Compound verbs are very common in Hindi.

The most common auxiliary verbs used to form compound verbs are लेना, देना, जाना, by far.

However, other verbs can be used too. Here are a few examples of other common types of compound verbs in Hindi:

With बैठना

The verb बैठना (literally “to sit”) can indicate an action that is foolish or accidental:

In the previous example, since losing one’s keys is a mistake, the compound verb “खो बैठा” (“lost”) was used, versus the less emphatic “खोया”. The meaning isn’t different than “खोया”, but the compound verb lends an explicit emphasis; the speaker is admitting that the action was a mistake. Note the grammar: although the verb is a perfect verb, ने was not used, since बैठना is an intransitive verb (see this article for more information).

बैठना is most commonly used with खोना. It can be used with other verbs, but it is relatively uncommon:

In the previous example, “भूल बैठा” (“forgot”) emphasizes the speaker’s frustration with the mistake of forgetting to bring money along. This sentence is perhaps unusual.

बैठना can be used as an adverb (participle) to indicate something that was done mistakenly or foolishly too, e.g.:

The idiom “मुसीबत मोल लेना” literally means “to buy trouble”, which is akin to the English idiom “to invite trouble”, or “to ask for trouble”. Here, बैठे-बिठाये, although untranslated, emphasizes the foolishness of the action.

With पड़ना

The verb पड़ना can be used as an auxiliary verb in compound verbs to indicate something that happened suddenly:

In the previous example, पड़ना emphasizes the abruptness of the crying; in English, this is rendered by saying that “she burst into tears” (i.e. versus merely “she cried”).

With डालना

डालना can indicate a violent or harsh action: