A2 · Can, want, must
चाहना: to want to
wanting with चाहना
Infinitive + चाहना: मैं घर जाना चाहता हूँ, “I want to go home”; for someone else, चाहना कि + subjunctive.
At a glance
- Remember
- Infinitive before chahna for yourself; chahna ki and the subjunctive for anyone else.
- Form
- जाना चाहता हूँ / जाना चाहती हूँwant to (m / f)
- Signal words
- चाहता
- चाहती
- चाहते
- चाहेंगे
- चाहता हूँ कि
- Trap
- Wrong:मैं चाहता हूँ तुम आना।Right:मैं चाहता हूँ कि तुम आओ।
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.
| want to (m / f) | जाना चाहता हूँ / जाना चाहती हूँ |
| wanted to | जाना चाहता था / जाना चाहती थी |
| would like to | जाना चाहूँगा / चाहेंगे |
| want someone to | चाहता हूँ कि तुम जाओ |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is aboutThe word that calls for it
The infinitive in -ना comes before चाहना.
मैं हिंदी सीखना चाहता हूँ।I want to learn Hindi.
चाहना agrees with the subject.
वह डॉक्टर बनना चाहती है।She wants to become a doctor.
Wanting someone else to act needs कि and the subjunctive.
मैं चाहती हूँ कि तुम भी आओ।I want you to come too.
The future of चाहना is a polite “would like”.
आप क्या पीना चाहेंगे?What would you like to drink?
Example sentences
मैं हिंदी सीखना चाहता हूँ।I want to learn Hindi.
वह डॉक्टर बनना चाहती है।She wants to become a doctor.
आप क्या खाना चाहेंगे?What would you like to eat?
हम आपसे मिलना चाहते थे।We wanted to meet you.
मैं चाहती हूँ कि तुम भी आओ।I want you to come too.
बच्चे बाहर खेलना चाहते हैं।The children want to play outside.
5 more example sentences
मैं एक कप चाय पीना चाहता हूँ।I would like to drink a cup of tea.
मेरी बेटी पायलट बनना चाहती है।My daughter wants to be a pilot.
हम छुट्टियों में पहाड़ों पर जाना चाहते हैं।We want to go to the mountains in the holidays.
माँ चाहती हैं कि मैं जल्दी घर आऊँ।Mum wants me to come home early.
मैं आपसे कुछ कहना चाहूँगी।I would like to tell you something.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
“I want you to come” cannot be copied word for word. Hindi needs a full clause with its own subject and a subjunctive verb, linked by कि: चाहता हूँ कि तुम आओ.
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
To want to do something, put the infinitive — the full form in -ना — before चाहना, and conjugate चाहना like any verb: मैं हिंदी सीखना चाहता हूँ, “I want to learn Hindi”; वह डॉक्टर बनना चाहती है, “she wants to become a doctor”.
To want someone else to do something, English uses an object and an infinitive: “I want you to come”. Hindi cannot. It uses चाहना कि and a clause in the subjunctive: मैं चाहता हूँ कि तुम आओ, literally “I want that you come”.
The future of चाहना is the polite “would like”: आप क्या खाना चाहेंगे?, “what would you like to eat?”; मैं कुछ कहना चाहूँगा, “I would like to say something”. Waiters and hosts use it all the time.
For wanting a thing rather than an action, चाहना is possible but sounds blunt or formal: मैं एक कमरा चाहता हूँ. The everyday way is मुझे एक कमरा चाहिए, the next topic.
A closer look
चाहना in the past takes ने
चाहना is transitive, so in the simple past it takes ने, and with an infinitive as its object it takes the neutral form: मैंने उससे बात करना चाहा, पर वह चला गया, “I wanted to talk to him, but he left”. This is rare; for “wanted to” the habitual past चाहता था is far more common, and it takes no ने.
Worth knowing (1)
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Two subjects, two forms
If the person who wants and the person who acts are the same, use the infinitive: मैं जाना चाहता हूँ. If they differ, use कि: मैं चाहता हूँ कि वह जाए. English hides the difference; Hindi shows it.
वे चाहते हैं कि हम उनके घर रुकें।They want us to stay at their house.
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