Verb

see hindi verb

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
aPresent Tense

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 arePresent 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 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 speakPresent 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 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 speakingPast Tense

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)
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 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 speakPast 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 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 speakingFuture 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 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 speakFuture 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 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 speakingImperative

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)
Movable ObjectsPossession 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")Immovable Objects

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")