गर्नु / हुनु

Verbs Made with गर्नु and हुनु

Level 2Sounds Like garnu ra hunu

A noun plus गर्नु means someone does it, and the same noun plus हुनु means it happens by itself.

How It Works

Nepali builds many verbs from a noun and गर्नु or हुनु. काम गर्नु means to work, फोन गर्नु means to phone and सुरु गर्नु means to start something.

The same noun often works with both verbs. With गर्नु, a person acts on it: उनले पाठ सुरु गरिन् (she started the lesson). With हुनु, it happens without a named doer: कक्षा नौ बजे सुरु हुन्छ (the class starts at nine). With हुनु, it simply happens.

With गर्नु (someone does it)With हुनु (it happens)
सुरु गर्नु, to start somethingसुरु हुनु, to begin
तयार गर्नु, to prepareतयार हुनु, to be ready

Because गर्नु is a transitive verb, its past takes ले: मैले साथीलाई फोन गरेँ (I phoned my friend). हुनु is intransitive, so its past needs no ले: खाना तयार भयो (the food is ready).

Examples (4)

  1. कक्षा नौ बजे सुरु हुन्छ।

    The class starts at nine.

    सुरु हुन्छ means that it begins by itself.

  2. उनले पाठ सुरु गरिन्।

    She started the lesson.

    सुरु गरिन् has a doer, so ले marks it.

  3. मैले साथीलाई फोन गरेँ।

    I phoned my friend.

    फोन गर्नु takes ले in the past.

  4. खाना तयार भयो।

    The food is ready.

    तयार भयो means that it became ready.

Common Mistakes

  • Learners use गर्नु when the thing happens by itself.

    कक्षा नौ बजे सुरु गर्छ।
    कक्षा नौ बजे सुरु हुन्छ।

    सुरु गर्छ needs a person who starts it. A class starts by itself with हुन्छ.

How It Connects

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

गर्नु / हुनुLevel 2Verbs Made with गर्नु and हुनु

Learn This First

Verbs made with गर्नु and हुनु are common.