Note: All past tense transitive verbs are used in ergative constructions, so they agree in person and number with the direct object rather than the subject of the sentence. See Ergative Constructions.
Past tense verbs in the imperfective aspect are used to denote:
a) actions going on at a given moment in past
b) actions thought of as continual processes
c) repeated actions in the past
This tense has no fully corresponding tense in English. It can be translated into English with the simple past tense or the past continuous tense.
In Pashto, the past tense is formed by adding the past personal endings to the infinitives of regular simple verbs, to the past stems or infinitives of irregular verbs, or to the imperfective stems or infinitives of special verbs.
Simple Verbs
("to call" - بَلٌل , "to become" - کېدٌل )
|
Person |
Number |
|
|
Singular |
Plural |
|
|
First |
"he was calling me" - [dA zA balÁ́lAm ] دٌه زٌه بَلٌلٌم "I was becoming" - [zA kedÁlAm (kedÁm) ] زٌه کېدٌلٌم ( کېدٌم) |
"he was calling us" - [dA muGh baalÁlu ] دٌه مُوږ بَلٌلُو "we were becoming" - [muGh kedÁlu (kedú) ] مُوږ کېدٌلُو ( کېدُو) |
|
Second |
"I was calling you" - [maa tA balÁle ] ما تٌه بَلٌلې "you were becoming" - [tA kedÁle (kedé) ] تٌه کېدٌلې ( کېدې) |
"I was calling you" - [maa taáse balÁlAy ] ما تاسی بَلٌلۍ "you were becoming" - [taáse kedÁlAy (kedÁy) ] تاسی کېدٌلۍ ( کېدۍ) |
|
Third |
"I was calling him" - [maa day baalÁ] ما دَی بالٌه "I was calling her" - [maa daa balÁla ] ما دا بَلٌلَه "he was becoming" - [day kedÁ ] دَی کېده ""she was becoming" - [daa kedÁla (kedá) ] دا کېدٌلَه ( کېدَه) |
"I was calling them (men)" - maa duy balÁl ما دُوی بَلٌلَ "I was calling them (women)" - [maa duy balÁle ] ما دُوی بَلٌلې "they (men) were becoming" - [duy kedÁl ] دُوی کېدٌل "they (women) were becoming" - [duy kedÁle (kedé) ] دُوی کېدٌلې ( کېدې) |
Verbs that use prefixes form the past tense in the same manner as simple verbs.
Transitive verbs that use suffixes form the past tense from their infinitives. Intransitive verbs that use suffixes form the past tense from their infinitives or from their past stems.
Verbs with Suffixes
("to force to eat" - خْوَړَوٌل , "to age" - زَړېدٌل )
|
Person |
Number |
|
|
Singular |
Plural |
|
|
First |
"he was forcing me to eat - [dA zA khwaRawÁlAm ] دٌه زٌه خْوَړَوٌلٌم "I was aging" - [zA zaRedÁlAm ] زٌه زَړېدٌلٌم |
"he was forcing us to eat - [dA muGh khwaRawÁlu ] دٌه مُوږ خْوَړَوٌلُو "we were aging" - [muGh zaRedÁlu ] مُوږ زَړېدٌلُو |
|
Second |
"I was forcing you to eat" - [maa tA khwaRawÁle ] ما تٌه خْوَړَوٌلې "you were aging" - [tA zaRedÁle ] تٌه زَړېدٌلې |
"I was forcing you to eat" - [maa taáse khwaRawÁlAy ] ما تاسی خْوَړَوٌلۍ "you were aging" - [taáse zaRedÁlAy ] تاسی زَړېدٌلۍ |
|
Third |
"I was forcing him to eat - [maa day khwaRaawÁ] ما دَی خْوَړاوٌه "I was forcing her to eat - [maa daa khwaRawÁla ] ما دا خْوَړَوٌلَه "he was aging" - [day zaRedÁ ] دَی زَړېدٌه "she was aging" - [daa zaRedÁla ] دا زَړېدله |
"I was forcing them (men) to eat - [maa duy khwaRawÁl ] ما دُوی خْوَړَوٌل "I was forcing them (women) to eat - [maa duy khwaRawÁle] ما دُوی خْوَړَوٌلې "they (men) were aging" - [duy zaRedÁl] دُوی زَړېدٌل "they (women) were aging" - [duy zaRedÁle ] دُوی زَړېدٌلې |
Compound verbs produce their past tense forms by changing their auxiliary verbs in a same manner as simple verbs.
The third person, singular, masculine, past tense forms of all verbs are made from stems. In some cases, the stems can be changed. If a regular or irregular transitive simple verb has the vowel [a] in the last syllable of its stem, that vowel becomes longer and stressed.
For example, "he does" - [day kawí] دَی کَوى → "he was doing it" - [dA ye kaáwA] دٌه ېې کاوٌه
Verbs such as "to ascend" - خَتٌل , "to look at" - کَتٌل , "to go out" - وَتٌل , "to eat" - خْوَړٌل change the vowel [a] into the vowel [o].
For example, "to go out" - [watÁl] وَتٌل → "he was going out" - [day wot] دَی وُوت
Negative forms are produced by adding the negative particle "not" - نَه before a verb, or before the nominal part or the auxiliary verb within a compound verb.
"I was not becoming" - زٌه نَه کېدٌلٌم
"he was not working" - ده کار نه کاوه
Some simple verbs are called "quasitransitive" verbs because they cannot have direct object but are declined like transitive verbs. These quasitransitive verbs have only one past imperfective form (the infinitive) which is used for all persons and numbers.
"to laugh" - خَنْدٌل → "he was laughing" - خَنْدٌل دٌه
"we were laughing" - خَنْدٌل تاسُو
"to cry" - ژَړٌل → "I was crying" - ما ژَړٌل
"you were crying" - دُوی ژَړٌل
See Also: