Hindi often organizes related events into three-member families: something changes or moves on its own, an actor directly causes that change, and a higher causer gets someone to cause it. Compare खुलना “open/become open,” खोलना “open something,” and खुलवाना “have something opened.” These families reveal changes in argument structure more clearly than English, but their stem alternations are only partly predictable.
The basic transitivity distinction is reviewed on transitive and intransitive verbs. Here the goal is to track the same event across a lexical family.
Three event structures, not three tenses
| Intransitive | Transitive/direct causative | Indirect causative |
|---|---|---|
| खुलना khulnā “open” | खोलना kholnā “open something” | खुलवाना khulvānā “have opened” |
| टूटना ṭūṭnā “break” | तोड़ना toṛnā “break something” | तुड़वाना tuṛvānā “have broken/demolished” |
| कटना kaṭnā “be cut” | काटना kāṭnā “cut” | कटवाना kaṭvānā “have cut” |
| जलना jalnā “burn/be lit” | जलाना jalānā “light/burn something” | जलवाना jalvānā “have lit/burned” |
| पकना paknā “become cooked” | पकाना pakānā “cook” | पकवाना pakvānā “have cooked” |
| उठना uṭhnā “rise” | उठाना uṭhānā “raise/pick up” | उठवाना uṭhvānā “have raised/collected” |
| जुड़ना juṛnā “be joined” | जोड़ना joṛnā “join/add” | जुड़वाना juṛvānā “have joined/installed” |
These forms change the number and role of participants. Tense and aspect are separate: खुलता है, खोलता है, खुलवाता है are all habitual presents; खुला, खोला, खुलवाया are perfectives.
दुकान का दरवाज़ा नौ बजे खुलता है।
dukān kā darvāzā nau baje khultā hai.
The shop door opens at nine.
दुकानदार नौ बजे दरवाज़ा खोलता है।
dukāndār nau baje darvāzā kholtā hai.
The shopkeeper opens the door at nine.
मालिक नौ बजे कर्मचारी से दरवाज़ा खुलवाता है।
mālik nau baje karmacārī se darvāzā khulvātā hai.
The owner has an employee open the door at nine.
Agreement changes with valency
In an intransitive clause, the sole unmarked argument normally controls agreement. In a nonperfective transitive or causative clause, the unmarked causer is the subject and controls agreement. In a perfective transitive clause, the causer takes ने, and an eligible unmarked object may control the participle.
| Subject/causer | Habitual form | Agreement source |
|---|---|---|
| लड़का | लड़का उठता है | masculine singular undergoer |
| लड़की | लड़की उठती है | feminine singular undergoer |
| लड़के | लड़के उठते हैं | masculine plural undergoers |
| लड़कियाँ | लड़कियाँ उठती हैं | feminine plural undergoers |
| माँ | माँ बच्चे को उठाती है | feminine singular causer |
पुरानी दीवार रात में टूट गई।
purānī dīvār rāt meṃ ṭūṭ gaī.
The old wall collapsed during the night.
मज़दूरों ने पुरानी दीवार तोड़ दी।
mazdūroṃ ne purānī dīvār toṛ dī.
The workers demolished the old wall.
नगर निगम ने पुरानी दीवार ठेकेदार से तुड़वा दी।
nagar nigam ne purānī dīvār ṭhekedār se tuṛvā dī.
The municipal corporation had a contractor demolish the old wall.
Feminine दीवार controls गई in the intransitive. In both perfective caused events, मज़दूरों ने/नगर निगम ने are ergative and the unmarked wall controls feminine दी/तुड़वा दी. The से-marked contractor is an intermediary, not an agreement controller.
Productive meanings can become lexical meanings
The middle member is not always a transparent “cause X to do Y.” चलाना commonly means “drive/operate,” बिठाना means “seat,” and पढ़ाना means “teach.” The family still helps explain valency, but learners must acquire normal collocations.
यह मशीन अपने आप चलती है।
yah maśīn apne āp caltī hai.
This machine runs by itself.
सुजाता यह मशीन चलाती है।
sujātā yah maśīn calātī hai.
Sujata operates this machine.
कंपनी यह मशीन प्रशिक्षित तकनीशियन से चलवाती है।
kampanī yah maśīn praśikṣit taknīśiyan se calvātī hai.
The company has a trained technician operate this machine.
The direct form does not necessarily imply physical force, and the indirect form does not necessarily imply reluctance. They describe the causal chain.
Stem formation is not fully mechanical
Some sets preserve the vowel (जलना–जलाना–जलवाना), some alternate it (खुलना–खोलना–खुलवाना), and some use a distinct transitive stem (टूटना–तोड़ना–तुड़वाना). Indirect causatives are frequently built from a shortened or inherited base, not by appending material to the entire transitive infinitive. तुड़वाना is an established high-frequency member of the “have broken/demolished” family; transparent formations and speaker preferences can vary in less fixed uses.
