Participles and Verbal Adjectives in Hindi

In Brief

Hindi can reshape a verb so that it describes a person or thing: हँसता हुआ बच्चा means “a laughing child,” while टूटा हुआ खिलौना means “a broken toy.” The same forms can describe what is happening alongside the main action, as in खाते हुए बात मत करो, and the infinitive in -ना can name an action: जाना मुश्किल है (“Going is difficult”).

Overview

A participle is a form made from a verb but used partly like an adjective or an adverb. In plain terms, it lets an action describe someone or something, or provides the background to another action. Hindi uses these forms constantly: a person may be दौड़ता हुआ “running,” a door बंद किया हुआ “kept/left closed,” and a letter लिखा हुआ “written.”

English often uses forms ending in “-ing” or “-ed,” but the match is not exact. Hindi participles usually show agreement—their endings change to fit the gender and number of the person or thing they describe. Hindi also often adds a form of होना (“to be”), especially हुआ, हुई, हुए, to present the action as a visible state or an unfolding scene.

At B2, the important skill is not merely recognizing the endings. You need to choose between an ongoing or habitual view, a completed or resulting view, and an infinitive that names an action. You also need to track who performs the participial action and make the forms agree naturally.

How It Works

1. Imperfective participles: an action in progress or characteristic

The imperfective participle presents an action as ongoing, repeated, or characteristic rather than completed. Start with the verb stem and add -ता, -ती, or -ते. A matching form of हुआ is often added.

Form	Basic sense	Typical agreement
करता हुआ	doing; in the process of doing	masculine singular
करती हुई	doing; in the process of doing	feminine singular
करते हुए	doing; in the process of doing	masculine plural or respectful singular
करती हुई	doing; in the process of doing	feminine plural in direct agreement

Both parts normally agree with the person or thing described:

• हँसता हुआ लड़का — a laughing boy
• हँसती हुई लड़की — a laughing girl
• हँसते हुए लड़के — laughing boys
• हँसती हुई लड़कियाँ — laughing girls

The form may modify a noun directly, like an adjective:

सड़क पर चलता हुआ आदमी मेरा पड़ोसी है। “The man walking on the road is my neighbor.”

It may instead act adverbially—that is, it tells you how, when, or under what circumstances the main action happens:

वह मुस्कुराते हुए कमरे में आई। “She entered the room smiling.”

Here the person who smiles is also the person who enters. Hindi normally expects this shared subject to be clear. The agreement follows that subject: आई is feminine, so मुस्कुराते हुए refers to the woman, although adverbial -ते हुए is frequently used as a relatively fixed form.

The version without हुआ is also common. It can sound more compact or present the activity as a characteristic:

• बहता पानी — flowing water
• काम करने वाले लोग — people who work / workers
• रोता बच्चा — a crying child

Adding हुआ often makes the scene feel more explicitly in progress or visually present: रोता हुआ बच्चा “a child who is crying.” This is a tendency, not a rigid difference.

2. Perfective participles: a completed action or resulting state

The perfective participle views an action as completed. Its formation depends on the verb, so it is best learned together with the verb’s ordinary perfective form. Common patterns include करना → किया, लिखना → लिखा, तोड़ना → तोड़ा, and खोलना → खोला. When used adjectivally, the ending agrees with the noun described; हुआ may follow and agrees too.

Masculine singular	Feminine singular	Masculine plural	Meaning
लिखा हुआ पत्र	लिखी हुई चिट्ठी	लिखे हुए पत्र	written letter(s)
टूटा हुआ खिलौना	टूटी हुई कुर्सी	टूटे हुए खिलौने	broken toy/chair/toys
खुला हुआ दरवाज़ा	खुली हुई खिड़की	खुले हुए दरवाज़े	open door/window/doors
बनाया हुआ खाना	बनाई हुई चाय	बनाए हुए पकवान	prepared food/tea/dishes

These expressions often focus on the resulting state. टूटा हुआ खिलौना is not simply a toy that broke at some point; it is being identified as broken now. Similarly, लिखी हुई चिट्ठी presents the letter as something already written.

Hindi may omit हुआ when the shorter adjective is established or the meaning is obvious: टूटा खिलौना, खुली खिड़की, लिखित उत्तर. The forms with हुआ are productive and conversational; shorter or Sanskrit-derived adjectives such as लिखित can sound more formal.

