Third-person futures describe what यह/वह “this person/thing, that person/thing” or ये/वे “these/those people or things” will do or be. With करना, the core contrast is वह करेगा/करेगी versus वे करेंगे/करेंगी. Hindi marks gender and number on the future, and respectful reference can select plural morphology for one person.
Third person is also where future forms most readily receive a prediction reading: वह आएगा can mean “he will come” as a forecast, while context may instead report his plan. Unless marked otherwise, all forms below are neutral contemporary Hindi, usable in everyday speech and general writing.
For the shared internal structure behind these forms, see future personal bases.
Singular and plural bases
Singular third person uses the base करे-. Ordinary plural and honorific third person use करें-. The final future element adds gender-number agreement.
| Subject type | Masculine | Feminine | Example meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| singular यह/वह or name | करेगा | करेगी | he/she/it will do |
| plural ये/वे | करेंगे | करेंगी | they will do |
| honorific singular | करेंगे | करेंगी | he/she will do, respectfully |
रवि शाम तक लौटेगा।
ravi śām tak lauṭegā.
Ravi will return by evening.
सीमा शाम तक लौटेगी।
sīmā śām tak lauṭegī.
Seema will return by evening.
लड़के मैच के बाद लौटेंगे।
laṛke maic ke bād lauṭeṅge.
The boys will return after the match.
लड़कियाँ मैच के बाद लौटेंगी।
laṛkiyā̃ maic ke bād lauṭeṅgī.
The girls will return after the match.
English will return stays unchanged. Hindi singular लौटे- versus plural/honorific लौटें-, followed by -गा/-गी/-गे, carries information that English leaves to the noun or pronoun.
Inanimate subjects agree too
Third-person subjects need not be people. The grammatical gender and number of an inanimate noun determine the future form, whether or not English uses it or they.
नई बस दस मिनट में आएगी।
naī bas das minaṭ meṃ āegī.
The new bus will arrive in ten minutes.
नतीजे शुक्रवार को आएँगे।
natīje śukravār ko āẽge.
The results will come out on Friday.
ये दवाइयाँ फ़्रिज में रहेंगी।
ye davāiyā̃ frij meṃ raheṅgī.
These medicines will stay in the refrigerator.
The feminine noun बस triggers आएगी, masculine plural नतीजे triggers आएँगे, and feminine plural दवाइयाँ triggers रहेंगी. Natural gender is irrelevant for these inanimate nouns; their lexical grammatical gender controls agreement.
Respectful singular reference
A respected individual can take honorific plural agreement. Titles, kin terms, and plural pronoun वे often make that respect explicit, but the choice remains contextual rather than a fixed property of every older person or office-holder.
प्रधानाचार्य जी थोड़ी देर में आएँगे।
pradhānācārya jī thoṛī der meṃ āẽge.
The principal will come in a little while. (respectful singular, male)
डॉक्टर मेहरा पहले मरीज़ को देखेंगी।
ḍokṭar mehrā pahle marīz ko dekheṅgī.
Dr. Mehra will see the first patient. (respectful singular, female)
Here आएँगे/देखेंगी are morphologically plural/honorific although each sentence refers to one person. For a woman, honorific agreement combines the plural/honorific base with feminine -गी: देखेंगी.
High-frequency and compound forms
Consonant-final stems generally follow the productive pattern: लिखेगा/लिखेगी; लिखेंगे/लिखेंगी. Common vowel-final verbs show familiar stem changes.
| Infinitive | Singular masculine | Singular feminine | Plural/honorific masculine | Plural/honorific feminine |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| जाना | जाएगा | जाएगी | जाएँगे | जाएँगी |
| लेना | लेगा | लेगी | लेंगे | लेंगी |
| देना | देगा | देगी | देंगे | देंगी |
| होना | होगा | होगी | होंगे | होंगी |
रिया रास्ते से खाना ले आएगी।
riyā rāste se khānā le āegī.
Riya will bring food on her way.
वे सारी जानकारी लिख लेंगे।
ve sārī jānkārī likh leṅge.
They will write down all the information. (male or mixed group)
In लिख लेंगे, lexical लिख- supplies the action and vector लेना adds successful/completive event structure. Only the final verb carries future person and agreement. Hindi thus builds a layered predicate rather than translating English will write down word by word.
No ने and no present auxiliary
The ordinary simple future does not use perfective ergative ने merely because the verb is transitive. Nor does it add present है/हैं after the future word.
रवि कल यह पत्र लिखेगा।
ravi kal yah patr likhegā.
Ravi will write this letter tomorrow.
