Our main topic over the last few lessons has been Transitivity. In Lesson #79 we learnt what it means (please read over the lesson again if you are at all unsure!) and we learnt that in Hindi the Past Tense is different for Transitive and Intransitive verbs. Then in Lesson #81 we learnt how to create Past Tense sentences for Intransitive Verbs. Can you remember? 

Today we’re going to learn how to create Past Tenses sentences for Transitive verbs. I admit that this does gets a little trick so make sure you pay attention!

When we use Transitive Verbs in the Past Tense we must use the Postposition ने ne to mark the Subject. So what on earth does this mean? Well the ‘person who is doing the thing’ must have the word ने ne after them and since ने ne is a Postposition the 'person who is doing the thing’ must also be in the Oblique case (see Lesson #48 and Lesson #61). There is no translation in English for the word ने ne, all it does is show us who 'did’ the action. Are you following? Read that again! And again! So let me show you an example;

लड़के ने खाया larke ne khaayaa - The boy ate.

So what have we done here? We’ve used the noun लड़का larkaa - Boy and the postposition ने ne to tell us that the boy 'did something’. So लड़का larkaa goes into the Oblique case becoming लड़के larke (as seen in Lesson #48). Finally we use the verb खाया khaayaa - which is the Past Tense Singular Masculine form of खाना khaanaa - To Eat just as we leant in Lesson #81. Remember that 'To Eat’ is transitive. Ok deep breath, did you follow that? Read it through again!  

However there’s another tricky thing we need to learn! Let me show you a different example. Ready?

लड़के ने रोटी खाई larke ne rotee khaaee
- The boy ate a Roti.
Image by Wikipedia.

So now you’re probably asking why the hell have we used the Feminine Singular Past Tense  खाई khaaee? Shouldn’t the verb agree with the Masculine Singular subject, the boy? Well are you ready for the important bit?

For Past Tense sentences with Transitive verbs the verb agrees with the object of the sentence and not, as we’ve been used to so far, the subject. If theres no object in the sentence (like the above 'The boy ate’) then the verb is Singular Masculine. 

Read that paragraph again. And again. Make sure you understand it because it’s very important! So how would we say 'The girl ate samosas’? Ready? 

लड़की ने समोसे खाए larkee ne samose khaae
- The girl ate Samosas. 
Image by Wikipedia.

Can you see what we’ve done? The verb is in the Past Tense Masculine Plural because it agrees with the Masculine Plural समोसे samose - Samosas.

Now there’s an imporant exception; even though ने ne is a postposition, when we use it with मैं main - I it does not change to मुझ mujh - the oblique form of मैं main.

मैंने कहानी लिखी mainne kahaanee likhee
- I wrote a story. 

Here we use लिखी likhee, the Feminine Singular Past Tense form of the verb लिखना likhnaa - To Write because it agrees with the feminine word कहानी kahaanee - Story. Are you starting to get the hang of it now? Notice how, unlike usual, we don’t know whether this was said by a man or a woman! 

उसने पानी पिया us ne paanee piyaa
- He drank water (could also be 'she’). 

So we use the oblique form of वह voh - He, which is उस us, because of the postposition ने ne. Again here the verb agrees with the masculine पानी paanee - Water. In fact the verb पीना peenaa - To Drink is slightly irregular in the Past Tense, as you might have noticed. For the Singular Masculine we say पिया piyaa and not पीया peeyaa. Can you see the difference? 

How well have you understood this? Don’t worry because using ने ne correctly is one of the most difficult things to grasp in Hindi grammar. Hopefully you’ve understood some of it though, which is fantastic! Don’t forget that all of this is only for Transitive verbs.

I’ll be showing you plenty more examples in a different lesson soon which should help it 'sink in’. Please feel free to leave me any questions you have in a comment below!

Back to Intermediate Grammar.