-दै जानु

Slowly Becoming

Level 4Sounds Like dai jānu

The stem plus -दै plus जानु shows a change that keeps going step by step.

How It Works

Use this form for something that changes slowly: it gets dark, a river rises, a person gets better. The first verb names the change and जानु carries the tense.

FormMeaning
हुँदै गयोkept becoming
बढ्दै गयोkept growing
बित्दै गयोkept passing

A vowel stem takes a chandrabindu before -दै: हुँदै, जाँदै, खाँदै. A consonant stem does not: बढ्दै, बित्दै, गर्दै.

The auxiliary जानु shows the tense. Use गयो, गए, गइन् for the past, and गएको छ for a change that has been going on until now: यो सहर ठूलो हुँदै गएको छ (this city has been getting bigger).

Do not confuse it with -दै (doing two things at once). There the second verb is a separate action. Here जानु is a helper and the whole phrase means a change that continues.

Examples (5)

  1. अँध्यारो हुँदै गयो।

    It kept getting darker.

    हुँदै has a chandrabindu after the vowel stem हु.

  2. समय बित्दै गयो।

    Time kept passing.

    बित्दै is a consonant stem, so no nasal.

  3. नदीमा पानी बढ्दै गयो।

    The water in the river kept rising.

    बढ्दै गयो shows a slow increase.

  4. बिरामी निको हुँदै गइन्।

    The sick woman kept getting better.

    गइन् agrees with the woman.

  5. यो सहर ठूलो हुँदै गएको छ।

    This city has been getting bigger.

    गएको छ links the change to now.

Common Mistakes

  • Leaving out the chandrabindu after a vowel stem.

    अँध्यारो हुदै गयो।
    अँध्यारो हुँदै गयो।

    Vowel stems nasalize before -दै, so the word is written हुँदै.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

-दै जानुLevel 4Slowly Becoming

Learn This First

-दै जानु means slowly becoming.