INTRODUCTION
Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why we describe it using a form of tense unlike any before it so that we can successfully convey the idea of an event that is occuring or occurs as of now. This is why it is also known as (the) present (tense).
Present tense is one of the three tenses in Nepali, used to denote or express actions that is currently going on or is performed in a habitual basis. It can also be used to denote a state that currently exists or generally exists. In Nepali, the present tense is called वर्तमान काल (vartamān kāl). For example, statements below in English all denote actions that are either currently happening or states that are currently existing (verbs in italics):
John eats the cake.
Mary is going to an adventure.
I am a doctor.
Thus, the present tense is used to denote a sense of the ‘present’ time. There are three aspects of present tense, parallel with English:
- Present indefinite tense
- Present progressive tense
- Present perfect tense
Now, we shall see how verbs will conjugate according to the grammatical person used.
VOCABULARY
खानु (khānu) = To eat
रोक्नु (roknu) = To stop
म (ma) = I
हामी (hāmī) = We
तँ (tam̐) = You (low respect)
तिमी (timī) = You (medium respect)
तपाईँ (tapāīm̐) = You (high respect)
ऊ (ū) = He/ She (neutral respect)
उनी (unī) = He/ She (medium respect)
उहाँ (uhām̐) = He/ She (high respect)
उनीहरू (unī-harū) = They (medium respect)
EXTRACTING THE ROOT OF THE VERB
We first get the lemma, or the basic form of the verb. Now, we simply remove the -नु (-nu) from the verb to obtain the root of the verb. For example:
खानु (khānu) > खा (khā) [Root ending in a vowel sound] /to eat/
रोक्नु (roknu) > रोक् (rok) [Root ending in a consonant sound] /to stop/
EXCEPTIONS
The verb हुनु (hunu) or ‘to be’ in Nepali is irregular and thus does not follow the conjugation rules given below. Thus, you should not try to attempt conjugating this verb. Another verb, जानु (jānu) or ‘to go’, also behaves slightly differently in present perfect tense. When such, the root ‘ग’ (ga) should be used instead.
Other verbs are regular in case of Present tense and you can apply the rules below for all the other verbs. High honour forms may take different conjugations.
PRESENT INDEFINITE TENSE
The present indefinite tense, also known as simple present tense, is a tense used to describe actions in present time that are not finished. In Nepali, it is called सामान्य वर्तमान काल (sāmānya vartamān kāl). For example in English, a statement in present indefinite tense would be:
John eats the cake.
Steps
- If the root ends in a syllable (consonant-vowel), add न् (n). If the root ends in a single vowel sound, add ँ (m̐) to that vowel instead. If the root ends in a consonant sound, skip this step. For example: खा (khā) + न् (n) = खान् (khān) and आउ (āu) + ँ (m̐) = आउँ (āum̐)
- Add the required suffix (or ending) to the modified root obtained in step 1. depending on the grammatical person.
I: म (ma), add छु (chu)
रोक्नु (roknu) = रोक् (rok) + छु (chu) = रोक्छु (rokchu)
खानु (khānu) = [खा (khā) + न् (n)] + छु (chu) = खान् (khān) + छु (chu) = खान्छु (khānchu)
आउनु (āunu) = [आउ (āu) + ँ (m̐)] + छु (chu) = आउँ (āum̐) + छु (chu) = आउँछु ( āum̐chu)
We: हामी (hāmī), add छौँ (chaum̐)
रोक्नु (roknu) = रोक् (rok) + छौँ (chaum̐) = रोक्छौँ (rokchaum̐)
खानु (khānu) = खान् (khān) + छौँ (chaum̐) = खान्छौँ (khānchaum̐)
You (low respect): तँ (tam̐), add छस् (chas) ifmasculine or छेस् (ches) if feminine
रोक्नु (roknu) = रोक् (rok) + छस् (chas) = रोक्छस् (rokchas)
खानु (khānu) = खान् (khān) + छस् (chas) = खान्छस् (khānchas)
रोक्नु (roknu) = रोक् (rok) + छेस् (ches) = रोक्छेस् (rokches)
खानु (khānu) = खान् (khān) + छेस् (ches) = खान्छेस् (khānches)
You (medium respect): तिमी (timī), add छौ (chau) if masculine or छ्यौ (chyau) if feminine
रोक्नु (roknu) = रोक् (rok) + छौ (chau) = रोक्छौ (rokchau)
खानु (khānu) = खान् (khān) + छौ (chau) = खान्छौ (khānchau)
रोक्नु (roknu) = रोक् (rok) + छ्यौ (chyau) = रोक्छ्यौ (rokchyau)
खानु (khānu) = खान् (khān) + छ्यौ (chyau) = खान्छ्यौ (khānchyau)
He (neutral respect): ऊ (ū), add छ (cha)
रोक्नु (roknu) = रोक् (rok) + छ (cha) = रोक्छ (rokcha)
खानु (khānu) = खान् (khān) + छ (cha) = खान्छ (khāncha)
She (neutral respect): ऊ (ū), add छे (che)
रोक्नु (roknu) = रोक् (rok) + छे (che) = रोक्छे (rokche)
खानु (khānu) = खान् (khān) + छे (che) = खान्छे (khānche)
He/She/They (medium respect): उनी (unī) and उनीहरू (unī-harū), add छन् (chan) if masculine or छिन् (chin) if feminine
रोक्नु (roknu) = रोक् (rok) + छन् (chan) = रोक्छन् (rokchan)
खानु (khānu) = खान् (khān) + छन् (chan) = खान्छन् (khānchan)
रोक्नु (roknu) = रोक् (rok) + छिन् (chin) = रोक्छिन् (rokchin)
खानु (khānu) = खान् (khān) + छिन् (chin) = खान्छिन् (khānchin)
You/He/She/They (high respect): तपाईँ (tapāīm̐) and उहाँ (uhām̐), leave the basic form intact and add हुन्छ (huncha) [EXCEPTION]
रोक्नु (roknu) = रोक्नु (roknu) + हुन्छ (huncha) = रोक्नुहुन्छ (roknuhuncha)
खानु (khānu) = खानु (khānu) + हुन्छ (huncha) = खानुहुन्छ (khānuhuncha)
PRESENT PROGRESSIVE TENSE
The present progressive tense, also known as present continuous tense, is a tense used to describe actions in present time that are happening as of now. In Nepali, it is called अपूर्ण वर्तमान काल (apūrṇa vartamān kāl). For example in English, a statement in present progressive tense would be:
John is eating the cake.
