मेला लगना (melaa lagnaa)
verb
A fixed collocation meaning 'for a fair/market/gathering to be held or set up' -- मेला (melaa, fair) pairs with लगना (lagnaa) rather than होना (honaa) because the fair is conceived as something that 'gets set up' at a place, the same logic seen in बाज़ार लगना (baazaar lagnaa, for a market to be set up).
Sense
1
:
for a fair or festive gathering to be held/set up
verb, intransitive मेला (melaa) is the grammatical subject and agrees with लगना (lagnaa); the place takes पर (par) or में (men), e.g. दिल्ली में मेला लगता है (dillii men melaa lagtaa hai, a fair is held in Delhi).
Synonyms: मेला होना (melaa honaa, less idiomatic, less commonly used this way)
Frequency: medium
Cultural Note: This is the phrase you'll hear about village and neighborhood मेले (mele) that spring up around festivals like दशहरा (dashahraa) or पूर्णिमा (poornimaa) -- ask any Delhi-NCR local about the historic Dussehra मेला (melaa) grounds and they'll immediately picture stalls, Ferris wheels, and jalebi vendors 'लगना' (lagnaa) overnight. The same लगना (lagnaa) pattern shows up in बाज़ार लगना (baazaar lagnaa, a market being set up) and भीड़ लगना (bhiid lagnaa, a crowd gathering), so learning this one collocation unlocks a whole family of 'gathering/event happens' expressions.
Common Mistakes: 1) Learners often reach for मेला होना (melaa honaa) by analogy with English 'there is a fair,' but native speakers overwhelmingly say मेला लगना (melaa lagnaa) -- लगना (lagnaa) captures the sense of stalls and crowds physically 'setting up' at a spot. 2) The time or occasion is often marked with पर (par), as in दीवाली पर मेला लगता है (diivaalii par melaa lagtaa hai, a fair is held on Diwali), which learners sometimes replace incorrectly with को (ko).
Sample Sentences:
हर साल दशहरे पर यहाँ मेला लगता है।
Every year a fair is held here on Dussehra.
(har saal dashahre par yahaan melaa lagtaa hai।)
पिछले हफ्ते गाँव में बहुत बड़ा मेला लगा था।
Last week a very big fair was held in the village.
(pichhle haphte gaanv men bahut badaa melaa lagaa thaa।)
पूर्णिमा के मौके पर नदी किनारे मेला लगेगा।
On the occasion of the full moon, a fair will be held by the riverside.
(poornimaa ke mauke par nadii kinaare melaa lagegaa।)
अभी मैदान में मेला लग रहा है, चलो देखने चलते हैं।
A fair is being set up in the field right now, let's go see it.
(abhii maidaan men melaa lag rahaa hai, chalo dekhne chalte hain।)
काश इस बार भी मंदिर के पास मेला लगता।
I wish a fair were being held near the temple this time too.
(kaash is baar bhii mandir ke paas melaa lagtaa।)
सुना है कि इस बार मेला बहुत धूमधाम से लगाया जाएगा।
I've heard that this time the fair will be set up with great fanfare.
(sunaa hai ki is baar melaa bahut dhoomdhaam se lagaayaa jaaegaa।)
क्या इस साल भी दशहरे का मेला लगेगा?
Will the Dussehra fair be held this year as well?
(kyaa is saal bhii dashahre kaa melaa lagegaa?)
जब तक नगर निगम इजाज़त न दे, यहाँ मेला नहीं लग सकता।
Until the municipal corporation gives permission, a fair cannot be set up here.
(jab tak nagar nigam ijaazat n de, yahaan melaa nahiin lag saktaa।)
बचपन में हमारे मोहल्ले में हर पूर्णिमा को छोटा-सा मेला लगता था।
In my childhood, a small fair used to be held in our neighborhood every full moon.
(bachpan men hamaare mohalle men har poornimaa ko chhotaa-saa melaa lagtaa thaa।)
इस मैदान में तो जलेबी और झूलों वाला मेला हमेशा से लगता आया है।
A fair with jalebi stalls and Ferris wheels has always been held in this field.
(is maidaan men to jalebii aur jhoolon vaalaa melaa hameshaa se lagtaa aayaa hai।)
Morphology
Verb
infinitive:
मेला लगना
(melaa lagnaa)
infinitive oblique:
मेला लगने
(melaa lagne)
habitual/simple (sg.m):
मेला लगता
(melaa lagtaa)
habitual/simple (pl.m):
मेला लगते
(melaa lagte)
habitual/simple (sg.f):
मेला लगती
(melaa lagtii)
habitual/simple (pl.f):
मेला लगतीं
(melaa lagtiin)
continuous (sg.m):
मेला लग रहा
(melaa lag rahaa)
continuous (pl.m):
मेला लग रहे
(melaa lag rahe)
continuous (sg.f):
मेला लग रही
(melaa lag rahii)
continuous (pl.f):
मेला लग रहीं
(melaa lag rahiin)
perfective (sg.m):
मेला लगा
(melaa lagaa)
perfective (pl.m):
मेला लगे
(melaa lage)
perfective (sg.f):
मेला लगी
(melaa lagii)
perfective (pl.f):
मेला लगीं
(melaa lagiin)
imperative (informal):
मेला लग
(melaa lag)
imperative (neutral):
मेला लगो
(melaa lago)
imperative (formal):
मेला लगिए
(melaa lagie)
future (1sg.m):
मेला लगूँगा
(melaa lagoongaa)
future (1sg.f):
मेला लगूँगी
(melaa lagoongii)
future (1pl.m):
मेला लगेंगे
(melaa lagenge)
future (1pl.f):
मेला लगेंगी
(melaa lagengii)
future (2sg.m):
मेला लगेगा
(melaa lagegaa)
future (2sg.f):
मेला लगेगी
(melaa lagegii)
future (2pl.m):
मेला लगोगे
(melaa lagoge)
future (2pl.f):
मेला लगोगी
(melaa lagogii)
future (3sg.m):
मेला लगेगा
(melaa lagegaa)
future (3sg.f):
मेला लगेगी
(melaa lagegii)
future (3pl.m):
मेला लगेंगे
(melaa lagenge)
future (3pl.f):
मेला लगेंगी
(melaa lagengii)
subjunctive (1sg):
मेला लगूँ
(melaa lagoon)
subjunctive (1pl):
मेला लगें
(melaa lagen)
subjunctive (2sg):
मेला लगे
(melaa lage)
subjunctive (2pl):
मेला लगो
(melaa lago)
subjunctive (3sg):
मेला लगे
(melaa lage)
subjunctive (3pl):
मेला लगें
(melaa lagen)