Many frequent Hindi causatives cannot be produced by simply adding -आना to a visible infinitive. खाना becomes खिलाना, पीना becomes पिलाना, सोना becomes सुलाना, and बैठना becomes बिठाना. These inherited and lexicalized alternations are systematic enough to form families, but not predictable enough to guess safely. They must be learned as full lexical relationships.
The productive tendencies are introduced under direct causatives in -आ-. This page isolates the high-frequency stem changes that resist a mechanical rule.
Core irregular families
| Base event | Direct causative | Indirect causative | Usual causative meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| खाना khānā | खिलाना khilānā | खिलवाना khilvānā | feed / arrange feeding |
| पीना pīnā | पिलाना pilānā | पिलवाना pilvānā | give to drink / have given |
| सोना sonā | सुलाना sulānā | सुलवाना sulvānā | put to sleep / have put to sleep |
| बैठना baiṭhnā | बिठाना biṭhānā | बिठवाना biṭhvānā | seat / have seated |
| सीखना sīkhnā | सिखाना sikhānā | सिखवाना sikhvānā | teach / arrange instruction |
| देखना dekhnā | दिखाना dikhānā | दिखवाना dikhvānā | show / arrange a showing or examination |
| सुनना sunnā | सुनाना sunānā | सुनवाना sunvānā | tell/recite / have played or recited |
The indirect member uses the same inherited stem family but substitutes -वा- for the direct -आ- formation; it is not made by stacking -वा- onto the complete direct causative. Even here meaning and frequency are lexical. सिखवाना is useful when someone arranges instruction; it is not automatically preferable every time a third participant is present.
दादा बच्चों को अपने हाथ से खाना खिलाते हैं।
dādā baccoṃ ko apne hāth se khānā khilāte haiṃ.
Grandfather feeds the children with his own hand. (respectful singular)
आयोजकों ने मेहमानों को स्थानीय खाना खिलवाया।
āyojakoṃ ne mehmānoṃ ko sthānīya khānā khilvāyā.
The organizers arranged for the guests to be served local food.
नर्स ने मरीज़ को दवा पिलाई।
nars ne marīz ko davā pilāī.
The nurse gave the patient the medicine to drink.
Vowel alternation carries no independent tense meaning
The short vowels in खिलाना, पिलाना, बिठाना, सिखाना, दिखाना belong to the lexical causative stem. They do not mark past time, completion, or plurality. Outer morphology still supplies the usual TAM layers.
| Causer | Habitual of सुलाना | Agreement |
|---|---|---|
| मोहन | मोहन बच्चे को सुलाता है | masculine singular |
| सीमा | सीमा बच्चे को सुलाती है | feminine singular |
| मोहन और अमन | मोहन और अमन बच्चे को सुलाते हैं | masculine plural |
| सीमा और रीना | सीमा और रीना बच्चे को सुलाती हैं | feminine plural |
आज पिता बच्चे को सुला रहे हैं।
āj pitā bacce ko sulā rahe haiṃ.
The father is putting the child to sleep now. (respectful singular)
क्या आप बच्चे को थोड़ी देर बाद सुलाएँगे?
kyā āp bacce ko thoṛī der bād sulāẽge?
Will you put the child to sleep a little later? (respectful)
सीमा आज बच्चे को जल्दी नहीं सुलाएगी।
sīmā āj bacce ko jaldī nahīṃ sulāegī.
Seema will not put the child to sleep early today.
The stem सुला- stays constant while progressive रह-, future -एँगे/-एगी, negation, agreement, and auxiliary selection operate outside it. Hindi predicates are layered, even when English uses a single verb such as put.
Lexicalization changes the English equivalent
An irregular causative need not mean literal compulsion. दिखाना is ordinary “show,” सिखाना is “teach,” सुनाना is “tell/recite,” and खिलाना can mean “feed” or “treat someone to food.” The historical relation remains visible, but the modern verb has its own collocations.
गाइड ने हमें पुराना किला दिखाया।
gāiḍ ne hameṃ purānā kilā dikhāyā.
The guide showed us the old fort.
मीरा बच्चों को तैरना सिखाती है।
mīrā baccoṃ ko tairnā sikhātī hai.
Meera teaches children to swim.
दादी ने हमें बचपन की एक मज़ेदार कहानी सुनाई।
dādī ne hameṃ bacpan kī ek mazedār kahānī sunāī.
Grandmother told us an amusing story from her childhood.
जीत की खुशी में उसने सबको मिठाई खिलाई।
jīt kī khuśī meṃ usne sabko miṭhāī khilāī.
To celebrate the victory, he/she treated everyone to sweets.
