B1 morphology 4 دقيقة للقراءة

Hindi Conjunct Verbs with Karn

Conjunct verbs turn static nouns into active verbs using 'karnā', treating the action as something you 'do' rather than just an action itself.

The Rule in 30 Seconds

  • Pattern: Noun/Adjective + karnā (to do)
  • Conjugate only karnā, keep the noun static
  • Use 'ne' in past tense (it is transitive)
  • Connect objects using kā/kī based on noun gender

Quick Reference

Hindi Verb Literal Meaning Actual Meaning Connector Needed
intezār karnā to do wait to wait kā (masc)
madad karnā to do help to help kī (fem)
pyār karnā to do love to love se (with)
bāt karnā to do talk to talk/converse se (with)
sāf karnā to do clean to clean Direct (Adj)
istemāl karnā to do use to use kā (masc)

أمثلة رئيسية

3 من 8
1

कृपया थोड़ा इंतज़ार कीजिये।

Please wait a little.

2

मैं अपना कमरा साफ़ कर रहा हूँ।

I am cleaning my room.

3

क्या तुमने राहुल की मदद की?

Did you help Rahul?

🎯

The English Hack

Stuck on a Hindi word? Just take the English verb and add 'karnā'. 'Relax karnā', 'Study karnā', 'Order karnā'. It is colloquial gold.

⚠️

The 'Ne' Trap

Remember, 'karnā' is transitive. So even if you 'loved' (pyār kiyā), you must say 'main ne' (maine). You 'did' the love.

The Rule in 30 Seconds

  • Pattern: Noun/Adjective + karnā (to do)
  • Conjugate only karnā, keep the noun static
  • Use 'ne' in past tense (it is transitive)
  • Connect objects using kā/kī based on noun gender

Overview

Welcome to one of the biggest vocabulary hacks in Hindi. Seriously, if you learn this pattern, you instantly unlock hundreds of verbs without actually memorizing new verb conjugations. Conjunct verbs are basically the "Do-It-Yourself" kit of Hindi grammar. Instead of having a unique word for every single action like "clean," "wait," or "love," Hindi often just takes a noun or adjective and sticks the verb karnā (to do) on the end. It’s like saying "do cleaning," "do waiting," or "do love." Sounds a bit robotic in English, but in Hindi? It’s smoother than a Bollywood dance number.

How This Grammar Works

Think of karnā as a generic activator. It takes a static concept (a noun like "help" or an adjective like "clean") and turns it into an active process. The cool part? You only ever conjugate karnā. The noun or adjective part usually sits there looking pretty and unchanged. However, there is a catch (there's always a catch, right?). Because you are technically "doing" a noun, the thing you are acting upon often gets connected with a genitive marker like kā or kī. It’s a grammatical bridge you cannot skip.

Formation Pattern

  1. 1Here is the formula to build these verbs. It’s pretty reliable:
  2. 2Pick your Concept: Choose a noun (e.g., madad - help) or an adjective (e.g., sāf - clean).
  3. 3Add the Activator: Add karnā (to do).
  4. 4Connect the Object (The Tricky Part):
  5. 5* If using an Adjective: Object + Adjective + karnā. (e.g., kamrā sāf karnā - to clean the room).
  6. 6* If using a Noun: Object + kā/kī + Noun + karnā. (e.g., dost kī madad karnā - to help a friend).
  7. 7* *Note:* The kā/kī agrees with the gender of the *noun inside the conjunct verb*, not the object you are talking about. Since madad (help) is feminine, we use kī.

When To Use It

You will use this constantly. It is the default way to express most abstract actions in Hindi. Use it for:

  • Emotions: pyār karnā (to love), nafrat karnā (to hate).
  • Daily Tasks: nāštā karnā (to have breakfast), fon karnā (to call).
  • Interactions: bāt karnā (to talk), intezār karnā (to wait).
  • Work: kām karnā (to work), prabandh karnā (to arrange/organize).

Basically, if you can't find a one-word verb for it, try sticking karnā after the English word (e.g., login karnā). Yes, Hinglish works perfectly here too!

