होने + पाना

In Hindi, there is an idiom that involves the MSO (masculine singular oblique) infinitive होने followed by a form of पाना. पाना is often in the past tense in this idiom. It is generally equivalent to “हो पाया” (and हो पाया might be considered more proper).

Consider a few examples:

हजारों छात्रओं को नयी किताबें मिलने का इंतजार अभी खत्म नहीं होने पाया – “The wait to receive new books is not yet over for thousands of students”

Note how को is often used to mark the subject, as in the previous example; this is a sort of indirect verb construction.

In the previous example, हो पाया could be used, as in all of the examples.

अगर उन्हें समय पर पता चल जाता तो शायद यह मामला न होने पाया होता – “If they had found out in time, then perhaps this affair would not have occurred”

The negative particle is typically न, although some people might use नहीं.

उसके साथ जनता के भारी गुस्से के बावजूद कुछ भी गलत नहीं होने पाया – “Despite the public’s outrage against him, he had done nothing wrong”

नयी प्रद्योगिकी प्रगतियों के द्वारा यह संभव होने पाया है – “This has become possible through new technological advances”

This idiom is often used with words than indicate time or completion:

अभी तो एक वर्ष भी न होने पाया था – “One year had not yet elapsed”

It is especially used with कि:

भाषण अभी समाप्त न होने पाया कि बहुत लोग उठकर निकल गए – “The speech hadn’t even ended when many people stood up and left”

परियोजना का पहला चरण समाप्त भी न होने पाया कि वह रद्द किया गया – “The project’s first phase hadn’t even concluded when it was cancelled”

4 replies on “होने + पाना”

hi david

in this sentence

हजारों छात्रओं को नयी किताबें मिलने का इंतजार अभी खत्म नहीं होने पाया – “The wait to receive new books is not yet over for thousands of students”
पाया is past tense so which part of the sentence makes it in the present tense …that is to say IS not yet over

how does one translate …. was not yet over …

thanks alot

Hi David,
I don’t really understand the usage of ” होने plus form of पाना “. What does it convey? Could you please explain the usage of it in the sentence ” हजारों छात्रओं को नयी किताबें मिलने का इंतजार अभी खत्म नहीं होने पाया ” and “अगर उन्हें समय पर पता चल जाता तो शायद यह मामला न होने पाया होता”. How is “होने plus पाना” used in the context of the preceding two sentences ?

The sense is something like “managed to happen”, or “successfully happened”, etc. In the first sentence, “नयी किताबें मिलने का इंतजार अभी खत्म नहीं होने पाया” means something like “the wait for the new books to arrive still hasn’t quite yet managed to have ended”, etc. The sense is that something has been successful at occurring, etc., e.g. in the second sentence “perhaps this matter would have been avoided” (i.e. we would have succeeded in avoiding it). It’s pretty subtle; you’ll just have to see more examples with पाना .

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