Learning Hindi: Hindi Grammar and Hindi Verbs

Written by: Sonal Panse Edited by: Elizabeth Stannard Gromisch This article looks at the grammar of the Hindi language with an emphasis on Hindi verbs. The first section takes a general look at verbs in Hindi. The second section describes some of the affixes attached to Hindi verbs to form different tenses and aspects. Hindi Verbs Hindi is one of the main languages of India and is spoken by a large number of people worldwide. If you are learning this language, knowledge of Hindi grammar can come in handy. Let's take a look at Hindi verbs. Verbs, for those who don't know, most frequently denote action. Hindi verbs usually have the following characteristics: They have two elements, one is the verb stem and the other is the infinitive suffix. It is essential for Hindi verbs to agree with their subjects in both number of the subject and gender of the subject. When Hindi verbs describe the action of a pronoun, the verbs take on the gender of the noun that the pronoun indicates. Hindi verbs distinguish past tense, present tense, and future tense. They also distinguish different kinds of actions. For example, actions that have been completed, actions that regularly occur, and actions that are going on. Hindi verbs are also influenced by the degree of respect accorded to the subject. For example, intimate, familiar, or formal. Some common Hindi verbs are irregular, like the following: Hona - to be Karna - to do Jana - to go Lena - to take Dena - to give Khana - to eat Pina - to drink Sona - to sleep

Different Forms of Hindi Verbs By adding the infinitive suffix to the verb stem, you get the infinitive form of the verb. The infinitive suffix is 'na'. For example, 'likh' means 'write' and if you add 'na' to 'likh', we have 'likhna', which is 'to write'. Mujha likhna hai - I have to write

Tujhe likhna hai - You have to write Use likhna hai - He/she has to write Unhe likhna hai - They have to write

The present participle suffix is 'ta' or 'ti'. If you add that to 'likh', you have 'likhta' (m.) or 'likhti' (f.), which is 'is writing'. Main likhta hoon - I am writing Wo likhta hai - He is writing Wo likhti hai - She is writing

The past participle suffix is 'a'. If you add that to 'likh', you have 'likha', which is 'had written' or 'was written'. Maine likha - I have written Usne likha - He/she has written Wahan likha tha - It was written there

The present continuous (progressive) tense is formed by adding 'raha', 'rahi', or 'rahe' to the verb stem along with the present tense of 'hona', that is 'to be'. Main likh raha hoon - I am writing (m.) Main likh rahi hoon - I am writing (f.) Tum likh rahe ho - You are writing Hum likh rahe hain - We are writing

Although, raha, rahi, and rahe are written separate, they are pronounced as one with the verb stem. For past tense, you add 'a' (for masculine singular), 'e' (for masculine plural) or 'i' (for feminine singular and plural) to the verb stem. along with 'tha', 'thi', or 'the'. Maine likha tha - I had written Maine likhe the - I had written Usne likha tha - He had written Usne likhi thi - She had written Unhone likhe the - They had written

Past imperfect tense is achieved by adding 'ta', 'te', or 'ti' along with 'tha', 'thi', or 'the' to the verb stem. Main deta tha - I used to give (m.) Main deti thi - I used to give (f.) Tum dete the - You used to give Hum dete the - We used to give Wo deta tha - He used to give Wo deti thi - She used to give Woh dete the - They used to give

For future tense, verb stems are appended with 'unga' (for I), 'ega' and 'oge' for 'tu', and 'tum' (you), 'ega' and 'egi' for 'wo' (he and she), and 'enge' for 'woh', 'hum' or 'aap' (us, you formal/plural, or they). Main khaunga - I will eat Tu khayega - You will eat Tum khaoge - You will eat Wo khayega - He will eat Wo khayegi - She will eat Woh khayenge - They will eat Hum khayenge - We will eat Aap khayenge - You will eat (formal, singular/plural)

For future continuous (progressive) tense, verb stems are appended with 'ta', 'te', or 'ti' and 'rahunga', 'rahega', 'rahegi', 'rahenge', or 'rahoge'. Main jata rahunga - I will keep going Tu jata rahega - You will keep going (m.) Tu jati rahegi - You will keep going (f.) Woh jate rahenge - They will keep going Tum jate rahoge - You will keep going

http://www.brighthub.com/education/languages/articles/38876.aspx#ixzz1XLl9lj53 Hindi Verbs Hindi verbs are inflected with respect to gender of the subject (masculine, feminine) number of the subject (singular, plural) tense (present, past, future) action (perfect, imperfect, continuous) degree of respect (intimate, familiar, respect)

Verbs are referred to in their infinitive noun form which ends in na. Examples: bolna to speak likhna to write lena to take ana to come The stem of a verb is the infinitive form minus the na ending. Examples: bol likh

le a Present Tense Present main hun tu hai yah hai vah hai ham hain tum ho ap hain ye hain ve hain Present tense of hona (to be): I am you are (intimate) this, he, she, it is that, he, she, it is we are you are (familiar) you are (respect) these, they are those, they are Imperfect

