Causative Verb Forms in Urdu

In Brief

Urdu causatives express causing or arranging an action rather than simply doing it. A basic verb may have a first causative, often involving direct participation, and a second causative, often meaning “have or get someone to do it”: کھانا “eat” → کھلانا “feed” → کھلوانا “have someone fed.” The forms follow common patterns, but they are best learned as verb families because stem changes are not completely predictable.

Overview

A causative verb adds a new participant: the causer, meaning the person or thing that makes an event happen. Compare بچہ کھاتا ہے “the child eats” with ماں بچے کو کھلاتی ہے “the mother feeds the child.” In the second sentence, the mother causes the eating, and the child is the causee (the person made or enabled to act).

Urdu is especially useful and expressive here because it commonly distinguishes two causative levels. The first causative often presents the causer as directly involved: teaching, showing, feeding, waking, or moving someone. The second often presents the causer as arranging the action through another person: having clothes washed, getting a letter written, or making a servant do some work. This direct-versus-indirect contrast is a strong guide, not a rigid rule; the exact meaning of a familiar causative verb is determined by normal usage and context.

This B1 topic builds directly on the Urdu نے construction. A causative is still a verb and takes the ordinary tense and aspect endings. In a completed perfective event, a transitive causative normally marks its subject with نے, and agreement depends on whether the object is unmarked or marked with کو.

How It Works

The three-member verb family

Many Urdu verbs can be learned as a set of three. The infinitive (the dictionary form) ends in ـنا. Causative formation may add ـانا, ـلانا, or ـوانا, while also changing a vowel or consonant in the stem.

Basic verb	First causative	Second causative	Typical contrast
کھانا (khānā, eat)	کھلانا (khilānā, feed)	کھلوانا (khilvānā, have someone fed)	eat → feed → arrange feeding
پڑھنا (paṛhnā, read/study)	پڑھانا (paṛhānā, teach)	پڑھوانا (paṛhvānā, have someone teach/read)	study → teach → arrange teaching
سیکھنا (sīkhnā, learn)	سکھانا (sikhānā, teach)	سکھوانا (sikhvānā, have someone teach)	learn → teach → arrange instruction
دیکھنا (dekhnā, see)	دکھانا (dikhānā, show)	دکھوانا (dikhvānā, have something shown)	see → show → arrange showing
اٹھنا (uṭhnā, rise)	اٹھانا (uṭhānā, raise/pick up)	اٹھوانا (uṭhvānā, have lifted)	rise → raise → have raised
دھونا (dhonā, wash)	دھلانا (dhulānā, get washed)	دھلوانا (dhulvānā, have washed)	wash → cause washing → arrange washing
لکھنا (likhnā, write)	لکھانا (likhānā, dictate/have write)	لکھوانا (likhvānā, get written)	write → cause to write → arrange writing
کرنا (karnā, do)	کرانا (karānā, cause to do)	کروانا (karvānā, have/get done)	do → cause → arrange or commission

The labels “first” and “second” describe the form and the number of causative steps. They do not guarantee that English will use “make” for one and “have” for the other. For example, پڑھانا is normally translated simply as “teach,” even though its relationship to پڑھنا is causative.

First causative: direct causation

The basic pattern is:

causer + causee + first causative verb

In استاد بچوں کو پڑھاتا ہے, the teacher is the causer, بچوں کو is the causee, and پڑھاتا ہے is “teaches.” The marker کو commonly identifies a specific or animate causee—the person receiving the teaching, feeding, or other action.

First causatives often function as ordinary vocabulary items rather than as word-for-word versions of English “make.” Common examples include:

• کھلانا — feed
• پلانا — give someone a drink
• سکھانا — teach a skill
• دکھانا — show
• جگانا — wake someone
• بٹھانا — seat someone, make someone sit

Because these meanings are lexicalized, learn the complete verb and its normal participants, not only a suffix rule.

Second causative: delegated or indirect causation

The second causative commonly means that the subject commissions, arranges, or gets an action performed. A frequent pattern is:

causer + intermediary سے + affected object + second causative verb

In اس نے نوکر سے کام کروایا, the subject arranged the action, the servant actually did it, and سے marks the intermediary or actual performer. In plain terms, سے answers “through whom?” or “by getting whom to do it?”

The intermediary does not always have to be stated:

• میں نے کپڑے دھلوائے۔ — I had the clothes washed.
• ہم نے گھر بنوایا۔ — We had a house built.
• اس نے خط لکھوایا۔ — He/She had a letter written.

The context may make the service provider obvious or unimportant. This omission is common when talking about paid services: printing documents, repairing a car, cutting one’s hair, or having a house built.

