The present progressive places the viewpoint inside an event or developing situation connected to now. Its structure is verb stem + रहा/रही/रहे + हूँ/हो/है/हैं. It covers actions happening at the speaking moment, temporary projects around now, ongoing changes, and—when time is explicit—some arranged future events.
Compact present paradigm
| Subject | Present progressive of करना |
|---|---|
| मैं, male | कर रहा हूँ |
| मैं, female | कर रही हूँ |
| तुम, male/mixed | कर रहे हो |
| तुम, female | कर रही हो |
| वह, male | कर रहा है |
| वह, female | कर रही है |
| वे, male/mixed | कर रहे हैं |
| वे, female | कर रही हैं |
मैं अभी खाना खा रहा हूँ।
maĩ abhī khānā khā rahā hū̃.
I am eating right now. (male speaker)
मेरी बहन फ़ोन पर बात कर रही है।
merī bahan fon par bāt kar rahī hai.
My sister is talking on the phone.
बच्चे आँगन में खेल रहे हैं।
bacce ā̃gan meṃ khel rahe haiṃ.
The children are playing in the courtyard.
The lexical stem identifies the event, रहा/रही/रहे gives progressive viewpoint and gender-number agreement, and the present auxiliary gives person-number-honorific agreement. It is not a one-word equivalent of English is eating.
An event happening now
Time words such as अभी, इस समय, and फिलहाल make the current viewpoint explicit.
ज़रा धीरे बोलिए, बच्चा सो रहा है।
zarā dhīre bolie, baccā so rahā hai.
Please speak a little softly; the baby is sleeping.
इस समय कर्मचारी मुख्य दरवाज़ा ठीक कर रहे हैं।
is samay karmacārī mukhya darvāzā ṭhīk kar rahe haiṃ.
The workers are repairing the main entrance at the moment.
The event need not occupy every millisecond. A worker can say हम दरवाज़ा ठीक कर रहे हैं during a lunch break if the repair is the ongoing project. Progressive aspect presents an open interval, not a literal photograph of uninterrupted motion.
Temporary situations around now
The progressive often contrasts a temporary arrangement with a stable routine expressed by the habitual.
मैं इस महीने अपनी मौसी के घर रह रही हूँ।
maĩ is mahīne apnī mausī ke ghar rah rahī hū̃.
I am staying at my aunt's house this month. (female speaker)
मैं आम तौर पर जयपुर में रहती हूँ।
maĩ ām taur par jaypur meṃ rahtī hū̃.
I normally live in Jaipur. (female speaker)
The repeated रह रही in the first sentence is correct: lexical रह- means “stay,” while रही marks progressive aspect. The second has habitual रहती, presenting a stable residence.
English speakers often overuse the progressive because English permits it for temporary routines. Hindi also allows a wide current-time frame, but an established schedule or disposition normally favors the habitual.
Developing changes
Change-of-state predicates naturally occur in the progressive when the change is underway.
दिन छोटे हो रहे हैं और ठंड बढ़ रही है।
din choṭe ho rahe haiṃ aur ṭhaṇḍ baṛh rahī hai.
The days are getting shorter, and the cold is increasing.
ऑनलाइन भुगतान धीरे-धीरे आम हो रहा है।
onlāin bhugtān dhīre-dhīre ām ho rahā hai.
Online payment is gradually becoming common.
The progressive here does not mean repeated separate events. It follows one evolving trend through time. धीरे-धीरे describes the rate of development.
Arranged or contextually settled future
With an explicit future time, a present progressive can describe a plan already treated as arranged.
हम कल सुबह दिल्ली जा रहे हैं।
ham kal subah dillī jā rahe haiṃ.
We are going to Delhi tomorrow morning. (male or mixed group; arranged plan)
क्या आप अगले हफ़्ते सम्मेलन में आ रही हैं?
kyā āp agle hafte sammelan meṃ ā rahī haiṃ?
Are you coming to the conference next week? (respectful, female addressee)
The future time phrase prevents a current-motion interpretation. This use normally suggests a practical arrangement, not merely a prediction. Hindi also has future and prospective constructions for other future meanings; the present progressive is not a universal future tense.
Questions and negation
Present progressive negatives normally retain the auxiliary.
मैं आज दफ़्तर नहीं जा रही हूँ।
maĩ āj daftar nahīṃ jā rahī hū̃.
I am not going to the office today. (female speaker)
तुम मेरी बात सुन रहे हो?
tum merī bāt sun rahe ho?
Are you listening to me? (familiar, male addressee)
वे अभी जवाब क्यों नहीं दे रहे हैं?
ve abhī javāb kyoṃ nahīṃ de rahe haiṃ?