The present imperfect is used for habitual actions. It is formed by adding ta, te, or ti to the stem of the verb followed by the present tense of hona. Below are shown the forms in the masculine. The feminine forms can be constructed by replacing bolta and bolte with bolti. main bolta hun tu bolta hai I speak

you speak (intimate) yah bolta hai this, he, it speaks vah bolta hai that, he, it speaks ham bolte we speak hain tum bolte ho you speak (familiar) ap bolte hain you speak (respect) ye bolte hain these, they speak ve bolte hain those, they speak Present Continuous The present continuous is used for ongoing actions -- like the "-ing" form in English. It is formed like this: stem + raha/rahe/rahi + present tense of hona Below are shown the forms in the masculine. The feminine forms can be constructed by replacing raha and rahe with rahi. main bol raha hun tu bol raha hai I am speaking

you are speaking (intimate) yah bol raha hai this, he, it is speaking vah bol raha hai that, he, it is speaking ham bol rahe we are speaking hain tum bol rahe ho you are speaking

(familiar) ap bol rahe you are speaking hain (respect) ye bol rahe hain these, they are speaking ve bol rahe hain those, they are speaking Past Tense Past tense of hona (to be): main tha / thi tu tha / thi I was

you were (intimate) yah tha / thi this, he, she, it was vah tha / thi that, he, she, it was ham the / we were thin tum the / you were thin (familiar) ap the / thin you were (respect) ye the / thin these, they were ve the / thin those, they were (The slash seperates masculine and feminine forms) Past Imperfect The past imprefect is used for habitual actions in the past. It is formed like the present imperfect but with the past tense of hona instead of the present tense. Below are shown the forms in the masculine. The feminine forms can be constructed by replacing bolta and bolte with bolti, replacing tha with thi, and the with thin. main bolta tha tu bolta tha yah bolta tha vah bolta tha ham bolte the tum bolte the ap bolte the ye bolte the ve bolte the I used to speak you used to speak (intimate) this, he, it used to speak that, he, it used to speak we used to speak you used to speak (familiar) you used to speak (respect) these, they used to speak those, they used to speak

Past Continuous The past continuous is used for ongoing actions in the past -- like the "-ing" form in English. It is formed like this: stem + raha/rahe/rahi + past tense of hona Below are shown the forms in the masculine. The feminine forms can be constructed by replacing raha and rahe with rahi, replacing tha with thi, and the with thin. main bol raha tha tu bol raha tha yah bol raha tha vah bol raha tha ham bol rahe the tum bol rahe the ap bol rahe the I was speaking you were speaking (intimate) this, he, it was speaking that, he, it was speaking we were speaking

you were speaking (familiar) you were speaking (respect) ye bol rahe the these, they were speaking ve bol rahe the those, they were speaking Future Tense Future Imperfect The future imprefect is used to refer to the future as well as to make assumptions about the presents (just like in English). It is formed by adding unga/i, ega/i, enge/i, or oge/i to the stem. Below are shown the forms in the masculine. The feminine forms can be constructed by replacing the ending a or e with i. main bolunga tu bolega yah bolega vah bolega ham bolenge tum bologe ap bolenge ye bolenge ve bolenge I will speak you will speak (intimate) this, he, it will speak that, he, it will speak we will speak you will speak (familiar) you will speak (respect) these, they will speak those, they will speak

Future Continuous The future continuous is used to refer to ongoing actions in the future. It is formed as the present imperfect but with the future of raha instead of hona. Below are shown the forms in the masculine. The feminine forms can be constructed by replacing the ending a or e with i in both verbs. main bolta I will be speaking rahunga tu bolta rahega you will be speaking (intimate) yah bolta rahega this, he, it will be speaking vah bolta rahega that, he, it will be speaking ham bolte we will be speaking rahenge tum bolte rahoge you will be speaking (familiar) ap bolte rahenge you will be speaking (respect) ye bolte rahenge these, they will be speaking ve bolte rahenge those, they will be speaking Imperative- to use as a command There are three different imperatives in Hindi: tu, tum, and ap imperative. The tu imperative is the stem itself The tum imperative is the stem + o The ap imperative is the stem + ie or iye Examples: pani la bring water (intimate) pani lao bring water (familiar) pani bring water laie (respect) The imperatives are made negative by adding mat, na, or nahin. Use mat with the tu imperative. Use mat or na with the tum imperative. Use na or nahin with the ap imperative. Examples: vahan mat ja vahan na jao vahan nahin jaie To Have There is no Hindi verb for "to have". Possession is expressed in other ways. don't go there (intimate) don't go there (familiar) don't go there (respect)

Movable Objects Possession of movable objects is expressed using ke pas after the (English) subject. Examples: Ram ke pas gari hai mera pas kitab hai Ram has a car ("near Ram a car it is") I have a book ("near me a book it is")

Immovable Objects Possession of immovable objects and of relatives is expressed using the possessive particles ka, ki, ke. Examples: uska makan hai Ram ke do bete hain he has a house ("of him a house it is") Ram has two sons ("of Ram two sons there are")