Steps
- If the root ends in a syllable or a vowel sound, add ँ (m̐) to the last syllable. If the root ends in a consonant sound, skip this step. For example: खा (khā) + ँ (m̐) = खाँ (khām̐)
- Add दै (dai) to the end of the modified root obtained in step 1.
- Add a space ( ).
- Add the required ending to the modified root obtained in step 3 depending on the grammatical person. These suffixes are almost identical to the ones in present indefinite tense. Note that these suffixes or endings are really just different forms of the verb ‘to be’, which we will be looking at later.
The below are demonstrations on how you can carry this out.
I: म (ma), add छु (chu)
रोक्नु (roknu) = रोक् (rok) + दै (dai) + [space] + छु (chu) = रोक्दै छु (rokdai chu)
खानु (khānu) = [खा (khā) + ँ (m̐)] + दै (dai) + [space] + छु (chu) = खाँ (khām̐) + दै (dai) + [space] + छु (chu) = खाँदै छु (khām̐dai chu)
He (neutral respect): ऊ (ū), add छ (cha)
रोक्नु (roknu) = रोक् (rok) + दै (dai) + [space] + छ (cha) = रोक्दै छ (rokdai cha)
खानु (khānu) = खाँ (khām̐) + दै (dai) + [space] + छु (chu) = खाँदै छ (khām̐dai cha)
You/He/She/They (high respect): तपाईँ (tapāīm̐) and उहाँ (uhām̐), to the root add हुनुहुन्छ (hunuhuncha) instead of only हुन्छ (huncha) [EXCEPTION]
रोक्नु (roknu) = रोक्दै (rokdai) + हुनुहुन्छ (hunuhuncha) = रोक्दै हुनुहुन्छ (rokdai hunuhuncha)
खानु (khānu) = खाँदै (khām̐dai) + हुनुहुन्छ (hunuhuncha) = खाँदै हुनुहुन्छ (khām̐dai hunuhuncha)
PRESENT PERFECT TENSE
The present perfect tense is a tense used to describe actions in present time that started in the past. In Nepali, it is called पूर्ण वर्तमान काल (pūrṇa vartamān kāl). For example in English, a statement in present perfect tense would be:
John has eaten the cake.
Steps
- If the root ends in a single vowel sound, remove it. If the root is polysyllabic (i.e. has more than one syllable) and ends in an –a sound, e.g. बिर्स (birsa), turn that into an -i sound, i.e. बिर्स (birsa) > बिर्सि (birsi). If else the root ends in a consonant or syllable sound, skip this step. For example: आउ (āu) = आ (ā)
- Add एको (eko)/ एकी (ekī)/ एका (ekā) to the end of the modified root obtained in step 1. The first for neutral/masculine singular, the second for feminine singular and the third for plural cases. Remember that the consonant will take on a diacritic while taking up the vowel sound.
- Add a space ( ).
- Add the required ending to the modified root obtained in step 3 depending on the grammatical person. These suffixes are almost identical to the ones in present progressive tense. Note that these suffixes or endings are really just different forms of the verb ‘to be’, which we will be looking at later.
I: म (ma), add छु (chu)
रोक्नु (roknu) = रोक् (rok) + एको (eko) + [space] + छु (chu) = रोकेको छु (rokeko chu)
खानु (khānu) = खा (khā) + एको (eko) + [space] + छु (chu) = खाएको छु (khāeko chu)
आउनु (āunu) = आ (ā) + एको (eko) + [space] + छु (chu) = आएको छु (āeko chu)
He (neutral respect): ऊ (ū), add छ (cha)
रोक्नु (roknu) = रोक् (rok) + एको (eko) + [space] + छ (cha) = रोकेको छ (rokeko cha)
खानु (khānu) = खा (khā) + एको (eko) + [space] + छ (cha) = खाएको छ (khāeko cha)
You/He/She/They (high respect): तपाईँ (tapāīm̐) and उहाँ (uhām̐), leave the verb intact, add भ (bha), then add एको (eko) [or its forms], and finally add छ (cha) [EXCEPTION]
रोक्नु (roknu) = रोक्नु (roknu) + भ (bha) + एको (eko) + [space] + छ (cha) = रोक्नुभएको छ (roknubhaeko cha)
खानु (khānu) = खानु (khānu) + भ (bha) + एको (eko) + [space] + छ (cha) = खानुभएको छ (khānubhaeko cha)
SUMMARY
- The present tense is used to denote or express actions that is currently going on or is performed in a habitual basis
- There are three aspects: indefinite, progressive, perfect
- The root can be extracted by removing the –nu from the lemma
- To this root, we add various suffixes according to the grammatical person
- The high respect form are exceptions as in, they do not usually follow the standard method
- The present indefinite tense, also known as simple present tense, is a tense used to describe actions in present time that are not finished
- The present progressive tense, also known as present continuous tense, is a tense used to describe actions in present time that are happening as of now
- The present perfect tense is a tense used to describe actions in present time that started in the past
EXERCISES
Nepalgo 