महीना लगना (mahiinaa lagnaa)

verb A compound expression meaning 'to take a month' or 'to take months' -- using the involuntary verb लगना (lagnaa) to express duration, the same frame used for time expressions generally (e.g. समय लगना (samay lagnaa), 'to take time').
Sense 1 : to take a month / to take months (duration)
verb, intransitive The person or task taking the time is marked with को (ko) as a dative subject, e.g. मुझे महीना लगा (mujhe mahiinaa lagaa, 'it took me a month'); महीना (mahiinaa) itself functions as the grammatical subject and agrees with the verb.
Synonyms: समय लगना (samay lagnaa, general 'to take time'), महीने लगना (mahiine lagnaa, plural variant, 'to take months')
Frequency: high
Cultural Note: This is the same lagnaa-as-involuntary-experiencer pattern the learner has already met in भूख लगना (bhookh lagnaa) and नींद आना-type constructions (niind aanaa) -- time, like hunger or sleep, is something that 'attaches to' or 'happens to' you rather than something you actively do. You will hear this constantly in everyday Delhi speech when asking how long something took: कितना समय लगा? (kitnaa samay lagaa?, 'how much time did it take?') or specifically महीना लग गया (mahiinaa lag gayaa, 'it ended up taking a month').
Common Mistakes: 1) Learners often try to make the person doing the task the subject (as in English 'I took a month'), producing मैंने महीना लगाया (mainne mahiinaa lagaayaa) by mistake -- but that sentence means 'I applied/spent a month' with a different transitive verb लगाना (lagaanaa), not the intended durational sense. 2) The number of months must agree with लगना (lagnaa) -- दो महीने लगे (do mahiine lage, 'it took two months'), not दो महीना लगा (do mahiinaa lagaa).
Sample Sentences:
इस काम में एक महीना लगेगा। This work will take a month.
(is kaam men ek mahiinaa lagegaa।)
Register: Neutral -- Mood: Indicative -- Tense: Future -- Voice: Active
पासपोर्ट बनने में एक महीना लगा। It took a month for the passport to be made.
(paasport banne men ek mahiinaa lagaa।)
Register: Neutral -- Mood: Indicative -- Aspect: Perfective -- Tense: Past -- Voice: Active
कितना समय लगा इस प्रोजेक्ट को पूरा करने में? How much time did it take to finish this project?
(kitnaa samay lagaa is projekt ko pooraa karne men?)
Register: Casual -- Mood: Indicative -- Aspect: Perfective -- Tense: Past -- Voice: Active
सोचा था हफ्ते भर में हो जाएगा, पर पूरा महीना लग गया। I thought it would be done in a week, but it ended up taking a whole month.
(sochaa thaa haphte bhar men ho jaaegaa, par pooraa mahiinaa lag gayaa।)
Register: Casual -- Mood: Indicative -- Aspect: Perfective -- Tense: Past -- Voice: Active
घर की मरम्मत में हर बार कई महीने लगते हैं। House repairs always end up taking several months.
(ghar kii marammat men har baar kaii mahiine lagte hain।)
Register: Neutral -- Mood: Indicative -- Aspect: Habitual -- Tense: Present -- Voice: Active
अगर सारे कागज़ात सही हों तो वीज़ा में इतना समय नहीं लगता। If all the papers are in order, the visa doesn't take this much time.
(agar saare kaagzaat sahii hon to viizaa men itnaa samay nahiin lagtaa।)
Register: Neutral -- Mood: Subjunctive -- Aspect: Habitual -- Tense: Present -- Voice: Active
काश इस काम में इतने महीने न लगते। I wish this work hadn't taken so many months.
(kaash is kaam men itne mahiine n lagte।)
Register: Casual -- Mood: Counterfactual -- Aspect: Habitual -- Voice: Active
अभी तो बस दो हफ्ते हुए हैं, अभी और महीना लगेगा। It's only been two weeks so far, it'll still take another month.
(abhii to bas do haphte hue hain, abhii aur mahiinaa lagegaa।)
Register: Casual -- Mood: Indicative -- Tense: Future -- Voice: Active
इतनी बड़ी इमारत बनने में तो सालों लगेंगे, महीनों की तो बात ही छोड़ो। A building this big will take years to construct, forget months.
(itnii badii imaarat banne men to saalon lagenge, mahiinon kii to baat hii chhodo।)
Register: Casual -- Mood: Indicative -- Tense: Future -- Voice: Active
आमतौर पर ऐसे मामलों की सुनवाई में कई महीने लग जाते हैं। Generally, the hearing of such cases ends up taking several months.
(aamtaur par aise maamlon kii sunvaaii men kaii mahiine lag jaate hain।)
Register: Formal -- Mood: Indicative -- Aspect: Habitual -- Tense: Present -- Voice: Active
Morphology
Verb
infinitive: महीना लगना (mahiinaa lagnaa)
infinitive oblique: महीना लगने (mahiinaa lagne)
habitual/simple (sg.m): महीना लगता (mahiinaa lagtaa)
habitual/simple (pl.m): महीना लगते (mahiinaa lagte)
habitual/simple (sg.f): महीना लगती (mahiinaa lagtii)
habitual/simple (pl.f): महीना लगतीं (mahiinaa lagtiin)
continuous (sg.m): महीना लग रहा (mahiinaa lag rahaa)
continuous (pl.m): महीना लग रहे (mahiinaa lag rahe)
continuous (sg.f): महीना लग रही (mahiinaa lag rahii)
continuous (pl.f): महीना लग रहीं (mahiinaa lag rahiin)
perfective (sg.m): महीना लगा (mahiinaa lagaa)
perfective (pl.m): महीना लगे (mahiinaa lage)
perfective (sg.f): महीना लगी (mahiinaa lagii)
perfective (pl.f): महीना लगीं (mahiinaa lagiin)
imperative (informal): महीना लग (mahiinaa lag)
imperative (neutral): महीना लगो (mahiinaa lago)
imperative (formal): महीना लगिए (mahiinaa lagie)
future (1sg.m): महीना लगूँगा (mahiinaa lagoongaa)
future (1sg.f): महीना लगूँगी (mahiinaa lagoongii)
future (1pl.m): महीना लगेंगे (mahiinaa lagenge)
future (1pl.f): महीना लगेंगी (mahiinaa lagengii)
future (2sg.m): महीना लगेगा (mahiinaa lagegaa)
future (2sg.f): महीना लगेगी (mahiinaa lagegii)
future (2pl.m): महीना लगोगे (mahiinaa lagoge)
future (2pl.f): महीना लगोगी (mahiinaa lagogii)
future (3sg.m): महीना लगेगा (mahiinaa lagegaa)
future (3sg.f): महीना लगेगी (mahiinaa lagegii)
future (3pl.m): महीना लगेंगे (mahiinaa lagenge)
future (3pl.f): महीना लगेंगी (mahiinaa lagengii)
subjunctive (1sg): महीना लगूँ (mahiinaa lagoon)
subjunctive (1pl): महीना लगें (mahiinaa lagen)
subjunctive (2sg): महीना लगे (mahiinaa lage)
subjunctive (2pl): महीना लगो (mahiinaa lago)
subjunctive (3sg): महीना लगे (mahiinaa lage)
subjunctive (3pl): महीना लगें (mahiinaa lagen)