Usage can vary by verb and region. For example, transparent forms may coexist with lexicalized alternatives, and not every theoretically possible third member is frequent. Learn a whole family from attested usage rather than generating a form during conversation.
मैंने दर्ज़ी से अपनी पैंट कटवाई।
maĩne darzī se apnī paiṇṭ kaṭvāī.
I had the tailor shorten my trousers.
हमने रसोइए से मेहमानों के लिए खाना पकवाया।
hamne rasoie se mehmānoṃ ke lie khānā pakvāyā.
We had the cook prepare food for the guests.
क्या आपने पानी का नया कनेक्शन जुड़वा लिया?
kyā āpne pānī kā nayā kaneśan juṛvā liyā?
Have you had the new water connection installed? (respectful)
Negation, questions, and TAM layers
The family member supplies event structure; outer layers supply viewpoint and time. Compare पकवाती है habitual, पकवा रही है progressive, पकवाया perfective, and पकवाएगी future.
मीरा त्योहार पर मिठाइयाँ खुद नहीं बनाती; वह हलवाई से बनवाती है।
mīrā tyohār par miṭhāiyā̃ khud nahīṃ banātī; vah halvāī se banvātī hai.
Meera does not make sweets herself for the festival; she has a confectioner make them.
क्या रीना आज बच्चों को जल्दी सुलाएगी?
kyā rīnā āj baccoṃ ko jaldī sulāegī?
Will Reena put the children to bed early today?
वे अगले महीने घर की छत बदलवाएँगे।
ve agle mahīne ghar kī chat badalvāẽge.
They will have the roof of the house replaced next month.
In बदलवाएँगे, indirect-causative बदलवा- is inside future masculine plural -एँगे. The -वा- itself contributes neither future time nor plural agreement.
Common Mistakes
Using a transitive verb for a spontaneous event
❌ दरवाज़ा अपने आप खोला।
Incorrect for ‘The door opened by itself’ — खोला requires a causer in this reading.
✅ दरवाज़ा अपने आप खुल गया।
darvāzā apne āp khul gayā.
The door opened by itself.
Using an intransitive verb with a direct object
❌ मैंने दरवाज़ा खुला।
Incorrect for ‘I opened the door’ — use transitive खोलना.
✅ मैंने दरवाज़ा खोला।
maĩne darvāzā kholā.
I opened the door.
Building an irregular family mechanically
❌ नगर निगम ने दीवार तोड़नवाया।
Incorrect — causative morphology cannot be attached to the full infinitive तोड़ना, and feminine दीवार requires feminine agreement.
✅ नगर निगम ने दीवार तुड़वाई।
nagar nigam ne dīvār tuṛvāī.
The municipal corporation had the wall demolished.
Agreeing with the intermediary
❌ मालिक ने महिला कर्मचारी से दरवाज़ा खुलवाई।
Incorrect — masculine दरवाज़ा, not कर्मचारी से, controls agreement.
✅ मालिक ने महिला कर्मचारी से दरवाज़ा खुलवाया।
mālik ne mahilā karmacārī se darvāzā khulvāyā.
The owner had a female employee open the door.
Treating -वा- as future marking
❌ कटवाना का अर्थ भविष्य में काटना है।
Incorrect — -वा- marks indirect causation, not future time.
✅ मैं कल बाल कटवाऊँगा।
maĩ kal bāl kaṭvāū̃gā.
I will get my hair cut tomorrow. (male speaker)
Key Takeaways
Intransitive, transitive, and indirect-causative family members encode increasingly complex participant structures, not different tenses. Agreement follows the resulting syntax, while aspect and tense attach outside the chosen stem. The system is productive enough to reveal patterns but irregular enough that common families must be learned as lexical sets.
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Start learning Hindi →Related Topics
- Transitive and intransitive verbsA1 — Distinguish verbs with direct objects from one-participant verbs and predict their core agreement patterns in imperfective and perfective clauses.
- Direct causatives in -ā-B2 — Form and use Hindi -ā- causatives for direct, closely controlled causation while tracking lexical stem changes and ordinary agreement.
- 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.
- Lexical irregular causativesC1 — Master high-frequency Hindi causatives whose stems change unpredictably, including खिलाना, पिलाना, सुलाना, बिठाना, दिखाना, and सिखाना.
- Causative argument markingC1 — Assign ने, को, and से to the causer, affected participant, intermediary, and patient in Hindi causative clauses.
- करना कराना करवाना contrastsB2 — Distinguish doing an action, causing it directly, and arranging for it through करना, कराना, and करवाना.