A transitive participle can retain its doer in a phrase:

मीरा का लिखा हुआ लेख “the article written by Mira”

In this construction, लिखा हुआ agrees with लेख, not with मीरा. The phrase मीरा का identifies the writer.

3. Participial phrases alongside a main action

A participial phrase can replace an English clause with “while,” “as,” or “after.” The main verb carries the sentence’s tense; the participle describes the accompanying or prior action.

• खाते हुए बात मत करो। — Don’t talk while eating.
• घर लौटते हुए मैंने उसे देखा। — I saw her while returning home.
• काम खत्म करके वह चला गया। — Having finished the work, he left.

The last example uses -कर / करके, a conjunctive participle. It normally marks an action completed before the next one. Compare:

Hindi	English	View of the action
वह चाय पीते हुए पढ़ रही थी।	She was reading while drinking tea.	simultaneous actions
वह चाय पीकर पढ़ने लगी।	After drinking tea, she began to read.	first action completed

This distinction is useful: -ते हुए usually overlaps with the main action, whereas -कर/करके normally precedes it.

4. The infinitive in -ना as a noun-like form

An infinitive is the dictionary form of a verb, such as जाना “to go” or पढ़ना “to read.” Hindi infinitives can behave like nouns—words that name an action, person, place, thing, or idea. In this use, English often translates them with an “-ing” form.

• जाना मुश्किल है। — Going is difficult.
• रोज़ पढ़ना ज़रूरी है। — Studying every day is important.
• तैरना अच्छा व्यायाम है। — Swimming is good exercise.

As an action noun, the -ना infinitive is generally treated as masculine singular. Before a postposition, it takes the oblique form -ने. “Oblique” simply means the changed form used before words such as में, से, पर, के लिए, and का.

Hindi pattern	English	Note
घूमना अच्छा है	Walking around is pleasant	direct infinitive in -ना
घूमने में मज़ा आता है	Walking around is enjoyable	-ने before में
खाने के बाद	after eating	-ने before के बाद
पढ़ने का समय	time to study	-ने before का
सीखने के लिए	in order to learn	-ने before के लिए

Do not confuse every -ना form with a purely abstract noun. In sentences of obligation or intention, the infinitive participates in a larger verb construction: मुझे जाना है means “I have to go,” not literally “Going is to me.” With a stated object, the infinitive may agree with that object in some constructions: मुझे हिंदी सीखनी है (“I have to learn Hindi”), where सीखनी agrees with feminine हिंदी.

Examples in Context

Hindi	English	Note
खाते हुए बात मत करो।	Don’t talk while eating.	simultaneous action
सड़क पर खेलते हुए बच्चे बहुत खुश थे।	The children playing in the street were very happy.	imperfective, masculine plural
वह मुस्कुराती हुई बाहर आई।	She came outside smiling.	feminine subject
मैंने उसे बाज़ार जाते हुए देखा।	I saw him going to the market.	action seen in progress
मेज़ पर रखा हुआ फ़ोन मेरा है।	The phone lying on the table is mine.	resulting position
टूटा हुआ खिलौना फेंक दो।	Throw away the broken toy.	masculine singular
खिड़की के पास बैठी हुई महिला डॉक्टर हैं।	The woman seated by the window is a doctor.	respectful singular reference
यह रीना की लिखी हुई कहानी है।	This is a story written by Reena.	agrees with feminine कहानी
धुले हुए कपड़े धूप में सूख रहे हैं।	The washed clothes are drying in the sun.	masculine plural
दरवाज़ा बंद करके वह सो गया।	After closing the door, he went to sleep.	completed prior action
वह संगीत सुनते हुए काम करती है।	She works while listening to music.	habitual simultaneous actions
जाना मुश्किल है, लेकिन रुकना भी ठीक नहीं।	Going is difficult, but staying is not right either.	infinitives as action nouns
नई भाषा सीखने में समय लगता है।	Learning a new language takes time.	oblique infinitive before में
सोने से पहले फ़ोन बंद कर दो।	Turn off the phone before sleeping.	oblique infinitive before से पहले

Common Mistakes

Making only one half agree

• Wrong: टूटी हुआ कुर्सी
• Right: टूटी हुई कुर्सी
• Why: Both टूटी and हुई agree with feminine singular कुर्सी.