Why aren't they answering right now?
Hindi does not invert subject and auxiliary as English does. A yes–no question uses intonation or clause-initial क्या; a wh-word remains in its ordinary clause position.
Present progressive versus present habitual
निखिल घर से काम करता है।
nikhil ghar se kām kartā hai.
Nikhil works from home. (routine)
निखिल आज घर से काम कर रहा है।
nikhil āj ghar se kām kar rahā hai.
Nikhil is working from home today. (current temporary situation)
The auxiliary है is identical. The contrast is carried by habitual करता versus progressive कर रहा. This is the clearest example of Hindi as a layered system: lexical stem, aspect, then auxiliary.
For a deeper choice guide, see progressive versus habitual in current situations.
States and lexical restrictions
Not every English be + -ing form should be copied. Stable जानना “know” normally uses the habitual-looking stative form, and possession generally uses a copular construction.
मैं इस शहर को अच्छी तरह जानता हूँ।
maĩ is śahar ko acchī tarah jāntā hū̃.
I know this city well. (male speaker)
मेरे पास अभी कार नहीं है।
mere pās abhī kār nahīṃ hai.
I don't have a car right now.
Some state verbs gain a marked dynamic interpretation in the progressive. चाह रहा हूँ can present a current developing intention or soften a request; समझ रहा हूँ can mean “I am following/coming to understand.” These are real lexical shifts, not proof that every state freely forms a progressive.
Agreement with marked experiencers
An English translation may make a person look like the subject, while Hindi marks that experiencer with को.
मुझे बाहर से आवाज़ सुनाई दे रही है।
mujhe bāhar se āvāz sunāī de rahī hai.
I can hear a sound from outside.
Feminine आवाज़ controls दे रही है. The gender of the person encoded by मुझे is irrelevant. Progressive aspect is imperfective, so an ordinary transitive agent remains unmarked: रीना किताब पढ़ रही है, not रीना ने....
Common Mistakes
Using the habitual for an event visibly happening now
❌ देखो, बस आती है।
Incorrect for ‘look, the bus is coming now’; the habitual means it comes regularly.
✅ देखो, बस आ रही है।
dekho, bas ā rahī hai.
Look, the bus is coming.
Using the progressive for a stable schedule
❌ यह दुकान रोज़ नौ बजे खुल रही है।
Incorrect for an established opening schedule; use the habitual.
✅ यह दुकान रोज़ नौ बजे खुलती है।
yah dukān roz nau baje khultī hai.
This shop opens at nine every day.
Omitting the present auxiliary
❌ हम अभी खाना खा रहे।
Incorrect as a neutral complete present progressive; हैं is required.
✅ हम अभी खाना खा रहे हैं।
ham abhī khānā khā rahe haiṃ.
We are eating right now. (male or mixed group)
Adding ने to an imperfective progressive
❌ आरती ने नया गीत सीख रही है।
Incorrect — the progressive takes an unmarked subject here.
✅ आरती नया गीत सीख रही है।
ārtī nayā gīt sīkh rahī hai.
Aarti is learning a new song.
Using a bare infinitive for an ongoing event
❌ मैं अभी रिपोर्ट लिखना।
Incorrect — लिखना is an infinitive, not a finite present progressive.
✅ मैं अभी रिपोर्ट लिख रहा हूँ।
maĩ abhī riporṭ likh rahā hū̃.
I am writing the report now. (male speaker)
Key Takeaways
- Present progressive = stem + agreeing रहा/रही/रहे
- present हूँ/हो/है/हैं.
- It covers now, temporary current projects, developing changes, and some arranged futures.
- Established routines and generic truths normally use habitual morphology instead.
- Negative progressives retain the auxiliary, and agreement follows Hindi syntax rather than the English semantic subject.
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Start learning Hindi →Related Topics
- Progressive रहा constructionA2 — Build progressive predicates from a verb stem, agreeing रहा material, and a tense or mood auxiliary.
- Past progressiveA2 — Use stem + रहा/रही/रहे + था/थी/थे/थीं for events ongoing at a past reference time and narrative background.
- Habitual versus progressiveA2 — Choose habitual ता/ती/ते for routines and characteristics, and रहा/रही/रहे for events viewed as ongoing.
- Person agreement in auxiliariesA1 — Choose हूँ, हो, है, and हैं by person, number, and honorificity while preserving agreement inside layered predicates.
- Progressive versus habitual in current situationsA2 — Choose between Hindi progressive and habitual aspect for actions now, temporary phases, schedules, skills, and current repeated routines.
- Progressive with states and marked readingsA2 — Learn why stable Hindi states resist the progressive and how progressive marking creates temporary, developing, experiential, or polite readings.