The perfective of करना “do/make” is irregular: किया, की, किए, कीं. Because करना is ordinarily transitive, its perfective actor normally takes ने, and an eligible unmarked object controls agreement. The same verb also closes thousands of noun- and adjective-based complex predicates, so mastering its perfective unlocks forms such as फ़ैसला किया, मदद की, कमरे साफ़ किए, and ग़लतियाँ कीं.
The irregular forms
| Controller | Perfective | Illustrative phrase |
|---|---|---|
| masculine singular | किया | काम किया |
| feminine singular | की | तैयारी की |
| masculine plural | किए | दो काम किए |
| feminine plural, standalone | कीं | दो ग़लतियाँ कीं |
आशा ने सारा काम अकेले किया।
āśā ne sārā kām akele kiyā.
Asha did all the work alone.
रवि ने यात्रा की पूरी तैयारी की।
ravi ne yātrā kī pūrī taiyārī kī.
Ravi made all the preparations for the trip.
टीम ने आज दो मुश्किल काम किए।
ṭīm ne āj do muśkil kām kie.
The team did two difficult tasks today.
हमने शुरुआत में कई ग़लतियाँ कीं।
hamne śurūāt meṃ kaī ġaltiyā̃ kīṃ.
We made several mistakes at the beginning.
The actor's gender does not determine these forms after ने. Masculine काम, feminine तैयारी, plural काम, and feminine plural ग़लतियाँ control the respective perfectives.
करना in layered predicates
Hindi predicates often combine a noun or adjective with करना. The first element supplies much of the lexical meaning, while करना carries aspect and agreement.
| Complex predicate | Perfective | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| फ़ैसला करना | फ़ैसला किया | made a decision |
| मदद करना | मदद की | helped |
| कोशिश करना | कोशिश की | tried |
| साफ़ करना | साफ़ किया / की / किए / कीं | cleaned, with agreement determined by the object |
नीलम ने मेरी बहुत मदद की।
nīlam ne merī bahut madad kī.
Neelam helped me a lot.
हमने बाहर जाने की कोशिश की।
hamne bāhar jāne kī kośiś kī.
We tried to go outside.
Feminine nouns मदद and कोशिश select की. This is grammatical gender, not a claim that the action itself is feminine. With an adjective-based predicate such as साफ़ करना, an unmarked direct object supplies the controller: मेज़ साफ़ की, कमरे साफ़ किए.
ने and object agreement
Canonical perfective करना uses ने on its actor. If the direct object is unmarked, the perfective agrees with it.
मीरा ने कमरा साफ़ किया।
mīrā ne kamrā sāf kiyā.
Meera cleaned the room.
मीरा ने मेज़ साफ़ की।
mīrā ne mez sāf kī.
Meera cleaned the table.
मीरा ने सारे कमरे साफ़ किए।
mīrā ne sāre kamre sāf kie.
Meera cleaned all the rooms.
Changing only the object changes किया/की/किए. Feminine actor मीरा ने cannot control. This is the same hierarchy used by other canonical transitive perfectives, not an idiosyncrasy of करना.
If a direct object bears को, it cannot control, so किया is default masculine singular.
मीरा ने उस पुरानी मेज़ को साफ़ किया।
mīrā ne us purānī mez ko sāf kiyā.
Meera cleaned that old table.
The feminine object remains visibly feminine inside पुरानी मेज़ को, yet the predicate is किया, not की. Object marking and agreement serve separate functions; do not remove natural को merely to produce visible feminine agreement.
Simple, present-perfect, and past-perfect layers
| Form | Typical interpretation |
|---|---|
| उसने काम किया | he/she did the work |
| उसने काम किया है | he/she has done the work |
| उसने काम किया था | he/she had done the work |
| उसने तैयारियाँ की हैं | he/she has made preparations |
मैंने आपकी बुकिंग की है।
maĩne āpkī bukiṅg kī hai.
I have made your booking. (respectful)
उन्होंने सारी जाँच पहले ही कर ली थी।
unhoṃne sārī jā̃c pahle hī kar lī thī.
They had already completed the entire inspection.
Present है and past थी anchor a completed event relative to now or a past reference point. In कर ली थी, vector ली adds completion and carries feminine agreement with जाँच. Hindi builds lexical content, event structure, aspect, and auxiliary anchoring in layers.
Before an auxiliary, feminine plural uses nonnasalized की: ग़लतियाँ की हैं, not कीं हैं. Number appears on हैं/थीं.
Affirmative, negative, and question contrasts
ज़ोया ने भुगतान किया।
zoyā ne bhugtān kiyā.
Zoya made the payment.
ज़ोया ने भुगतान नहीं किया।
zoyā ne bhugtān nahīṃ kiyā.
Zoya did not make the payment.
क्या ज़ोया ने भुगतान किया?
kyā zoyā ne bhugtān kiyā?
Did Zoya make the payment?
Masculine भुगतान controls किया throughout. Negation precedes the predicate, and initial क्या forms a yes–no question without altering ने or agreement.
करना in the passive
The sequence किया गया is a passive: काम किया गया “the work was done.” Here गया is not motion; it is the passive auxiliary and agrees with the passive subject.
सारा काम समय पर किया गया।
sārā kām samay par kiyā gayā.
All the work was done on time.
Active टीम ने काम किया and passive काम किया गया have different alignment. Full passive formation belongs on passive voice with जाना, not in the lexical paradigm of करना.
Infinitive versus perfective
मुझे आज यह काम करना है।
mujhe āj yah kām karnā hai.
I have to do this work today.
Infinitive करना occurs under the necessity predicate. Completed मैंने यह काम किया changes the actor to ergative मैंने and uses perfective किया. English do/did cannot be mapped without choosing the Hindi aspectual construction.
Common Mistakes
Agreeing with the feminine actor
❌ रीना ने काम की।
Incorrect — masculine काम controls किया; रीना ने cannot control agreement.
✅ रीना ने काम किया।
rīnā ne kām kiyā.
Reena did the work.
Ignoring a feminine noun in a complex predicate
❌ मोहन ने पूरी तैयारी किया।
Incorrect — feminine तैयारी controls की.
✅ मोहन ने पूरी तैयारी की।
mohan ne pūrī taiyārī kī.
Mohan made all the preparations.
Losing masculine plural agreement
❌ हमने आज दो काम किया।
Incorrect — plural काम controls किए.
✅ हमने आज दो काम किए।
hamne āj do kām kie.
We did two tasks today.
Agreeing with a को-marked feminine object
❌ उसने इस मेज़ को साफ़ की।
Incorrect — को blocks object agreement, leaving default किया.
✅ उसने इस मेज़ को साफ़ किया।
usne is mez ko sāf kiyā.
He/She cleaned this table.
Using the infinitive for a completed action
❌ मैंने भुगतान करना।
Incorrect for a completed payment — करना is non-finite.
✅ मैंने भुगतान किया।
maĩne bhugtān kiyā.
I made the payment.
Key Takeaways
- The irregular perfective set is किया, की, किए, कीं.
- Canonical perfective करना marks its actor with ने and agrees with an eligible unmarked object.
- Nouns inside complex predicates often determine agreement: फ़ैसला किया, मदद की, काम किए, ग़लतियाँ कीं.
- Auxiliaries add present- or past-perfect anchoring, while passive किया गया has a different alignment.
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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.
- 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.
- Default masculine singular agreementA2 — Use default masculine singular perfective morphology when case marking leaves no eligible agreement controller, without mistaking default for actor agreement.
- करना karnā: to doA1 — Reference करना across its major paradigms, including irregular किया, ergative perfectives, causatives, and productive noun-plus-करना predicates.