14.1 Perfect Form of the Verb = Simple Past Form of the Verb

14.1	Perfect Form of the Verb = Simple Past Form of the Verb

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The Perfect Form of the verb functions as the simple past tense in Hindi:

Examples:

I went.

I cried.

I lived.

I studied.

The perfect form of the verb is the Verb Root plus an ending which changes according to the number and gender as given in the table below:

	Ending if Verb Root ends in a consonant	Example with पढ़ना	Ending if Verb Root ends in a vowel	Example with आना
Masculine Singular	Root + ा	पढ़ा	Root + या	आया
Masculine Plural	Root + े	पढ़े	Root + ए	आए
Feminine Singular	Root + ी	पढ़ी	Root + ई	आई
Feminine Plural	Root + ीं	पढ़ीं	Root + ईं	आईं

Note: if the perfect form of the verb (the simple past of the verb) is not agreeing with anything, then it stays in the masculine singular (third person) form( ा).

Verbs change into their perfect forms according to one of the following three patterns:

A. The verb root ends with a consonant:

Examples:

Infinitive	ख़रीदना	देखना	सुनना
Verb Root	ख़रीद	देख	सुन
Masculine Singular	ख़रीदा	देखा	सुना
Masculine Plural	ख़रीदे	देखे	सुने
Feminine Singular	ख़रीदी	देखी	सुनी
Feminine Plural	ख़रीदीं	देखीं	सुनीं

B. The verb root ends with a vowel:

Examples:

Infinitive	बताना	खाना	आना
Verb Root	बता	खा	आ
Masculine Singular	बताया	खाया	आया
Masculine Plural	बताए	खाए	आए
Feminine Singular	बताई	खाई	आई
Feminine Plural	बताईं	खाईं	आईं

Note: in the chart above that there is only one spelling choice for the masculine singular, because we can’t put आ after “डण्डा”. Therefore we must put या.

Other examples of these kind of verbs (Masc. Singular)

गाना = गा+या = गाया (=sang)

पाना = पा+या = पाया (=found)

लाना = ला+या = लाया (=brought)

बनाना = बना+या = बनाया (=built)

C. Irregular verbs:

Remember that we have encountered four irregular verbs: लेना, देना, करना, होना. With respect to the formation of the simple past form, these four are joined by a fifth irregular verb: जाना

लेना	देना	करना	होना	जाना	infinitive
लिया	दिया	किया	हुआ	गया	masc. sing.
लिये/लिए	दिये/दिए	किये/किए	हुये/हुए	गये/गए	masc. pl.
ली	दी	की	हुयी/हुई	गयी/गई	fem. sing.
लीं	दीं	कीं	हुयीं/हुईं	गयी/गईं	fem. pl.

See Snell’s Teach Yourself Hindi (2000)
Section 11.2 page 137