Double Causatives in Nepali
Grammar Rule in 30 Seconds
Double causatives allow you to express that someone is forced or enabled to make a third party perform an action.
- Add -aunu to the root for the first causative: 'to make someone do' (e.g., garnu -> garaunu).
- Add -aunu again to the causative stem for the second causative: 'to make someone make someone do' (e.g., garaunu -> garaunaunu).
- Maintain the agent markers: the first agent takes 'lai' and the second agent takes 'dwara' or 'le'.
Double Causative Formation
| Root | Causative 1 | Double Causative |
|---|---|---|
|
गर्नु (do)
|
गराउनु
|
गराउन लगाउनु
|
|
लेख्नु (write)
|
लेखाउनु
|
लेखाउन लगाउनु
|
|
पढ्नु (read)
|
पढाउनु
|
पढाउन लगाउनु
|
|
खानु (eat)
|
खुवाउनु
|
खुवाउन लगाउनु
|
|
बस्नु (sit)
|
बसाउनु
|
बसाउन लगाउनु
|
|
हिँड्नु (walk)
|
हिँडाउनु
|
हिँडाउन लगाउनु
|
Meanings
The double causative indicates a chain of command where the subject causes an intermediary to cause a third party to perform an action.
Delegated Authority
Expressing that you instructed a manager to instruct a worker.
“मैले म्यानेजरलाई कर्मचारीद्वारा फाइल पठाउन लगाएँ।”
“शिक्षकले विद्यार्थीलाई अर्को विद्यार्थीद्वारा किताब ल्याउन लगाउनुभयो।”
Reference Table
| Form | Structure | Example |
|---|---|---|
|
Affirmative
|
Sub + Obj1 + lai + Obj2 + dwara + Verb-auna lagaunu
|
मैले रामलाई श्यामद्वारा काम गराउन लगाएँ।
|
|
Negative
|
Sub + Obj1 + lai + Obj2 + dwara + Verb-auna nalagaunu
|
मैले रामलाई श्यामद्वारा काम गराउन लगाइनँ।
|
|
Interrogative
|
Ke Sub le Obj1 lai Obj2 dwara Verb-auna lagayo?
|
के तिमीले रामलाई श्यामद्वारा काम गराउन लगायौ?
|
|
Past
|
Verb-auna lagaye
|
मैले लगाएँ
|
|
Future
|
Verb-auna lagaunechu
|
मैले लगाउनेछु
|
|
Continuous
|
Verb-auna lagai rahechu
|
मैले लगाइरहेको छु
|
طيف الرسمية
मैले उहाँलाई कार्य सम्पन्न गराउन लगाएँ। (Workplace delegation)
मैले उसलाई काम गराउन लगाएँ। (Workplace delegation)
मैले उसलाई काम गर्न लगाएँ। (Workplace delegation)
मैले उसलाई काममा जोतेँ। (Workplace delegation)
The Causative Chain
Intermediary
- रामलाई to Ram
Executor
- श्यामद्वारा by Shyam
Action
- काम गराउन to make work
أمثلة حسب المستوى
म काम गर्छु।
I do work.
मैले उसलाई काम गराएँ।
I made him do the work.
शिक्षकले विद्यार्थीलाई लेख्न लगाउनुभयो।
The teacher made the student write.
मैले रामलाई श्यामद्वारा काम गराउन लगाएँ।
I made Ram make Shyam do the work.
प्रबन्धकले सुपरभाइजरलाई कर्मचारीद्वारा प्रतिवेदन तयार गराउन लगाउनुभयो।
The manager made the supervisor make the staff prepare the report.
सरकारले मन्त्रालयलाई विभागद्वारा नीति कार्यान्वयन गराउन लगायो।
The government made the ministry make the department implement the policy.
سهل الخلط
Learners often use double when simple is sufficient.
Both can mean 'to make someone do'.
Mixing up who is doing the action.
أخطاء شائعة
म काम गराउँछु।
म काम गर्छु।
म रामलाई काम गर्छु।
म रामलाई काम गराउँछु।
रामले काम गराउँछ।
रामले काम गर्छ।
म गराउनु गर्छु।
म गराउँछु।
मैले रामलाई श्यामलाई काम गराउन लगाएँ।
मैले रामलाई श्यामद्वारा काम गराउन लगाएँ।
मैले रामद्वारा श्यामलाई काम गराएँ।
मैले रामलाई श्यामद्वारा काम गराएँ।
मैले रामलाई काम गराउन लगाउनु।
मैले रामलाई काम गराउन लगाएँ।
उसले मलाई काम गराउन लगायो।
उसले मलाई काम गर्न लगायो।
मैले रामलाई श्यामद्वारा काम गर्न लगाएँ।
मैले रामलाई श्यामद्वारा काम गराउन लगाएँ।
रामले श्यामलाई काम गराउन लगायो।
रामले श्यामलाई काम गर्न लगायो।
सरकारले जनतालाई कर तिर्न लगायो।
सरकारले जनताद्वारा कर तिराउन लगायो।
मैले उसलाई काम गराउन लगाउनु पर्छ।
मैले उसलाई काम गराउन लगाउनुपर्छ।
उसले मलाई काम गराउन लगाइयो।
उसले मलाई काम गराउन लगायो।
أنماط الجُمل
मैले ___ लाई ___ द्वारा काम गराउन लगाएँ।
के तपाईंले ___ लाई ___ द्वारा यो काम गराउन लगाउनुभयो?
