Hindustani (Hindi and Urdu) verbs conjugate according to mood, tense, person, number, and gender.
[2] Some of the most common verbs are: honā (to be), karnā (to do), rahnā (to stay), calnā (to walk), bolnā (to speak).
The example in (3), on the other hand, is considered a compound verb since the predicate exhibits two or more than two verbal elements, bōl 'tell' and diyā 'gave' (a form of dēnā 'give').
While the derivation of different verb forms shows patterns, it does reach a level of variegation so as to make it somewhat difficult to outline all encompassing rules.
The future subjunctive forms are constructed the following way by adding the conjugational suffixes to the verb root.
Every monosyllabic verb root such as in pīnā "to drink", jīnā "to live" and sīnā "to sew" etc.
It is constructed by taking the verb root and adding the suffix -tā to it which declines for number and gender of the noun that the pronoun refers to.
Contrafactual mood can only be used in the past tense as it expresses hypothetical scenarios that "could have" happened but didn't.
In the table below which mentions the different participles present in the language, ɸ denotes the verb root.
There are four verbs which can be used as the copula: honā (to be), rêhnā (to stay), ānā (to come), jānā (to go), and karnā (to do).
However, somehow huā jā rahā honā is a valid construction but it means the same as hotā jā rahā honā which is the progressive subaspect of the habitual aspect using the copula jānā (shown below) but just emphasising the rate (shows its faster) at which the action is happening; progressive subaspects of the perfective aspect using jānā (to go) is often just the more emphasised version of the progressive subaspect of the habitual aspect using jānā (to go).
An example using habitual sub-subaspectː "jab bhī uske sāth bāhar jātī hū̃ vo marā jā rahā rêhtā hai pizzā khāne ke liye" = "Whenever I go out with him he always is (nuanceː I always find him) dying to eat a pizza".
This sentence combines and mixes the nuances of all the three, perfective (main), progressive (sub), and habitual (subsub), aspects on the same verb marnā (to die).
[22] Shown below are prominent such light verbs, with their independent meaning first outlined, followed by their semantic contribution as auxiliaries.
Finally, having to do with the manner of an occurrence, compounds verbs are mostly used with completed actions and imperatives, and much less with negatives, conjunctives, and contexts continuous or speculative.
means gives a sense of completeness of the action, finality, or change of state.
[23] This auxiliary verb can also be used to soften down the tone of imperatives (commands) and usually is used to give suggestions.
2. jītnā "to win" 2. jīt cuknā "to have already won" The first three light verbs in the above table are the most common of auxiliaries, and the "least marked", or "lexically nearly colourless".
[25] The nuance conveyed by an auxiliary can often be very subtle, and need not always be expressed with different words in English translation.
[28] 2. dekhnā "to see" → dekh saknā "to be able to see" It occurs with lenā and denā, meaning "to give/take (as a loan)",[30] and with other appropriate verbs, showing an action performed beforehand.
[26] It usually works almost the same as cuknā the main difference being the nuance conveyed by rakhnā is that the action has either "continued effect till the present time" or "is more recent than the same action conveyed using cuknā."
[32] A standard ergative construction is shown below — the verb is a transitive perfective participle, the subject carries the ergative case marker -ne, the object is unmarked and the participle agrees in gender with the object.
Kabir-nēKabir(MASC)-ERGvothat.DEMgār̥īcar(FEM).NOMjaldī-sequick-INSTbecī.sell.PRF.FEMKabir-nē vo gār̥ī jaldī-se becī.Kabir(MASC)-ERG that.DEM car(FEM).NOM quick-INST sell.PRF.FEM"Kabir sold that car quickly"Kabir-nēKabir(MASC)-ERGvothat.DEMgār̥īcar(FEM).NOMjaldī-sequick.INSTbecselldī.take.PRF.FEMKabir-nē vo gār̥ī jaldī-se bec dī.Kabir(MASC)-ERG that.DEM car(FEM).NOM quick.INST sell take.PRF.FEM"Kabir sold that car quickly"The light verb construction exemplified in (b) above has been studied extensively in Hindi linguistics.
The V1 functions as the main verb, providing the bulk of meaning/thematic information, and the v2 is "relatively" light.
[32] Ergative case marking in compound verb constructions is affected by the transitivity of the v2.
Amritavalli (1979:77–78) comments "In sentences with compound verbs it is the transitivity (and perfectivity) of v2 that determines the ergative case-marking."
Kabir-nēKabir(MASC)-ERGvothat.DEMkitābbook(FEM).NOMjaldī-sequick-INSTpar̥hreadlī.take.PRF.FEMKabir-nē vo kitāb jaldī-se par̥h lī.Kabir(MASC)-ERG that.DEM book(FEM).NOM quick-INST read take.PRF.FEM"Kabir read that book quickly"*Kabir-nēKabir(MASC)-ERGvothat.DEMkitābbook(FEM).NOMjaldī-sequick-INSTpar̥hreadgayī.go.PRF.FEM*Kabir-nē vo kitāb jaldī-se par̥h gayī.Kabir(MASC)-ERG that.DEM book(FEM).NOM quick-INST read go.PRF.FEMintendedː "Kabir read that book quickly"KabirKabir(MASC).NOMvothat.DEMkitābbook(FEM).NOMjaldī-sequick-INSTpar̥hreadgayā.go.PRF.MASCKabir vo kitāb jaldī-se par̥h gayā.Kabir(MASC).NOM that.DEM book(FEM).NOM quick-INST read go.PRF.MASC"Kabir read that book quickly"Certain intransitive V1s do allow for ergative subjects when the light v2 is transitive.
[33] Intransitive V1s that permit ergative subjects with transitive v2's belong to the unergative khā̃snā "to cough" class of verbs.
Some other voliational (intransitive) verbs which allow ergative case assignment are bolnā "to speak", chī̃knā "to sneeze", cillānā "to shout", nahānā "to take a bath" etc.
Crucial evidence as to the source of ergativity in V1v2 constructions comes from pairings in which the case properties of the V1 are distinct from those of the v2.