The unmarked subject रवि controls masculine singular लिखेगा. Compare the perfective रवि ने पत्र लिखा, where ने changes the agreement alignment. Future time is not itself a trigger for ने.
The form is finite: लिखेगा, not लिखेगा है. Internally it contains lexical stem लिख-, singular third-person base -े-, and masculine future -गा. This layer-based analysis explains why a separate present copula is absent.
Prediction, plan, and present inference
A third-person future often makes a prediction.
शाम तक बारिश रुक जाएगी।
śām tak bāriś ruk jāegī.
The rain will stop by evening.
With an agentive subject, the same morphology may report a plan: सीमा कल दिल्ली जाएगी can mean that her trip is scheduled, not merely that the speaker forecasts it. And with present-time evidence, वह अभी घर पर होगा means “He is probably at home now.” Future morphology therefore contributes modal distance as well as later time; adverbs and context select the reading.
Negatives and questions
Neutral नहीं normally precedes the future predicate. Clause-initial क्या forms a yes–no question; wh-words stay in their ordinary Hindi position. Agreement does not disappear under either operation.
वे आज कार्यालय नहीं आएँगे।
ve āj kāryālay nahīṃ āẽge.
They will not come to the office today. (male or mixed group)
क्या नई दुकान रविवार को खुलेगी?
kyā naī dukān ravivār ko khulegī?
Will the new shop open on Sunday?
मेहमान कहाँ ठहरेंगे?
mehmān kahā̃ ṭhahareṅge?
Where will the guests stay? (male or mixed group)
When the apparent actor does not control
In a necessity construction, a third-person actor may be marked with को and fail to control the future form.
रवि को ये किताबें कल लौटानी पड़ेंगी।
ravi ko ye kitābeṃ kal lauṭānī paṛeṅgī.
Ravi will have to return these books tomorrow.
English makes “Ravi” its subject, but Hindi marks him as रवि को. Feminine plural किताबें controls लौटानी पड़ेंगी. The future belongs to the necessity predicate पड़ना, not directly to the semantic actor.
Common Mistakes
Using a singular form with a plural subject
❌ वे कल आएगा।
Incorrect — ordinary plural वे requires आएँगे or आएँगी according to gender composition.
✅ वे कल आएँगे।
ve kal āẽge.
They will come tomorrow. (male or mixed group)
Ignoring feminine plural agreement
❌ छात्राएँ अगले हफ़्ते जाएँगे।
Incorrect — the all-female plural subject requires जाएँगी.
✅ छात्राएँ अगले हफ़्ते जाएँगी।
chātrāẽ agle hafte jāẽgī.
The female students will go next week.
Adding ने because the verb is transitive
❌ सीमा ने कल रिपोर्ट लिखेगी।
Incorrect — the ordinary future does not license perfective ergative ने.
✅ सीमा कल रिपोर्ट लिखेगी।
sīmā kal riporṭ likhegī.
Seema will write the report tomorrow.
Missing honorific plural agreement
❌ दादाजी बाद में आएगा।
Incorrect in respectful reference — दादाजी takes honorific आएँगे.
✅ दादाजी बाद में आएँगे।
dādājī bād meṃ āẽge.
Grandfather will come later. (respectful singular)
Adding a present auxiliary
❌ दुकान कल खुलेगी है।
Incorrect — खुलेगी is already finite.
✅ दुकान कल खुलेगी।
dukān kal khulegī.
The shop will open tomorrow.
Key Takeaways
- Singular third person uses -े-; plural and honorific third person use -ें-.
- Gender and number appear in -गा/-गी/-गे, including with inanimate nouns.
- A respected singular person may take plural/honorific agreement.
- The simple future takes neither perfective ने nor a following present auxiliary.
- Third-person future morphology may express prediction, a reported plan, or present-time inference.
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Start learning Hindi →Related Topics
- Future personal basesA2 — Build Hindi future predicates from person-number-honorific bases such as करूँ-, करे-, करो-, and करें- before adding gender-number endings.
- Future suffixes -gā -gī -geA2 — Choose -गा, -गी, or -गे for gender-number and honorific agreement after the appropriate Hindi future personal base.
- Second-person future by honorific levelA2 — Choose तू, तुम, and आप future forms accurately across intimacy, familiarity, respect, gender, number, negation, and questions.
- Predictive versus volitional futureA2 — Distinguish Hindi future forms that forecast an event from those that express intention, willingness, offers, promises, or refusal.
- Agreement with unmarked subjectsA2 — Form Hindi agreement with ordinary unmarked subjects across gender, number, aspect, honorificity, and coordination.