Case markers: کو and سے

Case markers are short words placed after a noun to show its role. Three are especially important here:

Marker	Main role in a causative	Example
نے	marks the causer subject in many perfective transitive clauses	استاد نے سبق پڑھایا۔
کو	often marks an animate or specific causee/object	ماں نے بچے کو جگایا۔
سے	often marks the intermediary who actually performs a delegated action	میں نے درزی سے کپڑے سلوائے۔

These are tendencies, not a mechanical one-marker-per-person formula. A sentence can contain both کو and سے when their roles are distinct. The verb’s meaning and the intended focus determine which participants need to be expressed.

Tense, aspect, and agreement

A causative infinitive conjugates like other Urdu verbs. Remove ـنا and attach the normal habitual, progressive, future, imperative, or perfective forms:

Function	Example with پڑھانا	Meaning
Infinitive	پڑھانا	to teach
Habitual masculine singular	پڑھاتا ہے	teaches / regularly teaches
Habitual feminine singular	پڑھاتی ہے	teaches / regularly teaches
Progressive masculine singular	پڑھا رہا ہے	is teaching
Perfective masculine singular	پڑھایا	taught
Perfective feminine singular	پڑھائی	taught
Perfective masculine plural	پڑھائے	taught
Imperative	پڑھاؤ	teach

In non-perfective forms, the verb normally agrees with the subject: استاد پڑھاتا ہے “the male teacher teaches,” but استانی پڑھاتی ہے “the female teacher teaches.”

In a completed perfective clause, a transitive causative normally takes نے on the subject. The perfective verb can agree with an unmarked direct object:

• میں نے کپڑے دھلوائے۔ The plural masculine دھلوائے agrees with کپڑے.
• میں نے قمیص دھلوائی۔ The feminine singular دھلوائی agrees with قمیص.

If the relevant object is marked with کو, agreement is blocked and the verb generally appears in the default masculine singular:

• ماں نے بچے کو کھلایا۔ — The mother fed the child.
• استاد نے لڑکیوں کو پڑھایا۔ — The teacher taught the girls.

The gender of the subject does not control the perfective verb after نے. This is why ماں نے ... کھلایا has masculine singular کھلایا, not a feminine form agreeing with ماں.

Examples in Context

Urdu	English	Note
ماں بچے کو کھلاتی ہے۔	The mother feeds the child.	First causative; habitual form agrees with ماں.
ماں نے بچے کو کھلایا۔	The mother fed the child.	Perfective with نے; کو blocks agreement.
استاد نے بچوں کو پڑھایا۔	The teacher taught the children.	پڑھانا is the normal verb for “teach.”
وہ اپنی بیٹی کو گاڑی چلانا سکھا رہی ہے۔	She is teaching her daughter to drive.	Direct instruction with first causative سکھانا.
ذرا مجھے تصویر دکھاؤ۔	Please show me the picture.	Everyday imperative of دکھانا.
میں نے صبح بچے کو جگایا۔	I woke the child in the morning.	جگانا causes someone to wake.
اس نے نوکر سے کام کروایا۔	He/She had the servant do the work.	The actual worker is marked by سے.
میں نے درزی سے کپڑے سلوائے۔	I had a tailor sew the clothes.	Delegated service; کپڑے controls plural agreement.
ہم نے مستری سے دروازہ ٹھیک کروایا۔	We had a repairman fix the door.	کروانا is used for commissioned work.
میں نے کپڑے دھلوائے۔	I had the clothes washed.	The service provider is omitted.
اس نے دعوت نامے چھپوائے۔	He/She had the invitations printed.	A common service transaction.
انہوں نے نیا گھر بنوایا۔	They had a new house built.	The subject commissioned construction.
کل میں بال کٹواؤں گا۔	I will get my hair cut tomorrow.	Future; the provider need not be named.
کیا آپ یہ خط لکھوا سکتے ہیں؟	Can you have this letter written?	Polite question with a modal construction.

Common Mistakes

Treating every form as “make someone do”

• Awkward interpretation: استاد بچوں کو پڑھاتا ہے = “The teacher makes the children study.”
• Natural interpretation: استاد بچوں کو پڑھاتا ہے = “The teacher teaches the children.”
• Why: Many first causatives have settled dictionary meanings. Translate the event naturally rather than forcing an English causative phrase.

Building every causative by adding ـانا mechanically

• Wrong: کھانا → کھاناانا
• Right: کھانا → کھلانا → کھلوانا
• Why: Urdu causatives may change the stem as well as add a suffix. Learn common verbs in three-member families.

Using کو for the delegated worker

• Wrong: میں نے درزی کو کپڑے سلوائے۔ when you mean “I had the tailor sew the clothes.”
• Right: میں نے درزی سے کپڑے سلوائے۔
• Why: In the standard delegated pattern, سے marks the intermediary who performs the work. کو would assign a different grammatical role and can change or obscure the intended meaning.

