Verbs: Perfect Tense — Hindi Grammar

The perfect tense describes actions that have been completed in the past. It corresponds to the English Simple Past tense (e.g., "I spoke," "They arrived," "She ate").

To form this tense correctly, you must distinguish between two types of verbs: intransitive verbs (verbs that do not take a direct object, like "to go" or "to sleep") and transitive verbs (verbs that act upon an object, like "to eat" or "to read").

Forming the Past Participle

Regardless of the verb type, the core building block is the perfective participle. This is formed by removing the infinitive ending (-nā-na) from the verb and adding an ending based on gender and number.

Masculine Singular: add (-ā-a)
Masculine Plural: add (-e)
Feminine Singular: add (-ī-i)
Feminine Plural: add (-īṃ-iṃ)

For example, with the verb (bolnā, to speak):

(bolābola) - Masc. Sg.
(bole) - Masc. Pl.
(bolīboli) - Fem. Sg.
(bolīṃboliṃ) - Fem. Pl.

Irregular Verbs

Several very common verbs have irregular perfective forms. These must be memorized as they do not follow the standard stem rules.

(jānā, to go) → (gayāgaya) / (gae) / (gaīgai)
(karnā, to do) → (kiyākiya) / (kie) / (kīki)
(denā, to give) → (diyādiya)
(lenā, to take) → (liyāliya)
(pīnā, to drink) → (piyāpiya)

Intransitive Verbs: Subject Agreement

If the verb is intransitive (it involves only the subject moving or existing, like go, come, sleep, fall), the verb agrees directly with the subject in gender and number. No special markers are added to the subject.

लड़का घर गया।
laṛkā ghar gayā.larka ghar gaya.
The boy went home.
मेरी बहनें कल आईं।
merī bahaneṃ kal āīṃ.meri bahaneṃ kal aiṃ.
My sisters came yesterday.
हम जल्दी सो गए।
ham jaldī so gae.ham jaldi so gae.
We slept early.

In the first example, (gayāgaya) is masculine singular because the subject (laṛkālarka) is a boy. In the second, (āīṃaiṃ) is feminine plural because the subject is "sisters".

Transitive Verbs: The 'Ne' Rule

If the verb is transitive (it implies an action done to something, like eat, read, write, buy), the grammar changes significantly.

1. The subject must be followed by the ergative particle (ne).

2. The verb stops agreeing with the subject. Instead, the verb agrees with the object of the sentence.

This happens because the particle (ne) "blocks" the subject. The verb looks past the subject to find the object and matches its gender and number.

राम ने किताब पढ़ी।
rām ne kitāb paṛhī.ram ne kitab parhi.
Ram read the book.

Here, the subject is Ram (male), but the verb (paṛhīparhi) is feminine. This is because the object (kitāba, book) is feminine in Hindi.

सीता ने आम खाया।
sītā ne ām khāyā.sita ne am khaya.
Sita ate a mango.

Here, the subject is Sita (female), but the verb (khāyākhaya) is masculine. This is because the object (āma, mango) is masculine.

उसने दो केले खरीदे।
usne do kele kharīde.usne do kele kharide.
He/She bought two bananas.

The pronoun (vahawaha) changes to (usa) when combined with (ne). The verb (kharīdekharide) is masculine plural to agree with "two bananas".

The Neutral Default

There is a third scenario for transitive verbs. If the object is also blocked by a postposition (specifically the object marker (ko)), or if no object is stated, the verb cannot agree with anything.

In this case, the verb reverts to a "neutral" default form: Masculine Singular (-ā-a).

मैंने राहुल को देखा।
maiṃne rāhul ko dekhā.maiṃne rahul ko dekha.
I saw Rahul.

Even if the speaker is female, and even though Rahul is male, the verb is simply (dekhādekha) because (ko) blocks the agreement with Rahul.

लड़कियों ने कहा।
laṛkiyoṃ ne kahā.larkiyoṃ ne kaha.
The girls said.

Here, no object is mentioned (what did they say?). Therefore, the verb uses the default masculine singular form (kahākaha).

Summary of Pronoun Changes with 'Ne'

When using the ergative construction, personal pronouns combine with (ne) in specific ways:

(maiṃ) + (ne) → (maiṃne, I)
(tūtu) + (ne) → (tūne, You - very informal)
(tuma) + (ne) → (tumane, You - informal)
(āpaapa) + (ne) → (āpane, You - formal)
(hama) + (ne) → (hamane, We)
(vahawaha) + (ne) → (usane, He/She)
(vewe) + (ne) → (unhoṃne, They)
(yaha) + (ne) → (isane, It/This)
(ye) + (ne) → (inhoṃne, These)

In the course

Sentences from Lingora’s Hindi course

67 of the course's 500 sentences use this, the first in lesson 4. A few of them, with the words “Verbs: Perfect Tense” is about in bold:

मैंने तुम्हारे लिए भी एक दर्ज़न अंडे और एक कैंडी बार ख़रीदा था।
ma͠ine tumhāre lie bhī ek darzan aṇḍe aur ek kaiṇḍī bār xarīdā thā.mainne tumhare lie bhi ek darzan anḍe aur ek kainḍi bar kharida tha.
I bought a dozen eggs and a candy bar for you too.
Lesson 47
मैं शॉपिंग मॉल गई।
ma͠i śŏpiṅg mŏl gaī.main shŏping mŏl gai.
I went to the shopping mall.
Lesson 172
मैंने आपको नौ साल से नहीं देखा!
ma͠ine āpko nau sāl se nahī̃ dekhā!mainne apko nau sal se nahin dekha!
I haven't seen you for nine years!
Lesson 175

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