B1 · Infinitives and participles
As soon as: the -ते ही form (पहुँचते ही)
as soon as
Stem + ते ही means “as soon as”, and the form never changes.
At a glance
- Remember
- As soon as: always -te hi, with another person in front in the genitive.
- Form
- पहुँचते ही, देखते ही, सुनते हीstem + ते ही
- Signal words
- -ते ही
- जैसे ही
- मेरे … -ते ही
- Trap
- Wrong:वह घर पहुँचता ही सो गया।Right:वह घर पहुँचते ही सो गया।
Your turn
10 exercises on this topic. Your answers are checked in the browser; none of them leaves your device.
The form
| stem + ते ही | पहुँचते ही, देखते ही, सुनते ही |
| the same subject | घर पहुँचते ही वह सो गया |
| a pronoun of its own: genitive | मेरे आते ही, उसके जाते ही |
| a noun of its own | बस के रुकते ही, सुबह होते ही |
| as two clauses | जैसे ही …, … |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is aboutThe word that calls for it
Stem + ते ही, the same for every subject.
वह घर पहुँचते ही सो गई।She fell asleep as soon as she got home.
The main verb decides the time.
घर पहुँचते ही मुझे फ़ोन कीजिए।Call me as soon as you get home.
A pronoun as a subject of its own goes in front, in the genitive.
मेरे आते ही वह चला गया।He left as soon as I arrived.
जैसे ही says the same in two full clauses.
जैसे ही मैं बाहर निकला, बारिश शुरू हो गई।As soon as I went out, it began to rain.
Example sentences
उसे देखते ही मैंने पहचान लिया।I recognised him the moment I saw him.
सुबह होते ही हम निकल पड़े।We set off as soon as it was morning.
बस के रुकते ही लोग उतरने लगे।As soon as the bus stopped, people began to get off.
खाना खाते ही उसे नींद आ गई।He got sleepy as soon as he had eaten.
बिजली जाते ही सब चुप हो गए।Everyone went quiet the moment the power went off.
ख़बर सुनते ही वह रोने लगी।She started crying as soon as she heard the news.
6 more example sentences
घंटी बजते ही बच्चे क्लास से बाहर भागे।The moment the bell rang, the children ran out of the classroom.
उसके जाते ही हमने खाना शुरू किया।As soon as he had gone, we started eating.
फ़िल्म ख़त्म होते ही हम घर लौट आए।We came back home as soon as the film was over.
गाड़ी चलते ही मुझे नींद आ जाती है।I get sleepy the moment the car starts moving.
पैसे मिलते ही मैं आपको लौटा दूँगा।I will pay you back as soon as I get the money.
जैसे ही फ़ोन बजा, उसने उठा लिया।As soon as the phone rang, she picked it up.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
The -ते ही form is an oblique participle and agrees with nobody: पहुँचते ही for a man, a woman or a group. पहुँचता ही is not a form of this pattern at all.
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
The oblique participle in -ते followed by ही means “the moment that”, “as soon as”: घर पहुँचते ही, “as soon as I got home”; उसे देखते ही, “the moment I saw him”. The ending is always -ते, for any person, gender or tense.
The -ते ही phrase comes first and the main clause follows it. The time is set by the main verb: घर पहुँचते ही मैंने फ़ोन कियाis pastघर पहुँचते ही फ़ोन कीजिएis an instruction The main clause often has a compound verb, because something happens suddenly: … बारिश शुरू हो गई, … वह सो गया.
If both halves have the same subject, it is said once, usually in the main clause. If the -ते ही phrase has a subject of its own, a pronoun has to go in front in the genitive: मेरे आते ही, “as soon as I came”; उसके जाते ही, “as soon as he left”. A noun may take के or stand bare: बस के रुकते ही or बस रुकते ही; with words like सुबह the bare form is usual: सुबह होते ही.
The same meaning can be built as two clauses with जैसे ही: जैसे ही मैं घर पहुँचा, बारिश शुरू हो गई. That version is easier when the first half is long, and each half keeps its own subject in the ordinary form.
A closer look
Why the participle is oblique
-ते ही was once a phrase of place in time: the participle in the oblique, “at the moment of arriving”, plus ही, “exactly”. That is why it behaves like the infinitive before a postposition — its own doer stands in the genitive (मेरे आते ही, like मेरे आने से पहले) — and why it never agrees.
Not “only”
ही on its own often means “only” or stresses a word. After -ते it means “exactly then”. वह आते ही बैठ गया is “he sat down as soon as he came in”, not “he only came”.
Worth knowing (2)
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In the blink of an eye: देखते ही देखते
With verbs of perception -ते ही often sounds like an English adverb: देखते ही, “at first sight”; सुनते ही, “the moment one hears it”. Doubled, देखते ही देखते means “in no time at all”.
देखते ही देखते बाज़ार में भीड़ हो गई।In no time at all the market was crowded.
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No negative
There is no negative -ते ही. For “until” something happens, Hindi uses जब तक with a negative.
जब तक वह न आए, यहीं रुकिए।Please wait here until he comes.
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