Regular Hindi perfectives use -आ for a masculine singular controller and -ए for a masculine plural or honorific controller: लिखा/लिखे, पहुँचा/पहुँचे. Frequent irregular verbs preserve the same agreement contrast through special bases: गया/गए, किया/किए, हुआ/हुए, लिया/लिए, दिया/दिए. The ending cannot be chosen until you identify the grammatical controller.
Core masculine contrast
| Infinitive | Masculine singular | Masculine plural/honorific |
|---|---|---|
| लिखना | लिखा | लिखे |
| पहुँचना | पहुँचा | पहुँचे |
| बोलना | बोला | बोले |
| करना | किया | किए |
| जाना | गया | गए |
| लेना | लिया | लिए |
अमन कल देर से पहुँचा।
aman kal der se pahũcā.
Aman arrived late yesterday.
दोनों लड़के कल देर से पहुँचे।
donoṃ laṛke kal der se pahũce.
Both boys arrived late yesterday.
These are intransitive perfectives, so the unmarked subject controls the form. Person is not separately marked: मैं पहुँचा and वह पहुँचा share masculine singular पहुँचा.
Honorific singular reference
Respectful names and kin terms often take plural agreement for one person.
पिताजी अभी घर आए।
pitājī abhī ghar āe.
Father came home just now. (respectful singular)
डॉक्टर साहब कमरे में दाख़िल हुए।
ḍokṭar sāhab kamre meṃ dāxil hue.
The doctor entered the room. (respectful singular male)
The forms आए/हुए are morphologically plural/honorific. Hindi honorificity is an agreement category, not merely a polite word added beside an otherwise singular verb.
With a present auxiliary, use आए हैं, and with a past auxiliary, आए थे. The same honorific controller determines both layers.
दादाजी गाँव से लौट आए हैं।
dādājī gā̃v se lauṭ āe haiṃ.
Grandfather has returned from the village.
Regular suffix and irregular base
For consonant-final stems, -आ/-ए is visible: खोल- → खोला/खोले, बोल- → बोला/बोले. Vowel-final and high-frequency verbs often add a glide or use a special base.
| Pattern | Examples |
|---|---|
| consonant stem + ending | खोला/खोले, पहुँचा/पहुँचे |
| long ā stem + y | खाया/खाए, आया/आए |
| special perfective base | किया/किए, गया/गए, हुआ/हुए |
| vowel alternation | लिया/लिए, दिया/दिए, पिया/पिए |
बच्चे जल्दी खाना खाकर बाहर गए।
bacce jaldī khānā khākar bāhar gae.
The children ate quickly and went outside.
Modern standard spelling prefers किए, लिए, दिए, गए, not forms mechanically spelled with an extra य before ए in this guide.
Transitive perfectives: the object may control
In a canonical perfective transitive clause, the actor takes ने. An unmarked masculine object can select -आ or -ए.
मीरा ने एक नया लेख लिखा।
mīrā ne ek nayā lekh likhā.
Mira wrote a new article.
मीरा ने तीन नए लेख लिखे।
mīrā ne tīn nae lekh likhe.
Mira wrote three new articles.
The actor remains feminine singular in both sentences, but लिखा/लिखे changes with masculine object लेख. This proves that semantic agency is not the agreement rule.
If a direct object is marked by को, it cannot control agreement. With ने also blocking the actor, the predicate uses default masculine singular -आ.
सीमा ने उन लड़कों को बुलाया।
sīmā ne un laṛkoṃ ko bulāyā.
Seema called those boys over.
Despite a plural masculine object, बुलाया is singular default because लड़कों को is marked. The exact presence of को depends on animacy, specificity, definiteness, lexical meaning, and construction.
See perfective object agreement for the full hierarchy.
Perfective plus auxiliary
Masculine number remains visible before present and past auxiliaries.
| Simple perfective | Present perfect | Past perfect |
|---|---|---|
| वह गया | वह गया है | वह गया था |
| वे गए | वे गए हैं | वे गए थे |
मेरा भाई स्टेशन गया है।
merā bhāī sṭeśan gayā hai.
