चला आना and चला जाना

The verbs चला आना and चला जाना exhibit a slightly irregular verb form. They consist of a perfect participle of चलना followed by a form of the verb आना or जाना. The participle and verb both inflect.

चला आना means “to come” and चला जाना means “to go”. They are, in general, equivalent to आना and जाना, respectively.

They are used in an idiom that was discussed in another note.

Examples:

तुम कहां चली गई – “Where did you go?” / “Where were you off to?”

इतनी जल्दी शाम चली आई – “The evening came so quickly”

मेरे दो भाई चले आए हैं – “Two of my brothers have come”

कहीं सालों से यह रीत चली आई है – “This tradition has come after many years”

3 replies on “चला आना and चला जाना”

Hi, Dorothea! You’re welcome! Good question. Actually, कहां and कहाँ are equivalent in modern Hindi. Traditionally, the bindu was used with vowel letters or maatraas that are raised above the line, and the chandrabindu was used otherwise. Thus, you’re right that, traditionally, this word is written कहाँ. However, in modern Hindi, the bindu is typically used exclusively. I don’t know why, but I prefer the bindu. I just like how it looks. Look at the typography on BBC Hindi, for instance. They typically use the bindu. Thanks for your comment!

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