
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Start learning Hindi →Related Topics
- Future suffixes -gā -gī -geA2 — Choose -गा, -गी, or -गे for gender-number and honorific agreement after the appropriate Hindi future personal base.
- First-person future formsA2 — Form and use Hindi first-person futures with मैं and हम, including gender, number, negation, questions, and irregular high-frequency bases.
- Second-person future by honorific levelA2 — Choose तू, तुम, and आप future forms accurately across intimacy, familiarity, respect, gender, number, negation, and questions.
- Third-person future formsA2 — Build Hindi third-person futures for singular, plural, feminine, inanimate, and honorific subjects, with accurate agreement and interpretation.
- Present subjunctive personal endingsA2 — Form the Hindi simple subjunctive with -ूँ, -े, -ो, and -ें endings, including the major vowel-final stem patterns.