My brother has gone to the station.
मेरे भाई स्टेशन गए हैं।
mere bhāī sṭeśan gae haiṃ.
My brothers have gone to the station.
Perfective गया/गए presents bounded going; present है/हैं relates the result to now. The simple form without an auxiliary usually gives a completed-past narrative reading.
Affirmative, negative, and question contrasts
क्या रोहन समय पर पहुँचा?
kyā rohan samay par pahũcā?
Did Rohan arrive on time?
रोहन समय पर नहीं पहुँचा।
rohan samay par nahīṃ pahũcā.
Rohan did not arrive on time.
क्या आपके मेहमान पहुँच गए हैं?
kyā āpke mehmān pahũc gae haiṃ?
Have your guests arrived?
Negation and question formation preserve the same agreement. क्या does not cause subject–auxiliary inversion.
Masculine -ए is not the oblique noun ending
The sound -e appears in several Hindi systems. In लड़के आए, noun लड़के is masculine plural direct and verb आए is masculine plural perfective; each receives its form independently. In लड़के के साथ, noun लड़के is masculine singular oblique. Similar surface shapes do not mean one suffix is agreeing with itself.
लड़के अपने शिक्षक के साथ संग्रहालय गए।
laṛke apne śikṣak ke sāth saṅgrahālay gae.
The boys went to the museum with their teacher.
Plural subject लड़के controls perfective गए. Singular शिक्षक is oblique inside शिक्षक के साथ, but it does not control the verb.
Common Mistakes
Using masculine singular for a plural subject
❌ दोनों बच्चे बाहर गया।
Incorrect — plural बच्चे requires गए.
✅ दोनों बच्चे बाहर गए।
donoṃ bacce bāhar gae.
Both children went outside.
Regularizing जाना
❌ मोहन बाज़ार जाया।
Incorrect — जाना has irregular masculine perfective गया.
✅ मोहन बाज़ार गया।
mohan bāzār gayā.
Mohan went to the market.
Ignoring honorific agreement
❌ पिताजी अभी आया।
Incorrect in respectful reference — use honorific plural आए.
✅ पिताजी अभी आए।
pitājī abhī āe.
Father just arrived.
Matching the ने-marked actor
❌ नेहा ने दो पत्र लिखा।
Incorrect — unmarked masculine plural पत्र selects लिखे.
✅ नेहा ने दो पत्र लिखे।
nehā ne do patr likhe.
Neha wrote two letters.
Treating a को-marked plural as the controller
❌ उसने उन छात्रों को बुलाए।
Incorrect — को blocks object agreement, leaving default masculine singular बुलाया.
✅ उसने उन छात्रों को बुलाया।
usne un chātroṃ ko bulāyā.
She called those students over.
Key Takeaways
- Masculine singular perfective uses -आ; masculine plural and honorific agreement use -ए.
- Frequent verbs keep the contrast through irregular forms such as गया/गए and किया/किए.
- Intransitives normally agree with an unmarked subject; perfective transitives with ने may agree with an unmarked object.
- A को-marked object cannot control, so default masculine singular can appear even beside a masculine plural object.
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Start learning Hindi →Related Topics
- Simple perfective formationA2 — Form the Hindi simple perfective, distinguish regular and irregular stems, and choose agreement from clause structure.
- Feminine perfective -ī and -īṃA2 — Distinguish feminine singular -ī from standalone feminine plural -īṃ and control feminine agreement before auxiliaries.
- Intransitive perfective agreementA2 — Make ordinary intransitive perfectives agree with their unmarked subject while recognizing agentive exceptions and experiencer structures.
- Transitive perfective with नेA2 — Mark the actor with ने in canonical transitive perfectives and choose verb agreement from the eligible object rather than the semantic doer.
- Perfective object agreementA2 — Make a transitive perfective agree with an eligible unmarked direct object after ने, including gender-number and auxiliary-bearing forms.
- Honorific plural for names and kin termsB2 — Use plural-honorific agreement with one respected person named by a proper name, title, जी-expression, or kin term, and continue with matching pronouns.