A Door Into Hindi: Lesson 19

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Devanagari Writing System

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19.6

लगाना

The causative verb लगाना means “to apply”, “to put” as in the following examples:

वह रोज़ बिन्दी लगाती है।	She wears a “bindi” every day.
मैं मेंहदी लगाना जानता हूँ।	I know how to apply henna (“mehndi”).
आप ने यह तस्वीर यहाँ क्यों लगाई?	Why did you put this picture here?
वह बालों में फूल लगा रही है।	She is putting a flower in her hair.

There are many additional idioms using लगाना. Here is a sampling:

मेला लगाना	to put on a fair
गले लगाना	to embrace
दिल लगाना	to get attached (emotionally)
गाड़ी लगाना	to park the car
आग लगाना	to set a fire, to incite
खाना लगाना	to put food (for a meal)
दोष लगाना / इल्ज़ाम लगाना	to place blame
हाथ लगाना	to touch
मूँह लगाना	to stoop to someone’s level
दुकान लगाना	to set up shop
ठोकर लगाना	to kick
ताला लगाना	to lock
etc.

The word with the verb functions as the grammatical object.

Many of these idioms also have “non-causative” versions with लगना. These are difficult to translate into English. Now the word with the verb functions as the grammatical subject.

मेला लगना	fair to be put on
दिल लगना	to become attached (emotionally)
आग लगना	fire to be set
खाना लगना	food to be put out (for a meal)
दोष लगना / इल्ज़ाम लगना	blame to be placed
हाथ लगना	to get one’s hands on
ठोकर लगना	to stumble, to trip
etc.