खुवाउनु / पिलाउनु / देखाउनु

Feeding, Giving Drink and Showing

Level 4Sounds Like khuvā'unu, pilā'unu ra dēkhā'unu

खानु, पिउनु and देख्नु each have a causative twin: खुवाउनु, पिलाउनु and देखाउनु. The twin means making or letting someone else eat, drink or see.

How It Works

Three everyday verbs change their stem to make a twin that means giving the action to someone else.

Plain verbTwinMeaning
खानु (eat)खुवाउनुfeed
पिउनु (drink)पिलाउनुgive a drink
देख्नु (see)देखाउनुshow

The twins are regular after the new stem. The past is खुवायो, पिलायो and देखायो, and with तपाईं it is खुवाउनुभयो, पिलाउनुभयो and देखाउनुभयो. Because these verbs take an object, the doer takes ले in the past: आमाले बच्चालाई भात खुवाइन्।

The person who eats, drinks or sees is the one marked with लाई. Compare बच्चाले भात खायो (the child ate rice) with आमाले बच्चालाई भात खुवाइन् (mother fed the child rice). The verb agrees with the doer, not the child.

Examples (5)

  1. आमाले बच्चालाई भात खुवाइन्।

    Mother fed the child rice.

    खुवाइन् agrees with the woman who does the feeding; the child takes लाई.

  2. म बिरामी साथीलाई पानी पिलाउँछु।

    I give my sick friend some water to drink.

    पिलाउँछु is the present of पिलाउनु.

  3. शिक्षकले हामीलाई नयाँ नक्सा देखाउनुभयो।

    The teacher showed us a new map.

    देखाउनुभयो is the respectful past, and ले marks the teacher.

  4. तिमीले बाख्रालाई घाँस खुवायौ?

    Did you feed the goat some grass?

    खुवायौ is the past for तिमी; the goat is the one that eats.

  5. बाजेले नातिलाई मेला देखाउनुभयो।

    Grandfather showed his grandson the fair.

    The person who sees takes लाई.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the plain verb when you mean to feed.

    आमाले बच्चालाई भात खाइन्।
    आमाले बच्चालाई भात खुवाइन्।

    खाइन् is the plain verb: it has no place for the child who is being fed. खुवाइन् means she fed the child.

How It Connects

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

खुवाउनु / पिलाउनु / देखाउनुLevel 4Feeding, Giving Drink and Showing

Learn This First

Feeding and showing are causative verbs.