Using an ongoing form for a completed result

• Wrong: तोड़ता हुआ खिलौना when you mean “a broken toy”
• Right: टूटा हुआ खिलौना
• Why: तोड़ता हुआ describes someone or something doing the breaking. टूटा हुआ describes the toy’s completed, broken state.

Forgetting the oblique infinitive

• Wrong: खाना के बाद हम निकले।
• Right: खाने के बाद हम निकले।
• Why: Before के बाद and other postpositional expressions, -ना changes to -ने.

Giving a participial phrase the wrong understood subject

• Wrong: बाज़ार जाते हुए बारिश शुरू हुई। when you mean “While I was going to the market, it began to rain.”
• Better: जब मैं बाज़ार जा रहा था, तब बारिश शुरू हुई।
• Why: The short participial phrase can appear to make बारिश its subject. Use a full clause when the intended doer is not the subject of the main clause.

Translating every English “-ing” form with -ते हुए

• Wrong: तैरते हुए अच्छा व्यायाम है।
• Right: तैरना अच्छा व्यायाम है।
• Why: Here “swimming” names an activity, so Hindi uses the infinitive तैरना. Use तैरते हुए when swimming accompanies another action.

Usage Notes

In conversation, participles with हुआ are especially natural for visible scenes and resulting states: वहाँ खड़ा हुआ आदमी “the man standing there,” दरवाज़े पर लिखा हुआ नाम “the name written on the door.” Compact forms such as खड़ा आदमी and टूटी कुर्सी are also common. Context, rhythm, and how strongly the speaker wants to highlight the state all affect the choice.

English allows long strings before a noun—“the quietly waiting passengers.” Hindi more naturally places a substantial participial phrase before the noun or turns it into a relative construction with जो: जो यात्री चुपचाप इंतज़ार कर रहे थे. If a participial phrase becomes hard to follow, a full relative clause is usually clearer.

Honorific reference affects agreement. A respected singular man may take masculine plural agreement: वहाँ बैठे हुए बुज़ुर्ग मेरे दादा हैं। This is grammatical respect, not actual plurality. Feminine plural and honorific patterns do not always mirror masculine forms mechanically, so learn them through complete sentences.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

Hindi participles sit on a continuum between live verbal phrases and settled adjectives. जला हुआ can transparently mean “having been burned,” while पढ़ा-लिखा (“educated, literate”) behaves like a conventional adjective. Repetition and pairing can create lexical meanings that are more than the sum of the original verbs.

A perfective participle plus हुआ can imply a maintained result, not merely a past event. Compare दरवाज़ा खुला (“the door is open”) with दरवाज़ा खुला हुआ है (“the door is standing open / has been left open”). The second wording draws attention to the continuing state. Likewise, मैंने पैसे रखे हैं may report that money has been put somewhere, whereas पैसे रखे हुए हैं emphasizes that it is currently kept there.

Participles can also be followed by postpositions or embedded in larger noun phrases: उसके लिखे हुए में (“in what he wrote”) or मेरे देखे हुए शहरों में (“among the cities I have seen”). These compressed patterns require careful agreement and are more common once you are comfortable identifying the omitted noun from context.

Finally, do not treat participles as a replacement for every subordinate clause. Use -ते हुए for compact, closely connected simultaneous actions; use -कर/करके for a completed action before another; and use जब, जो, or another conjunction when subjects, time relations, or causes need to be explicit.

Practice Tips

1. Pick one everyday verb and build four noun phrases: पढ़ता हुआ लड़का, पढ़ती हुई लड़की, पढ़ते हुए छात्र, पढ़ती हुई छात्राएँ. Saying the noun as well as the participle makes agreement easier to hear.
2. Sort English “-ing” examples into two groups before translating: an activity as a thing (पढ़ना अच्छा है) or an action accompanying another (पढ़ते हुए नोट बनाओ).
3. Describe a room or photograph using resulting states: खुली हुई खिड़की, मेज़ पर रखा हुआ कप, दीवार पर लगी हुई तस्वीर. Then shorten each phrase and notice whether it still sounds natural.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Compound Verbs — helps you recognize how Hindi combines verb forms and separates the main meaning from aspectual nuance.