Forgetting نے in a completed transitive event

• Wrong: میں کپڑے دھلوائے۔
• Right: میں نے کپڑے دھلوائے۔
• Why: دھلوائے presents a completed perfective action. A transitive causative normally marks its causer subject with نے.

Making the perfective verb agree with the نے-marked subject

• Wrong: ماں نے بچے کو کھلائی۔
• Right: ماں نے بچے کو کھلایا۔
• Why: After نے, the verb does not agree with ماں. Since بچے کو is marked by کو, masculine singular کھلایا is the default form.

Naming an unnecessary intermediary

• Less natural in a routine context: میں نے حجام سے بال کٹوائے when the barber’s identity adds nothing.
• Natural: میں نے بال کٹوائے۔
• Why: Urdu often leaves the service provider unstated when “having something done” is the important point. Add the سے phrase when the provider matters or contrasts with someone else.

Usage Notes

First and second causatives overlap more than a simple “direct versus indirect” chart suggests. Speakers choose a conventional verb form as well as a viewpoint. کرانا and کروانا, for example, may both be translated as “have done” in some contexts, while the longer form often makes delegation or arrangement especially clear. Exposure to complete phrases is more reliable than trying to calculate the intended distance from the action.

Second causatives are extremely common for services. English often uses “get,” “have,” or a service verb: “get the car repaired,” “have the documents printed,” or simply “get a haircut.” Urdu can encode that viewpoint in the verb itself: گاڑی ٹھیک کروانا, کاغذات چھپوانا, بال کٹوانا. Do not translate English “have” as a separate possession verb; select the relevant causative form.

Causation can range from force to permission, assistance, arrangement, or successful persuasion. Context supplies the strength. A causative form alone does not always tell you whether someone was compelled. If force matters, Urdu can state it with additional vocabulary rather than relying on the causative form by itself.

In careful writing, spelling helps reveal the causative family, but speech may reduce unstressed vowels. Train your ear on the contrast around و in forms such as کرایا and کروایا, or پڑھایا and پڑھوایا. The difference can identify whether the action is presented as direct or delegated.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

Valency: adding participants

Valency means the number and type of participants a verb can take. A causative usually increases valency by adding a causer. An intransitive verb (one that has no direct object), such as اٹھنا “rise,” can become transitive: اس نے ڈبہ اٹھایا “He/She lifted the box.” A transitive verb can gain both a causer and a causee: استاد نے بچوں کو نظم لکھوائی “The teacher had the children write a poem.”

This explains why causative sentences can feel crowded. Instead of memorizing a fixed English word order, identify the roles: Who arranged the event? Who actually acted? What person or thing was affected? Then select نے, کو, and سے according to the construction.

One form, several practical readings

The same second causative can describe commissioning, requesting, persuading, or ensuring completion:

• میں نے خط لکھوایا۔ — I had the letter written.
• استاد نے طلبہ سے مضمون لکھوایا۔ — The teacher had the students write an essay.
• اس نے ڈاکٹر سے مریض کو دکھوایا۔ — He/She arranged for the patient to be examined by a doctor.

The social relationship and situation determine whether the English equivalent is “make,” “have,” “get,” or “arrange for.” Urdu does not need to choose one English-style auxiliary before the verb.

Causatives combine with other verb structures

Once formed, a causative stem can enter modal and aspectual constructions like other verbs:

• مجھے گاڑی ٹھیک کروانی ہے۔ — I need to have the car repaired.
• وہ بچوں کو پڑھا سکتا ہے۔ — He can teach the children.
• ہم گھر بنوا رہے ہیں۔ — We are having a house built.

Notice that agreement may be controlled by the larger construction. In مجھے گاڑی ٹھیک کروانی ہے, feminine کروانی agrees with گاڑی. This is not the same structure as a simple perfective sentence with نے, so analyze the whole clause rather than copying the ending from a memorized example.

Practice Tips

1. Build verb-family cards. Put three forms on one card—such as دیکھنا → دکھانا → دکھوانا—and add one natural English meaning and one Urdu sentence for each. This trains both formation and usage.
2. Describe everyday services. Make sentences about things you have repaired, printed, washed, sewn, or cut. First omit the provider, then add one with سے: میں نے کپڑے سلوائے → میں نے درزی سے کپڑے سلوائے.
3. Recheck perfective agreement. For each sentence with نے, circle the direct object. If it has کو, expect default masculine singular; if it is unmarked, check whether the verb agrees with its gender and number.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Split Ergativity (نے Construction) — explains subject marking and object agreement in completed transitive clauses.