When Not To Use It

Don't use karnā when the state is happening to you passively. If you get angry, you don't "do anger" (gussā karnā means to get angry *at* someone). If you are just feeling angry, you might use honā (to be). Also, avoid this pattern if a simple, common verb already exists and implies a specific nuance. For example, don't say khānā karnā for "to eat" (use khānā). That just sounds like you are "doing food," which is... weird.

Common Mistakes

  • The "Ne" Neglect: karnā is a transitive verb. In the Past Perfective tense (actions completed in the past), you MUST use the ergative marker ne with the subject. Even if it’s an emotion like love! *Correct:* mainequsane pyār kiyā (I loved). *Wrong:* maĩ pyār kiyā.
  • The Gender Mismatch: Ignoring the gender of the abstract noun. Learners often guess kā for everything. You need to know that madad (help) is feminine (kī madad), but intezār (wait) is masculine (kā intezār).
  • Double Object Confusion: Saying "I helped him" as maĩ usko madad kiyā. Nope. It’s "I did his help" -> maine uskī madad kī.

Contrast With Similar Patterns

The biggest rival to karnā is honā (to be). They are two sides of the same coin.

  • band karnā (to close something - Active)
  • band honā (to be closed/to close on its own - Passive)
  • shurū karnā (to start something)
  • shurū honā (to start - like a movie starting)

Think of karnā as the driver, and honā as the passenger.

Quick FAQ

Q. Can I use English words with karnā?

A. Absolutely. Check karnā, drive karnā, text karnā. It’s extremely common in modern Hindi.

Q. How do I know the gender of the noun like madad or koshish?

A. You mostly have to memorize them, unfortunately. But abstract nouns ending in -ish (like koshish, bārish) are usually feminine. That helps a little, right?

Reference Table

Hindi Verb Literal Meaning Actual Meaning Connector Needed
intezār karnā to do wait to wait kā (masc)
madad karnā to do help to help kī (fem)
pyār karnā to do love to love se (with)
bāt karnā to do talk to talk/converse se (with)
sāf karnā to do clean to clean Direct (Adj)
istemāl karnā to do use to use kā (masc)
🎯

The English Hack

Stuck on a Hindi word? Just take the English verb and add 'karnā'. 'Relax karnā', 'Study karnā', 'Order karnā'. It is colloquial gold.

⚠️

The 'Ne' Trap

Remember, 'karnā' is transitive. So even if you 'loved' (pyār kiyā), you must say 'main ne' (maine). You 'did' the love.

💡

Memorize Pairs

Don't just learn 'madad' (help). Learn 'kī madad karnā' as one giant chunk. It saves you from guessing the gender later.

💬

Politeness Level

Using 'karnā' conjuncts often sounds more polite than simple verbs in some contexts because it focuses on the concept of the action.

أمثلة

8
#1 kripayā thodā intezār kījiye

कृपया थोड़ा इंतज़ार कीजिये।

Focus: intezār kījiye

Please wait a little.

Formal imperative usage.

#2 mai apnā kamrā sāf kar rahā hū̃

मैं अपना कमरा साफ़ कर रहा हूँ।

Focus: sāf kar

I am cleaning my room.

Here 'sāf' is an adjective, so no 'kā/kī' needed.

#3 kya tumne rāhul kī madad kī?

क्या तुमने राहुल की मदद की?

Focus: madad kī

Did you help Rahul?

Notice 'kī' agrees with 'madad' (fem), not Rahul.

#4 ham āpse bāt karnā cāhte haĩ

हम आपसे बात करना चाहते हैं।

Focus: bāt karnā

We want to talk to you.

bāt takes 'se' (with), not 'kā' or 'kī'.

#5 usne mujhe fōn kiyā

उसने मुझे फ़ोन किया।

Focus: fōn kiyā

He/She called me.

Common Edge Case: 'fōn' is treated as a direct object here.

#6 maĩ tum intezār kartā hū̃ (✗) -> maĩ tumhārā intezār kartā hū̃ (✓)

मैं तुम्हारा इंतज़ार करता हूँ।

Focus: tumhārā intezār

I wait for you.

Mistake Correction: Must use genitive (tumhārā) with intezār.

#7 bacche shōr kar rahe the

बच्चे शोर कर रहे थे।

Focus: shōr kar

The children were making noise.

Literal: children were 'doing noise'.

