Verbs

A verb is a word that denotes an action. Urdu verbs have two types of forms: finite and non-finite. Non-finite forms include the infinitive, the gerundive, participles, the absolutive, and the noun of agency. Finite forms are mostly compound and include certain non-finite forms as their components.

Based on their meanings, verbs in Urdu are divided into two large classes: transitive and intransitive. Intransitive verbs are verbs expressing an action which cannot have any direct object. For example, the verb 'to go' requires a subject ('I go') but never has a direct object ('I go them' is incorrect). Transitive verbs are those verbs which require a direct object (e.g. 'I see them').

The difference between these two verb classes plays a much more important role in Urdu than it does in English. For example, in the perfect tenses, it determines the sentence construction, which is different for transitive and intransitive verbs.

Transitive verbs also can be divided into two groups. This division is based upon the difference in the structure of their stems. The stems of transitive verbs can be either simple or derived.

Simple stems are the same as the root of the word. For example, کر kar and پڑھ paRh are both the stems and the roots of the verbs 'to do' and 'to read', respectively.

Derived transitive stems are formed by adding the suffixes ا aa and وا vaa to the roots:

لگ lag- 'to stick to something' - لگا lagaa- 'to join something, to attach';کر kar- 'to do' - کروا karvaa- 'to make somebody do something'.

When one of these is added to a simple transitive stem, it imparts certain additional shades of meaning to the stem. For example, some derived transitive verbs imply the idea of compulsion or causing somebody to do something. Such verbs are called causative verbs or causatives.

Some causative verbs express an action which causes another action: the action expressed with the root. In English, this meaning is as a rule conveyed using the verb 'to make' (for example, 'I made him read this book'). Other causatives denote an action made by a person other than the subject, according to the subject's will. Their approximate equivalent in English is a construction with the verb 'to have' (for example, 'I have my hair cut', 'she has her watch mended').

The tables below give some examples of derived transitive stems.

Verbal Root

1^st Derived Transitive Stem

2^nd Derived Transitive Stem

کر kar-

'to do'

کرا karaa-

'to make do'

کروا karvaa-

'to make do'

بن ban-

'to become, to be made'

بنا banaa-

'to make'

بنوا banvaa-

'to have something made'

چل cal-

'to move'

چلا calaa-

'to make move, to drive'

چلوا calvaa-

'to have something (e.g. a car) driven, to make someone drive'

بدل badal-

'to be changed'

بدلا badlaa-

'to change'

بدلوا badalvaa-

'to have something changed'

A significant number of verbs have irregular transitive stems. Some of those stems are formed only by a vowel change, without any suffix:

مر

mar- 'to die'

مار

maar- 'to kill'

کھل

khul- 'to be opened'

کھول

khol- 'to open'

پھر

phir- 'to go round, to wander'

پھیر

pher- 'to rotate, to revolve'

When forming both first and second derived transitive stems, long vowels in the roots are very often contracted, and the vowels o, e and ai are interchanged with u or i respectively (o with u, e and ai with i). In such cases, the suffix may be لا laa- (in the first stem) and لوا lvaa- (in the second stem) instead of اaa or وا vaa:

Verbal Root

1^st Derived Transitive Stem

2^nd Derived Transitive Stem

پی pii-

'to drink'

پلا pilaa-

'to give to drink'

پلوا pilvaa-

'to have something given to somebody to drink'

سو so-

'to sleep'

سلا sulaa-

'to put to bed, to lull to sleep'

سلوا sulvaa-

'to have somebody put to bed, to make lull to sleep'

دے de-

'to give'

دلا dilaa-

'to make somebody give something'

دلوا dilvaa-

'to have something

given to somebody'

دیکھ dekh-

'to see'

دکھا ، دکھلا

dikhaa-, dikhlaa- 'to show'

دکھوا ، دکھلوا

dikhvaa-, dikhalvaa-

'to make somebody show something'

بیٹھ baiTh-

'to sit down'

بٹھا biThaa-

'to seat, to offer a

seat'

بٹھوا biThvaa-

'to make seat'