B1 · Causatives and the passive
Verb pairs: बनना / बनाना, खुलना / खोलना
intransitive and transitive verb pairs
One verb for “it happens”, its partner for “someone makes it happen”: दरवाज़ा खुला, but उसने दरवाज़ा खोला.
At a glance
- Remember
- It happens: the short verb, no ne; someone makes it happen: the long verb, with ne.
- Form
- बनना → बनाना, जगना → जगानाadd -आ-
- Signal words
- बनना
- बनाना
- खुलना
- खोलना
- टूटना
- तोड़ना
- अपने आप
- Trap
- Wrong:गिलास तोड़ गया।Right:गिलास टूट गया।
Your turn
10 exercises on this topic. Your answers are checked in the browser; none of them leaves your device.
The form
From the base form to the new form
Each row first says what the form expresses, then shows it in Hindi: the base form before the arrow, the result after it.
| add -आ- | बनना → बनाना, जगना → जगाना |
| change the vowel | खुलना → खोलना, रुकना → रोकना |
| change a consonant | टूटना → तोड़ना, छूटना → छोड़ना |
| it broke (no ने) | गिलास टूट गया |
| someone broke it | उसने गिलास तोड़ा |
| learn → teach | सीखना → सिखाना, पढ़ना → पढ़ाना |
| see → show | देखना → दिखाना |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is aboutThe word that calls for it
The intransitive verb says it happens, and takes no ने.
दरवाज़ा अपने आप खुल गया।The door opened by itself.
The transitive partner says someone does it, and takes ने in the past.
उसने दरवाज़ा खोला।She opened the door.
Most partners add -आ-.
माँ ने बच्चे को जगाया।Mum woke the child.
Some change the stem vowel or a consonant.
बच्चे ने गिलास तोड़ दिया।The child broke the glass.
Verbs like सिखाना and दिखाना add a person with को.
मुझे अपनी तस्वीरें दिखाओ।Show me your photos.
Example sentences
दरवाज़ा अपने आप खुल गया।The door opened by itself.
उसने धीरे से दरवाज़ा खोला।She opened the door quietly.
गिलास नीचे गिरकर टूट गया।The glass fell and broke.
बच्चे ने गिलास तोड़ दिया।The child broke the glass.
मेरी माँ स्कूल में हिंदी पढ़ाती हैं।My mother teaches Hindi at a school.
रसोई में खाना बन रहा है।Food is being cooked in the kitchen.
6 more example sentences
दुकान दस बजे खुलती है।The shop opens at ten.
दुकानदार दस बजे दुकान खोलता है।The shopkeeper opens the shop at ten.
बस अचानक रुक गई।The bus suddenly stopped.
ड्राइवर ने बस रोकी।The driver stopped the bus.
मुझे गाड़ी चलाना नहीं आता।I can’t drive.
माँ बच्चे को सुला रही हैं।Mum is putting the child to sleep.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
With nobody named as the breaker, the glass broke by itself, and that needs the intransitive टूटना. तोड़ना needs someone who breaks: किसी ने गिलास तोड़ा.
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
Many Hindi verbs exist as a pair. The first is intransitive and says that something happens: बनना, to be made; खुलना, to open; टूटना, to break. The second is transitive and says that someone makes it happen: बनाना, to make; खोलना, to open (something); तोड़ना, to break (something). English uses one verb in both senses; Hindi does not.
The partner is formed in three ways. Most often -आ- is added: बनना → बनाना, जगना → जगाना, गिरना → गिराना. Sometimes the vowel of the stem changes: खुलना → खोलना, रुकना → रोकना, बिकना → बेचना. And a few change a consonant too: टूटना → तोड़ना, छूटना → छोड़ना.
The pair decides the grammar of the past. The intransitive verb takes no ने and agrees with its subject: गिलास टूट गया, “the glass broke”. The transitive one takes ने and agrees with the object: बच्चे ने गिलास तोड़ दिया, “the child broke the glass”.
Some pairs build on verbs that are already transitive and add a second person: पढ़ना, to read, to study → पढ़ाना, to teach; सीखना, to learn → सिखाना, to teach; देखना, to see → दिखाना, to show. The learner, the viewer, takes को: मुझे अपनी तस्वीरें दिखाओ.
A closer look
Learn verbs in families
It pays to learn the members together: उठना (to get up) and उठाना (to lift, to wake someone); बैठना (to sit) and बिठाना (to seat); सोना (to sleep) and सुलाना (to put to sleep); चलना (to move, to run) and चलाना (to drive, to operate); पकना (to cook, to ripen) and पकाना (to cook something).
The meaning is not always the obvious one. चलाना is to drive a car or run a business; मारना, from मरना (to die), is “to hit” as often as “to kill”. The dictionary entry of each member is worth reading.
Where English uses “get”
English “the shop opens at ten” and “we open the shop at ten” use one verb; so do “the food is cooking” and “I am cooking”. Hindi always shows who is acting: दुकान दस बजे खुलती है against हम दस बजे दुकान खोलते हैं.
Worth knowing (1)
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बिकना: to be sold
Some intransitive members translate best with an English passive: यह किताब बहुत बिकती है, “this book sells well, is sold a lot”. Hindi needs no passive construction here, because बिकना already means “to get sold”.
यहाँ ताज़ी सब्ज़ियाँ बिकती हैं।Fresh vegetables are sold here.
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