यूनिवर्सिटी ऑफ़ मिशिगन
Participial adverbs: V- ते समय,  V- ते ही ,  V- ते  V- ते .
I.    In Hindi a relative clause beginning with  जब  may be collapsed into a phrase containing a form of the verb in - ते  followed by  समय  or  वक़्त :
1.   पहाड़ों में जब बफऱ् गिर रही हो तो बाहर नहीं जाना चाहिये।
    'In the mountains when it snows you should not go outside.'
2.   बफऱ् गिरते समय अन्दर रहो।
    'Stay inside when it snows.'
The form in -ते  is a non-finite form. If its agent is different from the agent of the main clause its subject is treated the same way as the subject of an infinitive (see notes):
3.   हमारे बाहर निकलते समय आसमान में बादल छा रहे थे।
    'When we went out clouds were gathering in the sky.'
If the agent of V- ते  is the same as the agent of the main clause, it is not separately expressed :
4.   खेतों में घूमते वक़्त हम आसमान की तरफ़ देखते रहे।
    'While we were strolling in the fields we kept looking at the sky.'
II.   By replacing  समय  or वक़्त  with  ही  one may express 'as soon as' :
5.   बिजली चमकते ही पानी बरसने लगा औरर हम वहाँ से भाग निकले।
    'As soon as the lighting flashed it began to rain and we made a run for it.'
Subjects of V- ते ही  phrases are treated the same way as those of V -  ते समय  phrases :
6.   हमारे घर पहुँचते ही पानी बरसना बन्द हो गया।
    'As soon as we got home it stopped raining.'
Just as V- ते समय  has its alternatives in a  जब  clause, so V- ते ही  has its alternatives in a relative clause introduced by  ज्यों ही  or  जैसे ही :
7.   ज्यों ही धूप निकली त्यों ही गरमी महसूस होने लगी
    'As soon as the sun came out we began to feel the heat.'
8.   जैसे ही बरसात शुरू होती है वैसे ही गरमी कम होने लगती है।
    'As soon as the rainy season starts the heat begins to recede.'
III.  V- ते  or V- ते हुए  express 'during' or 'so long as':
9.   अंगीठी में आग के रहते हुए अपने हाथ सेंक लेना।
    'You better warm your hands while there's still fire in the grate.'
The clausal equivalent of V- ते  is introduced by  जब तक  (14B):
10. जब तक अंगीठी में आग रहेगी तब तक तुम्हें ठण्ड नहीं लगेगी।
    'As long as there is fire in the grate you won't feel cold.'
V- ते  or V- ते हुए  phrases are often used as adverbs to the finite verb :
11. वह "  चोर पकड़ो !   चोर पकड़ो !"  चिल्लाते ( हुए )  भागने लगा।
    'He began to run, shouting,'stop thief! Stop thief!'"
IV.  Repetition of V- ते  may give the sense of 'by the time' or 'before' :
12. सूरज निकलते निकलते पण्डितजी नदी की ओर चल दिये थे।
    'By the time the sun came up Pandit Ji had left for the river.'
Its clausal equivalent is also introduced by  जब तक :
13. जब तक सूरज निकला तब तक पण्डितजी ने स्तोत्र पढ़ लिये थे।
    'By the time the sun came up Pandit Ji had already read his stotras.'
More commonly V- ते   V- ते  may express a gradual process leading to the result expressed by the finite verb :
14. तवा माँजते माँजते मैं साफ़ कर ही दूँगा।
    'By scrubbing and scrubbing I'll finally get the wok clean.'
15. साथ रहते रहते बूढ़ा बूढ़ी एक दूसरे से शकल में मिलने जुलने लगे थे।
    'From living together (so long) the old man and woman had come to resemble each other.'
As a special or idiomatic case of this, V- ते   V- ते  may simply express the cumulative gradualness of an action :
16. आँसू रुकते रुकते तो रुकेंगे।
    'It takes a while for tears to stop (but they finally will stop).'
17. हिन्दी आते आते आती है।
    'One learns Hindi bit by bit over a very long time.'
    Perhaps the most frequent use of V- ते   V- ते  is to express the ongoing progression of an action which is the backdrop or setting for an intervening action:
18. मैं भागते भागते गिर पड़ी।
    'I fell down in the act of running away.'
19. बोलते बोलते मालिक ने घड़ी पर नज़र डाली।
    'In the midst of speaking the owner glanced at his watch.'
20. हमारे पुल पार करते करते रस्सियाँ टूटने लगीं।
    'Just as we were crossing the bridge the ropes began to give way.'
To use V- ते  in these cases (rather than V- ते  V- ते ) would give the sense of 'while V-ing' rather than 'right in the middle of V-ing'.
    For more on V- ते   V- ते  see notes on reduplication of participles in the expression of limits and results as well as general notes on participles.  For further information also see Abbi 1977.
These notes also appear as § 15B of  Hindi Structures, pp 137-142.
Matching exercise on participial adverbs.
Transformation exercise on participial adverbs.
To index of grammatical notes.
To index of  मल्हार.
Keyed in by  विवेक अगरवाल 20-22 May 2002. Posted 24 May 2002.