#8 kripayā darvāzā band karo

कृपया दरवाज़ा बंद करो।

Focus: band karo

Please close the door.

Adjective based conjunct verb.

اختبر نفسك

Choose the correct connector based on the noun gender.

Mujhe āp ___ madad cāhiye.

✓ صحيح! ✗ ليس تمامًا. الإجابة الصحيحة: kī

'Madad' (help) is a feminine noun, so it requires the feminine marker 'kī'.

Select the correct form of 'karnā' for the Past Tense (Subject: Rahul).

Rāhul ne kamrā sāf ___.

✓ صحيح! ✗ ليس تمامًا. الإجابة الصحيحة: kiyā

Because 'kamrā' (room) is masculine singular and is the direct object of the cleaning, the verb agrees with it. 'Kiyā' is masc. singular.

Complete the sentence logically.

Main āpse kuch bāt ___ cāhtā hū̃.

✓ صحيح! ✗ ليس تمامًا. الإجابة الصحيحة: karnā

The phrase is 'bāt karnā' (to talk). 'Bāt honā' implies a conversation happened passively, but here the subject 'wants' to do it.

🎉 النتيجة: /3

وسائل تعلم بصرية

Active vs. Passive States

Karnā (Active/Doer)
shurū karnā To start (something)
band karnā To close (something)
Honā (Passive/Happening)
shurū honā To start (itself)
band honā To be closed

Which Connector to Use?

1

Is the first word an Adjective?

YES ↓
NO
Check Noun Gender
2

Is the Noun Feminine?

YES ↓
NO
Use 'kā' (e.g., intezār)

Common Karnā Collocations

❤️

Emotions

  • • pyār
  • • nafrat
  • • pasand
🏃

Actions

  • • intezār
  • • koshish
  • • tārīf
🏠

Household

  • • sāf
  • • band
  • • repair

الأسئلة الشائعة

20 أسئلة

A conjunct verb is just a combination of a Noun or Adjective plus a helper verb like karnā. It allows Hindi to create thousands of verbs from simple nouns.

Hindi often prefers descriptive nouns over unique verbs. Instead of 'waiting', we prefer the concept of 'doing a wait' (intezār karnā).

Literally yes, but functionally it just activates the noun. Don't translate it as 'do' in your head; translate the whole phrase as the verb.

You have to memorize the gender of the noun. Madad (help) is feminine, intezār (wait) is masculine. There is no shortcut, sadly!

Never! The noun part (madad, bāt, pyār) stays frozen. You only change karnā to kartā, kiyā, karenge, etc.

Since karnā is transitive, you use the ne marker with the subject. Rām ne bāt kī (Ram talked).

Because karnā requires the ergative ne in the past perfective. You literally 'did love', an action upon an object.

Yes! Homework karnā, party karnā, check karnā. It is very common in spoken Hindi.

Bolnā is to speak or say words. Bāt karnā is to converse or have a discussion with someone.

Yes, for active emotions like pyār karnā (to love) or nafrat karnā (to hate). Passive feelings often use lagnā instead.

Usually kā or kī if the conjunct part is a noun. Nothing if the conjunct part is an adjective.

Maĩ kamrā sāf kar rahā hū̃. Sāf is an adjective, so the room is the direct object.

Maĩ dost kī madad kar rahā hū̃. Madad is a noun, so we connect 'friend' with kī.

Many Urdu loanwords ending in -ish are feminine in Hindi. So we say koshish kī.

Yes! Maine kām kiyā. 'I did work'.

The connector kā/kī agrees with the *noun inside the verb*, not the object outside. So it stays kī madad even if you help ten people.

Yes. We don't usually say nāštā khānā. We say nāštā karnā (to do breakfast).

No, it follows standard SOV order. Subject -> Object -> Conjunct Noun -> Karnā.

It is neutral. It works in both formal and informal settings depending on how you conjugate karnā (e.g., kariye vs karo).

Generally, keep them together. But sometimes for emphasis, a word might slip in: bahut bāt kī (did *much* talk).

هل كان هذا مفيداً؟
السابق
Expressing Strong Obligation
التالي
Hindi First Causative Ver

تعلّم هذه أولاً

فهم هذه المفاهيم سيساعدك على إتقان هذه القاعدة النحوية.

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