In the perfective examples, हमें/सबको are oblique recipients and cannot control agreement. Unmarked masculine किला selects दिखाया; feminine कहानी/मिठाई selects सुनाई/खिलाई.
Other lexical pairs are even less transparent
Some intransitive–transitive relationships use a distinct inherited stem: मरना–मारना “die–kill,” बिकना–बेचना “be sold–sell,” डूबना–डुबाना “sink–submerge,” निकलना–निकालना “come out–remove.” They behave like ordinary verbs once selected, but a general spelling rule will not derive them all.
तेज़ हवा से नाव डूब गई।
tez havā se nāv ḍūb gaī.
The boat sank because of the strong wind.
लापरवाही ने छोटी नाव डुबा दी।
lāparvāhī ne choṭī nāv ḍubā dī.
Carelessness caused the small boat to sink.
दुकान ने पुराना सामान बहुत सस्ते में बेच दिया।
dukān ne purānā sāmān bahut saste meṃ bec diyā.
The shop sold the old stock very cheaply.
Do not treat लाना as a form that learners can mechanically derive from आना. Synchronically, लाना “bring” is best learned as its own lexical verb, closely related in meaning to ले आना. Historical relationships do not guarantee a productive modern paradigm.
Indirect forms and professional services
The irregular direct stem can support an indirect -व- form when another person is commissioned to carry out the caused event.
डॉक्टर ने मरीज़ को विशेषज्ञ से जाँच करवाने को कहा।
ḍokṭar ne marīz ko viśeṣagya se jā̃c karvāne ko kahā.
The doctor told the patient to have a specialist perform the examination.
हमने बच्चों को प्रशिक्षक से तैरना सिखवाया।
hamne baccoṃ ko praśikṣak se tairnā sikhvāyā.
We arranged for an instructor to teach the children to swim.
निर्देशक ने रिकॉर्डिंग दोबारा सुनवाई।
nirdeśak ne rikorḍiṅg dobārā sunvāī.
The director had the recording played again.
The final सुनवाई here is the feminine perfective of सुनवाना agreeing with रिकॉर्डिंग; it is not the noun सुनवाई “hearing.” Identical spelling can represent different grammatical structures, and sentence syntax disambiguates them.
Common Mistakes
Building the causative of खाना mechanically
❌ माँ बच्चे को खानाती है।
Incorrect — the standard causative is खिलाना.
✅ माँ बच्चे को दाल खिलाती है।
mā̃ bacce ko dāl khilātī hai.
The mother feeds the child lentils.
Keeping the long vowel of सीखना
❌ रवि बच्चों को तैरना सीखाता है।
Incorrect — the causative is सिखाना, with short इ.
✅ रवि बच्चों को तैरना सिखाता है।
ravi baccoṃ ko tairnā sikhātā hai.
Ravi teaches children to swim.
Guessing the causative of सोना
❌ पिता बच्चे को सोआते हैं।
Incorrect — the causative stem is सुला-.
✅ पिता बच्चे को सुलाते हैं।
pitā bacce ko sulāte haiṃ.
The father puts the child to sleep. (respectful singular)
Using देखाना instead of दिखाना
❌ कृपया मुझे कमरा देखाइए।
Incorrect — ‘show’ is दिखाना.
✅ कृपया मुझे कमरा दिखाइए।
kripyā mujhe kamrā dikhāie.
Please show me the room. (respectful)
Agreeing with a को-marked recipient
❌ दादी ने बच्चों को कहानी सुनाए।
Incorrect — बच्चों को cannot control agreement; feminine कहानी does.
✅ दादी ने बच्चों को कहानी सुनाई।
dādī ne baccoṃ ko kahānī sunāī.
Grandmother told the children a story.
Key Takeaways
Irregular causatives are lexical stems embedded inside ordinary Hindi TAM and agreement architecture. Memorize खिलाना, पिलाना, सुलाना, बिठाना, सिखाना, दिखाना, सुनाना with their argument frames, then add progressive, perfective, future, polarity, and auxiliaries outside the stem. Apparent historical patterns are not permission to invent unattested modern forms.
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Start learning Hindi →Related Topics
- 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.
- Intransitive-transitive-causative setsB2 — Learn Hindi verb families that contrast a spontaneous event, a caused transitive event, and an indirectly arranged causative event.
- करना कराना करवाना contrastsB2 — Distinguish doing an action, causing it directly, and arranging for it through करना, कराना, and करवाना.
- Causative argument markingC1 — Assign ने, को, and से to the causer, affected participant, intermediary, and patient in Hindi causative clauses.
- Causatives with ने and कोC1 — Track the causer, caused participant, theme, and agreement controller in Hindi causatives using ने, को, and से.