Hindi Classroom:Simple Past Tense

Hindi Lessons

Past Habitual Tense & अपना

The past habitual tense in Hindi is very similar to the present habitual tense (see Lesson 3). The only difference is that in present habitual tense, you add the present form of होना to the end, while in the past habitual tense, you add the past form of होना to the end. The table below conjugates the verb जाना into past habitual tense.
Masculine Feminine
I used to go मैं जाता था मैं जाती थी
you used to go (informal) तू जाता था तू जाती थी
you used to go तुम जाते थे तुम जाती थी
you used to go (formal) आप जाते थे आप जाती थीं
he, she, it used to go वह जाता था वह जाती थी
we used to go हम जाते थे हम जाती थीं
they used to go वे जाते थे वे जाती थीं

The Possessive Pronoun अपना

Possessive pronouns (sometimes called possessive adjectives) are words like myमेरा, yourआपका, and hisउसका. In Hindi, when the subject of a sentence is also what is possessive of a different noun, a special possessive pronoun is used – अपना. This possessive pronoun will follow the same inflection rules as the others you have learned.

I will give you my book. – मैं आपको अपनी किताब दूँगा।

She thinks about her brother a lot. – वह अपने भाई के बारे में बहुत सोचती है।

Give me your pen. – मुझे अपना क़लम दो।

Vocabulary

every day रोज़ to live, to remain, to stay रहना
park पार्क

Examples

I used to go to the store every day. मैं रोज़ दुकान जाता था। She used to want to live in India. वह भारत में रहना चाहती थी। I used to play in that park. मैं उस पार्क में खेलता था। Tell me your name. मुझे अपना नाम बताइये। Eat your own food. अपना खाना खाइये।

Past Imperfect Tense with Transitive Verbs

Transitive & Intransitive Verbs

A transitive verb is a verb that can take an object, such as give, eat, or do. I gave him money. I ate food. He did work. Intransitive verbs (discussed in the next lesson) include go, come, and die. These verbs cannot have an object: he went food, or I came money.

Past Imperfect Tense

The past imperfect and past perfect tenses for transitive verbs are quite different from all the other tenses in Hindi. To form a past imperfect transitive verb, you must first add the postposition ने to the subject. Keep in mind that the subject will inflect, if possible. Then we will modify the verb. If the verb stem ends in a consonant, we will add if the direct object is masculine singular, if the direct object is feminine singular, if the direct object is masculine plural, and ईं if it is feminine plural. Now if the verb stem ends in a vowel, add या if the direct object is masculine singular, if the direct object is feminine singular, if it is masculine plural, and ईं if feminine plural. You should notice that in the past imperfect (and past perfect) tense, the verb agrees in gender with the direct object rather than the subject.

Irregular Verbs

There are four irregular verbs we need to consider: देना, लेना, करना, and पीना. These four verbs will all follow the same pattern. masculine singular object: दिया लिया किया पिया masculine plural object: दिये लिये किये पिये feminine singular object: दी ली की पी feminine plural object: दीं लीं कीं पीं

Examples

I gave him a book. मैं ने उसको किताब दी। She ate food. उसने खाना खाया। Did you (do) work today? क्या आप ने आज काम किया? I drank tea today. आज मैं ने चाय पी। He took my book. उसने मेरी किताब ली। When did you read her book? आप ने उसकी किताब कब पढ़ी? My father told me this. मेरे पिता ने मुझे यह बताया।]]>

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