A2 · Infinitives and participles
Having done: the -कर form (खाकर, जाकर)
the conjunctive participle in -कर
Stem + कर joins two actions of the same person: वह खाना खाकर सो गया, “he ate and went to sleep”.
At a glance
- Remember
- Stem plus kar, one word, never changing — except karna, which gives karke.
- Form
- खाकर, जाकर, पढ़कर, बैठकरstem + कर
- Signal words
- -कर
- करके
- -के
- बिना … -ए
- Trap
- Wrong:होमवर्क करकर बाहर जाओ।Right:होमवर्क करके बाहर जाओ।
Your turn
10 exercises on this topic. Your answers are checked in the browser; none of them leaves your device.
The form
| stem + कर | खाकर, जाकर, पढ़कर, बैठकर |
| करना, the exception | करके |
| conjunct verbs with करना | बात करके, ख़त्म करके |
| in relaxed speech | खाके, जाके |
| without doing: बिना + -ए | बिना खाए, बिना बताए |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is aboutThe word that calls for it
Stem + कर, written as one word, and it never changes.
वह घर जाकर सो गया।He went home and fell asleep.
करना gives करके.
काम ख़त्म करके मुझे फ़ोन कीजिए।Call me once you have finished work.
The -कर form can say how something is done.
बच्चे दौड़कर आए।The children came running.
Both actions normally have the same subject, and the last verb decides about ने.
खाना खाकर मैं सो गया।I ate and went to sleep.
Example sentences
मैं नहाकर नाश्ता करता हूँ।I have a bath and then breakfast.
आप बैठकर आराम से बात कीजिए।Please sit down and talk in comfort.
उसने चिट्ठी पढ़कर मुझे दे दी।She read the letter and gave it to me.
हम सब मिलकर खाना बनाएँगे।We will all cook together.
स्टेशन पहुँचकर मुझे फ़ोन कीजिए।Call me when you get to the station.
वह मुझे देखकर मुस्कुराई।She saw me and smiled.
6 more example sentences
हाथ धोकर खाना खाइए।Wash your hands before you eat.
वह बहुत थककर घर लौटा।He came home very tired.
मैंने सब्ज़ियाँ काटकर फ़्रिज में रख दीं।I cut up the vegetables and put them in the fridge.
उसने जानबूझकर ऐसा नहीं किया।He did not do it on purpose.
हम ट्रेन से उतरकर सीधे होटल गए।We got off the train and went straight to the hotel.
सोच-समझकर फ़ैसला कीजिए।Think it over carefully before you decide.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
करना is the one verb whose form is not stem + कर: it is करके. Every conjunct verb with करना follows it: तैयार करके, साफ़ करके, बात करके.
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
Where English strings two actions together with “and” or “after”, Hindi turns the first one into a form that never changes: the verb stem plus कर, written as one word. खाना gives खाकर, जाना gives जाकर, पढ़ना gives पढ़कर. वह घर जाकर सो गया: “he went home and fell asleep”.
One verb is irregular, and it is the one used most: करना gives करके, never करकर. Every conjunct verb with करना follows it: काम ख़त्म करके, “after finishing the work”; बात करके, “after talking”. In relaxed speech -के replaces -कर everywhere (खाके, जाके); in writing keep -कर.
The -कर form says that the first action is complete before the next one starts, or it describes how the next one is done: बैठकर, “sitting down”; दौड़कर, “at a run”; मिलकर, “together”. It has no tense and no person of its own: the main verb at the end decides both.
Normally both actions belong to the same person. That has a consequence for ने: the last verb decides. खाना खाकर मैं सो गया has no ने, because सोना is intransitive, although खाना is transitive; खाना खाकर मैंने टीवी देखा has one, because देखना wants it.
A closer look
Who decides about ने
A sentence with -कर has two verbs and one subject, and only the last verb is finite. So the last verb alone decides whether the subject takes ने and what the verb agrees with: वह खाना खाकर सो गई (no ने), but उसने खाना खाकर बर्तन धोए (with ने, the verb agreeing with बर्तन).
The -कर verb itself never shows gender, number or tense, so nothing in it has to agree.
Fixed expressions
Some -कर forms have become adverbs: मिलकर, “together”; जानबूझकर, “on purpose”; सोच-समझकर, “after careful thought”; ख़ासकर, “especially”; and लेकर, “about, over”, as in पैसों को लेकर झगड़ा, “a quarrel over money”.
Worth knowing (2)
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Without doing: बिना … -ए
The opposite of -कर is बिना with the stem and -ए: बिना खाए, “without eating”; बिना बताए, “without saying”. After a stem that ends in a consonant the -ए is a vowel sign: बिना कहे, बिना लिखे. बिना can also stand after the verb: खाए बिना.
वह बिना कुछ कहे चला गया।He left without saying anything.
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Not for two different people
English can say “the bus came and we got on”. Hindi -कर needs one subject for both actions; with two different people use और instead.
बस आई और हम उसमें चढ़ गए।The bus came and we got on.
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