म ___ लाई ___ द्वारा प्रतिवेदन तयार गराउन लगाउँछु।
उसले ___ लाई ___ द्वारा गाडी सफा गराउन लगायो।
Real World Usage
मैले म्यानेजरलाई कर्मचारीद्वारा काम गराउन लगाएँ।
मन्त्रालयले विभागद्वारा काम गराउन लगायो।
ठेकेदारले मिस्त्रीद्वारा काम गराउन लगायो।
प्रधानाध्यापकले शिक्षकद्वारा विद्यार्थीलाई पढाउन लगाउनुभयो।
मैले दाइलाई प्लम्बरद्वारा पाइप मर्मत गराउन लगाएँ।
मैले उसलाई काम गराउन लगाएँ।
Use 'lagaunu' for flow
Watch the agents
Context is key
Formal vs Informal
Smart Tips
Use the double causative structure to show the chain of command.
Use double causatives to clearly define responsibility.
Always use 'dwara' for the person doing the actual work.
Break the sentence down into who told whom to do what.
النطق
Causative Suffix
The '-aunu' suffix is pronounced clearly with a long 'au' sound.
Instructional
Subject + Agent + lai + Verb-aunu ↑
Rising intonation at the end indicates a command or instruction.
احفظها
وسيلة تذكّر
Think of a 'Boss of a Boss'. You are the big boss, Ram is the middle manager, Shyam is the worker.
ربط بصري
Imagine a line of three people. You point to the first, who points to the second, who does the work.
Rhyme
Double the 'aunu' to make it clear, the middle man makes the worker appear.
Story
I wanted a cake. I told my brother (intermediary) to tell the baker (executor) to bake it. I used the double causative to explain this chain.
Word Web
تحدٍّ
Write three sentences describing a task you delegated today using this structure.
ملاحظات ثقافية
In formal business settings, double causatives are preferred to maintain professional distance.
People often use simpler structures, preferring direct requests over complex causative chains.
Highly formal language often uses these structures in official circulars.
The causative suffix '-aunu' is derived from Old Indo-Aryan causative markers.
بدايات محادثة
तपाईंले कसैलाई काम गराउन लगाउनुभएको छ?
के तपाईंले कहिल्यै कसैलाई अर्को व्यक्तिद्वारा काम गराउन लगाउनुभएको छ?
तपाईंको अफिसमा काम कसरी बाँडिन्छ?
के तपाईंलाई कामको जिम्मा लिन मन पर्छ?
مواضيع للكتابة اليومية
أخطاء شائعة
Test Yourself
मैले रामलाई श्यामद्वारा काम ___ लगाएँ।
Which sentence is grammatically correct?
Find and fix the mistake:
मैले रामलाई श्यामलाई काम गराउन लगाएँ।
मैले रामलाई काम गराएँ। (Add Shyam as executor)
Double causatives involve three people.
A: रामले के गर्यो? B: उसले ___ ।
मैले / रामलाई / श्यामद्वारा / काम / गराउन / लगाएँ
Match each item on the left with its pair on the right:
Score: /8
تمارين تطبيقية
8 exercisesमैले रामलाई श्यामद्वारा काम ___ लगाएँ।
Which sentence is grammatically correct?
Find and fix the mistake:
मैले रामलाई श्यामलाई काम गराउन लगाएँ।
मैले रामलाई काम गराएँ। (Add Shyam as executor)
Double causatives involve three people.
A: रामले के गर्यो? B: उसले ___ ।
मैले / रामलाई / श्यामद्वारा / काम / गराउन / लगाएँ
Match 'गर्नु' to its causative.
Score: /8
الأسئلة الشائعة (8)
Use it when there are three people involved in a chain of command.
No, it is quite formal and usually found in writing.
No, you cannot cause yourself to do something in this way.
'Lai' marks the intermediary, 'dwara' marks the executor.
Theoretically yes, but it is rarely used.
Very rarely, it's too long.
Managing the case markers for three people is complex.
Some verbs don't take causative forms easily.
Scaffolded Practice
1
2
3
4
Mastery Progress
Needs Practice
Improving
Strong
Mastered
In Other Languages
hacer + infinitive
Nepali uses suffixes; Spanish uses a separate verb.
faire + infinitive
Nepali is agglutinative; French is analytic.
lassen + infinitive
German lacks the recursive suffixing found in Nepali.
causative suffix -seru/-saseru
Japanese causative-passive is more complex.
Form IV (Af'ala)
Arabic is root-based; Nepali is suffix-based.
使 (shǐ) / 让 (ràng)
Chinese has no verb conjugation.
