B1 · Joining clauses
So that and until: ताकि, जब तक … न
purpose clauses and until
ताकि takes the subjunctive and means “so that”; जब तक with a negative means “until”, without one “as long as”.
At a glance
- Remember
- Taki wants the subjunctive; until is jab tak with na — as long as it has not happened.
- Form
- ताकि सब समझ सकेंso that, with the subjunctive
- Signal words
- ताकि
- जब तक … न
- जब तक
- तब तक
- Trap
- Wrong:मैं जल्दी उठता हूँ ताकि ट्रेन पकड़ता हूँ।Right:मैं जल्दी उठता हूँ ताकि ट्रेन पकड़ सकूँ।
Your turn
10 exercises on this topic. Your answers are checked in the browser; none of them leaves your device.
The form
| so that, with the subjunctive | ताकि सब समझ सकें |
| so that … not | ताकि बस न छूटे |
| as long as | जब तक मैं यहाँ हूँ |
| until, about the future: न + subjunctive | जब तक मैं न आऊँ |
| until, about the past: नहीं + past | जब तक बारिश नहीं रुकी |
| until then | तब तक |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is aboutThe word that calls for it
ताकि is followed by the subjunctive.
धीरे बोलिए ताकि सब समझ सकें।Please speak slowly so that everyone can understand.
A negative purpose takes न.
मैं जल्दी निकलता हूँ ताकि बस न छूटे।I leave early so that I don’t miss the bus.
जब तक without a negative means “as long as”.
जब तक आप यहाँ हैं, आराम से रहिए।Make yourself comfortable for as long as you are here.
“Until” is जब तक with a negative.
जब तक मैं न आऊँ, आप यहीं रुकिए।Please wait here until I come.
Example sentences
उसने पैसे बचाए ताकि वह नया फ़ोन ख़रीद सके।He saved money so that he could buy a new phone.
दरवाज़ा बंद कर दीजिए ताकि ठंडी हवा अंदर न आए।Please shut the door so that the cold air doesn’t come in.
जब तक बारिश नहीं रुकी, हम अंदर बैठे रहे।We stayed sitting inside until the rain stopped.
जब तक खाना न बने, तब तक कुछ पढ़ लीजिए।Read something until the food is ready.
मैं ज़ोर से बोल रहा हूँ ताकि पीछे बैठे लोग भी सुन सकें।I am speaking loudly so that the people at the back can hear too.
जब तक मैं ज़िंदा हूँ, यह घर नहीं बिकेगा।As long as I am alive, this house will not be sold.
6 more example sentences
बच्चे को कंबल ओढ़ा दीजिए ताकि उसे ठंड न लगे।Put a blanket over the child so that he doesn’t get cold.
मैंने उसका नंबर लिख लिया ताकि भूल न जाऊँ।I wrote down her number so that I wouldn’t forget it.
जब तक आप नहीं आए, मैं इंतज़ार करता रहा।I kept waiting until you came.
जब तक डॉक्टर न कहें, दवाई लेते रहिए।Keep taking the medicine until the doctor says otherwise.
जब तक मैं यहाँ हूँ, आपको किसी चीज़ की कमी नहीं होगी।As long as I am here, you will not go short of anything.
हम धीरे-धीरे चले ताकि दादी थक न जाएँ।We walked slowly so that Grandmother would not get tired.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
A purpose has not happened yet, so the verb after ताकि is subjunctive: पकड़ सकूँ or पकड़ूँ. The present पकड़ता हूँ states a fact, and a fact cannot be a purpose.
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
ताकि, “so that”, introduces a purpose that may or may not come true, so its verb is in the subjunctive: मैं जल्दी निकलता हूँ ताकि बस न छूटे, “I leave early so that I don’t miss the bus”. The negative is न, the negative that goes with the subjunctive, not नहीं.
If the purpose belongs to the same person, Hindi can use ताकि or the shorter infinitive with के लिए: वह पैसे बचाता है ताकि नया फ़ोन ख़रीद सके or … नया फ़ोन ख़रीदने के लिए. With a different person only ताकि works: धीरे बोलिए ताकि सब समझ सकें.
जब तक means “as long as”: जब तक मैं यहाँ हूँ, आपको डरने की ज़रूरत नहीं. For “until”, Hindi looks at the time before the event — “as long as it has not happened” — and adds a negative: जब तक मैं न आऊँ, यहीं रुकिए, “wait here until I come”. About the future the verb is subjunctive with न; about the past it is नहीं with the past tense: जब तक बारिश नहीं रुकी, हम अंदर बैठे रहे.
The main clause of a जब तक sentence often has तब तक, “until then”: जब तक खाना न बने, तब तक कुछ पढ़ लीजिए. For “until” after a noun or a time, the postposition तक is enough: पाँच बजे तक, “until five”.
A closer look
Why “until” is negative
English “until” looks at the moment something starts. Hindi जब तक looks at the time before it, while the thing has not yet happened: जब तक वह न आए is “as long as he has not come”. The two say the same, seen from opposite ends.
Without the negative, जब तक with the future means “by the time”: जब तक मैं वापस आऊँगा, खाना तैयार हो जाएगा, “the food will be ready by the time I am back”. For “until”, keep the negative.
ताकि or the infinitive
For one person, के लिए with an infinitive is the lighter way to say the same: मैं हिंदी सीखने के लिए भारत आया. ताकि is needed when the purpose is somebody else’s, or when it is negative: ताकि कोई न देखे, “so that nobody sees”.
Worth knowing (2)
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तब तक: until then, meanwhile
On its own, तब तक means “until then” or “in the meantime”: मैं दस मिनट में आता हूँ, तब तक चाय पीजिए.
खाना बन रहा है, तब तक आप आराम कीजिए।The food is cooking; rest until then.
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Not until: जब तक … नहीं … नहीं
With the main clause negative too, जब तक … नहीं means “not until”: जब तक काम ख़त्म नहीं होगा, मैं नहीं जाऊँगा, “I won’t leave until the work is finished”.
जब तक तुम माफ़ी नहीं माँगोगे, मैं बात नहीं करूँगी।I won’t talk to you until you apologise.
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