Topic 70: मैंने आपकी बात समझी I understand (exceptional verbs)
Context: Meanwhile Mark stops at the shop and buys the medicine. [click on image for dialogue]
बातचीत
मार्क - मुझे भानजे के लिए पेटदर्द की दवाई चाहिए।
दुकानदार - ठीक है, मैंने आपकी बात समझी। उसको बुख़ार भी है?
मार्क - मैंने अभी तक नहीं देखा। दीदी ने बताया कि उसको पेटदर्द और बुख़ार भी है।
दुकानदार - क्या तुम उसको डॉक्टर के पास ले गए?
मार्क - अभी तक नहीं, दीदी ने फ़ोन किया और मैंने समझा कि बस, वह कुछ बीमार है।
दुकानदार - अभी के लिए ये दवाई ले लो। लेकिन कल डॉक्टर के पास ले जाना।
Conversation
Mark - I want some stomach ache medicine for my nephew.
Shopkeeper - Okay, I understand what you are saying. Does he also have a fever?
Mark - I have not seen him yet. My sister said that he has a stomach ache and a fever as well.
Shopkeeper - Have you taken him to the doctor?
Mark - Not yet, my sister rang and I understood that he was just a bit sick.
Shopkeeper - For the moment take this medicine. But take him to the doctor tomorrow.
Notes: Exceptional verbs
There are a small number of verbs which take ने in the perfective when there is an object present, but without an object are intransitive.- जीतना to win: मैं जीता I won. vs. but with an object, here, बाज़ी nf. game.
- समझना to understand: मैं समझा I understood. but with an object, here बात nf. matter, words
- हमारे वकिल साहब लंदन में पढ़े। Our lawyer studied in London. (Note in this usage no object, what is studied, is normally mentioned.)
- मैंने क़ानून की किताब में इस मुद्दे के बारे में पढ़ा I read about this case in a law book.
- छींकना to sneeze मिर्च सूंघकर मैंने छींका। I sneezed after smelling Chilli.
- थूकना to spit, पान चबाने के बाद मैंने थूका I spat after chewing paan.
However, the vast majority of Hindi verbs behave predictably in the perfective in Hindi and basically you just have to remember which verbs take ने and which don’t just as you have to remember the gender of nouns.
There is some variation in usage in a few verbs. For instance, whilst कहना, to say, always takes ने, normally बोलना to speak, or of birds 'to twitter/sing' etc., does not take ने.
- मैंने कहा, तुम ने क्या गाया? I said what did you sing?
- ‘कोयल बोली,दुनिया डोली’ ‘cuckoo called, the world swayed.'
- उसने गुजराती में बोला ‘खेम छे’ He said in Gujarati, “How are you?”.
Notes
In Hindi to say ‘go to [somebody]’ you say you ‘go near [somebody]’
- डॉक्टर के पास जाना go to the doctor.
In the dialogue the shopkeeper says ले लो 'take ' which is a softer way to say लो 'take'. We will learn more about this later.
Vocabulary
भानजा nm. nephew
जीतना vi./vt. to win; (with object, vt.)
सूंघना vt. to smell, to sniff
चबाना vt. to chew
छींकना vt. to sneeze
थूकना vt. to spit
कोयल nf. cuckoo
दुनिया nf. world
डोलना vi. swing, shake, tremble
गुजराती nf. Gujarati language; adj. related to Gujarat