Hindi grammar · Elementary (A2)
The simple past and the ने construction
Talk about finished actions: गया, आया, बैठा, and the ने construction, where the verb agrees with the object instead of the subject.
Forming the simple past
The simple past says what happened: I went, she came, we sat down. Take the stem and add -आ (-aa) for a masculine singular subject, -ई (-ee) for a feminine one, -ए (-e) for a masculine plural and -ईं (-een) for a feminine plural. There is no (hai) or (thaa) after it.
If the stem ends in a vowel, a (y) comes in before -आ: (aa) → (aayaa, came), (so) → (soyaa, slept). As always, , , and (tum, aap, ham, ve) take plural forms.
| Subject | (baithnaa) to sit | (aanaa) to come |
|---|---|---|
| , , (main, too, vah), man | (baithaa) | (aayaa) |
| , , (main, too, vah), woman | (baithee) | (aaee) |
| , , , (tum, aap, ham, ve), men | (baithe) | (aaye) |
| , , , (tum, aap, ham, ve), women | (baitheen) | (aaeen) |
- वह कल आया।Vah kal aayaa.He came yesterday.
- हम पीछे बैठे।Ham peechhe baithe.We sat at the back.
Six irregular verbs
A few very common verbs have irregular past forms. These six are worth learning by heart.
| Verb | Past: masc., fem., masc. plural, fem. plural |
|---|---|
| (honaa) to be, become | , , , (huaa, huee, huye, hueen) |
| (jaanaa) to go | , , , (gayaa, gaee, gaye, gaeen) |
| (karnaa) to do | , , , (kiyaa, kee, kiye, keen) |
| (lenaa) to take | , , , (liyaa, lee, liye, leen) |
| (denaa) to give | , , , (diyaa, dee, diye, deen) |
| (peenaa) to drink | , , , (piyaa, pee, piye, peen) |
- क्या हुआ?Kyaa huaa?What happened?
- मेरी दोस्त कल दिल्ली गई।Meree dost kal Dillee gaee.My friend went to Delhi yesterday. (a female friend)
The ने construction
With most verbs that take an object (transitive verbs, such as eat, see, buy), Hindi builds the past differently. The subject gets the small word (ne), and the verb then agrees with the object, not with the person who did it. It is a bit like saying “by me, the tea was drunk”.
So a man and a woman both say (mainne chaay pee, I drank tea), with feminine (pee), because (chaay, tea) is feminine. And both say (mainne khaanaa khaayaa, I ate), with masculine (khaayaa), because (khaanaa, food) is masculine.
Pronouns join with (ne) into one word: (mainne), (toone), (tumne), (aapne), and (isne, usne, he or she), (hamne), and (inhonne, unhonne, they, or he or she with respect).
- मैंने चाय पी।Mainne chaay pee.I drank tea.
- मैंने खाना खाया।Mainne khaanaa khaayaa.I ate.
- राम ने दो किताबें ख़रीदीं।Raam ne do kitaaben khareedeen.Ram bought two books.
- सीता ने एक फ़िल्म देखी।Seetaa ne ek film dekhee.Sita watched a film.
More rules for ने
If there is no object, or the object has (ko) after it, the verb stays in the masculine singular -आ form: (hamne sochaa, we thought), (mainne Seetaa ko dekhaa, I saw Sita).
Verbs without an object, such as (jaanaa, to go), (aanaa, to come), (sonaa, to sleep) and (baithnaa, to sit), never take . Watch out for (laanaa, to bring): it has an object but still takes no , so it agrees with the subject. (bolnaa, to speak, to say) usually takes no either: (vah bolaa, he said). (kahnaa, to say) does: (usne kahaa, he said).
In a compound verb, the second verb decides: (jaanaa) takes no , as in (main samajh gayaa, I understood), but and (lenaa, denaa) do: (mainne khaanaa khaa liyaa, I've eaten). (saknaa, can), (chuknaa, already) and (paanaa, manage to) never take : (main vah kitaab naheen padh sakaa, I couldn't read that book).
- मैंने सीता को देखा।Mainne Seetaa ko dekhaa.I saw Sita.
- वह चाय लाया।Vah chaay laayaa.He brought tea.
- वह चाय लाई।Vah chaay laaee.She brought tea.
Have done, had done: है and था
Add / (hai / hain) to the simple past for the present perfect, “have done”: (mainne hotal mainejment kee padhaaee kee hai), I have studied hotel management. Add / / / (thaa / thee / the / theen) for the past perfect, “had done”: (bachche pahle hee aa gaye the), the children had already arrived.
The (ne) rules stay the same, and or (hai, thaa) agrees like the verb. is used only in the simple past and these perfect forms; the habitual, the continuous and the future never take it. In the negative, is usually dropped: (mainne aisaa kabhee naheen kiyaa), I've never done that. Hindi also uses the past perfect for things that happened long ago or on one particular occasion, where English uses the simple past: (aap is shahar men kab aaee theen?), when did you come to this city?
- क्या आपने कभी होटल में काम किया है?Kyaa aapne kabhee hotal men kaam kiyaa hai?Have you ever worked in a hotel?
- मैंने वह फ़िल्म पहले देखी थी।Mainne vah film pahle dekhee thee.I had seen that film before.