Bengali Compound Verbs: 'Feel Hunger' Is 'Get Hunger'

A large share of Bengali verbs are not single words. Instead, a noun or adjective is combined with a small "light" verb such as করা (kora, do), হওয়া (hawa, become), দেওয়া (dewa, give) or পাওয়া (pawa, get). Understanding this pattern makes vocabulary much easier to build.

Noun + করা (to do)

• কাজ করা (kaj kora) — to work, "to do work"
• ফোন করা (phone kora) — to phone
• শুরু করা (shuru kora) — to begin
• সাহায্য করা (shahajjo kora) — to help
• পড়াশোনা করা (porashona kora) — to study

Noun + হওয়া (to become)

• ঠান্ডা হওয়া (thanda hawa) — to become cold
• ভালো হওয়া (bhalo hawa) — to get better
• বিয়ে হওয়া (biye hawa) — to get married
• দেরি হওয়া (deri hawa) — to be late, "lateness happens"

Noun + পাওয়া (to get)

This pattern expresses feelings and needs, which English expresses with "be" or "feel":

• খিদে পাওয়া (khide pawa) — to be hungry, literally "to get hunger"
• ঘুম পাওয়া (ghum pawa) — to be sleepy
• ভয় পাওয়া (bhoy pawa) — to be afraid
• তেষ্টা পাওয়া (teshta pawa) — to be thirsty
• হাসি পাওয়া (hashi pawa) — to feel like laughing

So আমার খিদে পেয়েছে (amar khide peyechhe) is literally "hunger has been received by me", meaning "I'm hungry".

Noun + দেওয়া / নেওয়া

• ধন্যবাদ দেওয়া (dhonnobad dewa) — to thank
• উত্তর দেওয়া (uttor dewa) — to answer
• ছুটি নেওয়া (chhuti newa) — to take leave
• সিদ্ধান্ত নেওয়া (shiddhanto newa) — to make a decision

Verb + verb combinations

Bengali also combines two verbs, where the second adds a shade of meaning:

• উঠে পড়া (uthe pora) — to get up (suddenly)
• বসে থাকা (boshe thaka) — to be sitting, to remain seated
• খেয়ে ফেলা (kheye phela) — to eat up, finish eating
• বলে দেওয়া (bole dewa) — to tell (for someone)

Why dictionaries need to show the whole phrase

If you look up only "খিদে" you will find "hunger" but not the expression to use with it. Always search the whole phrase or check example sentences to see the light verb.

Learning strategy

1. Learn nouns together with their usual light verb.
2. Group phrases by light verb in your notebook.
3. Compare with English to spot mismatches.
4. Practise with feelings and needs, which use পাওয়া.

Common mistakes

Direct translation such as "আমি ক্ষুধার্ত" (ami kshudhartho, "I am hungry") is correct but very formal. The natural, everyday form is with পাওয়া.

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