Compound Verbs

Some actions which are expressed in English by single verbs are rendered in Urdu by combinations of words called compound verbs. Compound verbs consist of two components, the first of which is a noun, an adjective, or a verbal stem, and the second of which is a verb in a finite or a non-finite form. The first component names a particular action. The second component expresses the grammatical information, such as person, number, gender, tense, etc. Sometimes it also specifies some features of the action expressed by the first component. There are many compound verbs in Urdu.

Urdu compound verbs may be divided into two groups. The first group includes combinations with nouns and adjectives as their first components. Combinations in which both first and second components are verbs belong to the second group.

The verbs most frequently used as the second component in compound verbs of the first group are کرنا karnaa 'to do, to make', ھونا honaa 'to be', لینا lenaa 'to take', and دینا denaa 'to give':

کام کرنا

kaam karnaa 'to work'

کام

(kaam - 'work')

جمع ھونا

jamaa honaa 'to assemble, to meet'

جمع

(jamaa - 'assembled')

سانس لینا

saaNs lenaa 'to breathe'

سانس

(saaNs - 'breath')

جواب دینا

javaab denaa 'to answer'

جواب

(javaab - 'an answer')

The first group also includes verbs borrowed from English, which are almost all compound. They are formed in the same way as the compound verbs given above:

فون کرنا

fon karnaa 'to phone'

ووٹ دینا

voT denaa 'to vote'

Compound verbs in the second group (which are also called intensive verbs) are formed from the stem of the main verb by adding one of the auxiliary verbs. These auxiliary verbs very often specify or even modify the meaning of the main verb. There are not very many auxiliary verbs. Some of them are given in the table below.

Auxiliary Verb

Shades of Meaning

Examples

آنا

aanaa

'to come'

Approaching, bringing near, directing the action or process toward the subject

بھاگ آنا

bhaag aanaa 'to come running'

(بھاگنا bhaagnaa 'to run')

نکل آنا

nikal aanaa 'to appear, to turn up'

(نکلنا nikalnaa 'to come out')

لے آنا

le aanaa 'to bring'

(لینا lenaa 'to take').

جانا

jaanaa 'to go'

Moving away, completeness of an action, unexpectedness

بھاگ جانا

bhaag jaanaa 'to flee'

لے جانا

le jaanaa 'to take away'

آ جانا

aa jaanaa 'to come suddenly';

مر جانا

mar jaanaa 'to be dead'

(مرنا marnaa 'to die')

لینا

lenaa 'to take'

Subject's interest in the result of the action, directing the action or process toward the subject

لکھ لینا

likh lenaa 'to note down' (لکھنا likhnaa 'to write')

کر لینا

kar lenaa 'to do something for oneself'

(کرنا karnaa 'to do')

پی لینا

pii lenaa 'to have a drink of something'

(پینا piinaa 'to drink')

دینا

denaa 'to give'

Directing the action or process from the subject toward someone else,
the interest of someone else in the result of the action, moving away

کر دینا

kar denaa 'to do something for someone else'

پڑھ دینا

paRh denaa 'to read something aloud to somebody'

(پڑھنا paRhnaa 'to read')

بھیج دینا

bhej denaa 'to send away, to dispatch'

(بھیجنا bhejnaa 'to send')

پڑنا

paRnaa 'to fall'

Suddenness, unexpectedness

آ پڑنا

aa paRnaa 'to come unawares'

رو پڑنا

ro paRnaa 'to burst into tears'

(رونا ronaa 'to weep, to cry')

مل پڑنا

mil paRnaa 'to be found suddenly'

(ملنا milnaa 'to be found')

ڈالنا

Daalnaa 'to throw'

The action results in the complete destruction or annihilation of something

توڑ ڈالنا

toR Daalnaa 'to break down, to destroy completely'

(توڑنا toRnaa 'to break')

کاٹ ڈالنا

kaaT Daalnaa 'to cut up'

(کاٹنا kaaTnaa 'to cut')

مار ڈالنا

maar Daalnaa 'to kill'

(مارنا maarnaa 'to beat')

There are also some other verbs that can be used as auxiliaries, such as اٹھنا uThnaa 'to rise, to stand up', بیٹھنا baiThnaa 'to sit down', رکھنا rakhnaa 'to keep, to hold', چھوڑنا choRnaa 'to leave, to quit', and کھانا khaanaa 'to eat'. However, these auxiliaries are not used very frequently.

The second components of compound verbs of the second group can be in every finite form, but they never occur in negative sentences.

In Urdu, there is a verbal construction which is formed in the same way as compound verbs of the second group, but differs from them in its meaning. It expresses the ability to do something, and its second component is the verb سکنا saknaa 'can, to be able':

میں آپ کو چٹھی لکھ سکتا ھوں

maiN aap ko ciTThii likh saktaa huuN

'I can write you a letter'

Unlike compound intensive verbs, this construction can be used with the negative particle. The negative particle is usually placed before the first component, i.e. before the stem of the main verb:

وہ یہ کام نہیں کر سکتی

vah yah kaam nahiiN kar saktii

'She cannot do this work'

In the tenses formed from the past participle, the verb سکنا saknaa doesn't require the particle نے ne, and the participle agrees with the object of the sentence instead of the subject:

وہ کل شہر نہیں پہنچ سکی

maiN kal shahar nahiiN pahuNc sakaa

'I couldn't arrive at the city yesterday'