B1 · The future
About to: जाने वाला है
the immediate future with -ने वाला
The oblique infinitive + वाला/वाली/वाले + होना: ट्रेन छूटने वाली है, “the train is about to leave”.
At a glance
- Remember
- Infinitive in -ne, then vala, vali or vale, then hai or tha: about to happen.
- When
- Before the past
- The past
- Past linked to the present
- The present
- The future
- Completed in the future
The future — What is still to come — promised, planned or merely guessed at.
- Form
- जाने वाला है / जाने वाली हैis about to (m / f)
- Signal words
- वाला है
- वाली है
- वाले हैं
- वाला था
- बस
- अभी
- Trap
- Wrong:ट्रेन छूटना वाली है।Right:ट्रेन छूटने वाली है।
Your turn
10 exercises on this topic. Your answers are checked in the browser; none of them leaves your device.
The form
The forms side by side
All the forms in one overview: first what each one stands for, then the form in Hindi, so you can compare them directly.
| is about to (m / f) | जाने वाला है / जाने वाली है |
| are about to | जाने वाले हैं |
| I am about to | मैं जाने वाला हूँ / जाने वाली हूँ |
| was about to | जाने वाला था / जाने वाली थी |
| just about to | जाने ही वाला था |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is aboutThe word that calls for it
The infinitive takes its oblique form -ने.
ट्रेन छूटने वाली है।The train is about to leave.
वाला agrees with the subject.
मैच शुरू होने वाला है।The match is about to start.
With था it means “was about to”.
मैं आपको फ़ोन करने वाला था।I was about to phone you.
ही and a कि clause say what interrupted.
हम सोने ही वाले थे कि फ़ोन बजा।We were just about to go to bed when the phone rang.
Example sentences
जल्दी कीजिए, ट्रेन छूटने वाली है।Hurry up, the train is about to leave.
फ़िल्म शुरू होने वाली है।The film is about to start.
मैं घर से निकलने वाला हूँ।I am about to leave the house.
बारिश होने वाली है, छाता ले लो।It is about to rain, take an umbrella.
मेरी बहन की शादी अगले महीने होने वाली है।My sister is getting married next month.
हम सोने ही वाले थे कि फ़ोन बजा।We were just about to go to bed when the phone rang.
5 more example sentences
पिता जी आने वाले हैं, खाना लगा दो।Father is about to arrive, put the food out.
मेरी परीक्षा होने वाली है।My exam is coming up.
बस चलने वाली थी, तभी मैं पहुँचा।The bus was about to leave when I got there.
वे लोग नया घर ख़रीदने वाले हैं।They are about to buy a new house.
मैं तुम्हें यही बताने वाली थी।I was just going to tell you that.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
An infinitive standing before another word takes its oblique form, just as a noun in -ा does before a postposition. छूटना must become छूटने before वाली.
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
To say that something is just about to happen, take the infinitive, change its -ना to -ने (the oblique form an infinitive takes before another word), and add वाला and a form of होना: जाना → जाने वाला है, “is about to go”.
वाला agrees with the subject like any adjective in -ा: वाला, वाली, वाले. So फ़िल्म शुरू होने वाली है (film, feminine), मैच शुरू होने वाला है (match, masculine), मेहमान आने वाले हैं.
With था instead of है it means “was about to”: मैं निकलने वाला था, “I was just about to leave”. Very often a second clause follows with कि, saying what interrupted: हम सोने वाले थे कि फ़ोन बजा, “we were about to go to bed when the phone rang”. Adding ही sharpens it to “just about to”: सोने ही वाले थे.
The construction does not take ने, whatever the verb: मैं खाना खाने वाला हूँ. It also covers events that are scheduled and near, where English might use “going to”: मेरी बहन की शादी अगले महीने होने वाली है.
A closer look
Two kinds of वाला
The same -ने वाला also makes nouns and adjectives: दूध बेचने वाला, “the milkman”; आने वाला हफ़्ता, “the coming week”. What decides is the word after it. Followed by है or था, it is “about to”; followed by a noun, or standing as a noun itself, it describes someone or something.
आने वाला कल, “the day that is coming”, and वह आने वाला है, “he is about to come”, are built from the same three pieces.
Worth knowing (1)
-
Not the same as the future
वह आएगा is simply “he will come”, at any time. वह आने वाला है says it is close, and usually that it has been arranged. For something far off or uncertain, use the plain future.
मेहमान बस आने ही वाले हैं।The guests will be here any minute.
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