The perfect narrative tense describes an action that is a fully completed fact in the past. It is most commonly used in narrative texts that describe events which include a change of action or state.
The marker of the perfect narrative tense is one of the four endings आ aa, ए e, ई ii, or ईं iiN added to the verbal stem. Verbs whose stems end in आ aa, ओ o, ए e, or ई ii sometimes insert य y before the masculine singular -आ aa; and those whose stems end in ऊ uu or ई ii shorten this vowel before all the perfective endings. The verbs करना karnaa 'to do', होना honaa 'to be', देना denaa 'to give', लेना lenaa 'to take', जाना jaanaa 'to go', पीना piinaa 'to drink' have irregular conjugations.
See the table given below.
|
infinitive |
masc. sing. |
masc. plur. |
fem. sing. |
fem. plur. |
|
बोलना bolnaa |
बोला bolaa |
बोले bole |
बोली bolii |
बोलीं boliiN |
|
रोना ronaa |
रोया royaa |
रोए roe |
रोई roii |
रोईं roiiN |
|
छूना chuunaa |
छुआ chuaa |
छुए chue |
छुई chuii |
छुईं chuiiN |
|
करना karnaa |
किया kiyaa |
किए kie |
की kii |
कीं kiiN |
|
होना honaa |
हुआ huaa |
हुए hue |
हुई huii |
हुईं huiiN |
|
देना denaa |
दिया diyaa |
दिए die |
दी dii |
दीं diiN |
|
लेना lenaa |
लिया liyaa |
लिए lie |
ली lii |
लीं liiN |
|
जाना jaanaa |
गया gayaa |
गए gae |
गई gaii |
गईं gaiiN |
|
पीना piinaa |
पिया piyaa |
पिए pie |
पी pii |
पीं piiN |
There are two constructions that use the perfect narrative tense: nominative and ergative.
Nominative construction
This construction is used when the verb that names the situation is intransitive (does not take a direct object). Note that some verbs which might normally be considered transitive are also included in this category: लाना laanaa 'to bring', बोलना bolnaa 'to speak', समझना samajhnaa 'to understand', भूलना bhuulnaa 'to forget'. In these cases, the subject of the sentence is always in the direct case and the predicate always agrees with the subject in number and gender.
Examples:
लड़का उठा।
laRkaa uThaa.
'The boy stood up.'
वह समझा।
vo samjhaa.
'He has understood.'
लड़की उठी।
laRkii uThii.
'The girl stood up.'
वह समझी।
vo samjhii.
'She has understood.'
लड़के उठे।
laRke uThe.
'The boys stood up.'
वे समझे।
ve samjhe.
'They've understood.'
लड़कियाँ उठीं।
laRkiyaaN uThiiN.
'The girls stood up.'
वे समझीं।
ve samjhiiN.
'They've understood.'
The nominative construction is also used when the verb is intensive and one of the two components is intransitive.
Ex: वह मुस्कुरा दिया।
vo muskuraa diyaa.
'He smiled.'
वह सारा नाश्ता खा गया।
vo saaraa naaśtaa khaa gayaa.
'He has eaten the whole breakfast.'
Ergative construction
If the verb is transitive (takes a direct object), the ergative construction is used. Also included in this category are certain verbs which might not always seem to be transitive: खाँसना khaaNsnaa 'to cough', छींकना chiiNknaa 'to sneeze', थूकना thuuknaa 'to spit' etc. The subject of a sentence with the ergative construction is always in the oblique case with the special postposition ने ne. For that reason, the subject does not influence the form of the predicate. Instead, the predicate agrees with the direct object. If no object is expressed or if the object is followed by the postposition को ko, the predicate is always in the masculine singular form.
Certain Hindi verbs may have many meanings, some of which are transitive and some of which are intransitive. In this situation, the construction with the postposition ने ne and the subject in the oblique case is required only when the verb functions as a transitive one. For example, the verb पढ़ना paRhnaa can be transitive when it means 'to read' and intransitive when it means 'to study somewhere'. The sentence structure in these two cases will be different.
Before the postposition ने ne, the plural pronouns of the third person have special forms: इन्हों ने inhoN ne and उन्हों ने unhoN ne respectively.
Examples:
उस ने समोसा खाया।
us ne samosaa khaayaa.
'He has eaten a samosa.'
उस ने समोसे खाए।
us ne samose khaae.
'He has eaten samosas.'
उस ने क़ुलफ़ी खाई।
us ne qulfii khaaii.
'He has eaten an ice-cream.'
उस ने बहुत सी मछलियाँ खाईं।
us ne behut sii machliyaaN khaaiiN.
'He has eaten a lot of fish (fishes).'
मैं ने खाँसा।
maiN ne khaaNsaa.
'I have coughed.'
उन्हों ने खाँसा।
unhoN ne khaaNsaa.
'They have coughed.'
तुम ने चाय पी।
tum ne caay pii.
'You have drunk tea.'
तुम ने चाय को पिया।
tum ne caay ko piyaa.
'You have drunk tea.'
हम ने किताब पढ़ी।
ham ne kitaab paRhii.
'We have read the book.'
हम दोनों एक ही स्कूल में पढ़े +(थे)।
ham donoN ek hii skuul meN paRhe.
'We've studied together at the same school.'
In negative sentences, the negative particles नहीं nahiiN/ न na are most often put before the predicate.
Ex: हम नहीं भागे।
ham nahiiN bhaage.
'We didn't run away.'
उसने मुझे पैसे न दिए।
us ne mujhe paise na die.
'He didn't give me the money.'
See Also: