Hindi verbs are inflected with respect to
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 of hona (to be):
| main hun | I am | |
| tu hai | you are (intimate) | |
| yah hai | this, he, she, it is | |
| vah hai | that, he, she, it is | |
| ham hain | we are | |
| tum ho | you are (familiar) | |
| ap hain | you are (respect) | |
| ye hain | these, they are | |
| ve hain | those, they are |
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 | I speak | |
| tu bolta hai | you speak (intimate) | |
| yah bolta hai | this, he, it speaks | |
| vah bolta hai | that, he, it speaks | |
| ham bolte hain | we speak | |
| tum bolte ho | you speak (familiar) | |
| ap bolte hain | you speak (respect) | |
| ye bolte hain | these, they speak | |
| ve bolte hain | those, they speak |
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 | I am speaking | |
| tu bol raha hai | 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 hain | we are speaking | |
| tum bol rahe ho | you are speaking (familiar) | |
| ap bol rahe hain | you are speaking (respect) | |
| ye bol rahe hain | these, they are speaking | |
| ve bol rahe hain | those, they are speaking |
Past tense of hona (to be):
| main tha / thi | I was | |
| tu tha / thi | you were (intimate) | |
| yah tha / thi | this, he, she, it was | |
| vah tha / thi | that, he, she, it was | |
| ham the / thin | we were | |
| tum the / thin | you were (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)
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 | I used to speak | |
| tu bolta tha | you used to speak (intimate) | |
| yah bolta tha | this, he, it used to speak | |
| vah bolta tha | that, he, it used to speak | |
| ham bolte the | we used to speak | |
| tum bolte the | you used to speak (familiar) | |
| ap bolte the | you used to speak (respect) | |
| ye bolte the | these, they used to speak | |
| ve bolte the | those, they used to speak |
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 | I was speaking | |
| tu bol raha tha | you were speaking (intimate) | |
| yah bol raha tha | this, he, it was speaking | |
| vah bol raha tha | that, he, it was speaking | |
| ham bol rahe the | we were speaking | |
| tum bol rahe the | you were speaking (familiar) | |
| ap bol rahe the | you were speaking (respect) | |
| ye bol rahe the | these, they were speaking | |
| ve bol rahe the | those, they were speaking |
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 | I will speak | |
| tu bolega | you will speak (intimate) | |
| yah bolega | this, he, it will speak | |
| vah bolega | that, he, it will speak | |
| ham bolenge | we will speak | |
| tum bologe | you will speak (familiar) | |
| ap bolenge | you will speak (respect) | |
| ye bolenge | these, they will speak | |
| ve bolenge | those, they will speak |
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 rahunga | I will be speaking | |
| 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 rahenge | we will be speaking | |
| 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 |
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 laie | bring water (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 | don't go there (intimate) | |
| vahan na jao | don't go there (familiar) | |
| vahan nahin jaie | don't go there (respect) |
There is no Hindi verb for "to have". Possession is expressed in other ways.
Possession of movable objects is expressed using ke pas after the (English) subject.
Examples:
| Ram ke pas gari hai | Ram has a car ("near Ram a car it is") | |
| mera pas kitab hai | I have a book ("near me a book it is") |
Possession of immovable objects and of relatives is expressed using the possessive particles ka, ki, ke.
Examples:
| uska makan hai | he has a house ("of him a house it is") | |
| Ram ke do bete hain | Ram has two sons ("of Ram two sons there are") |