When it comes to counting from 1-100 in Nepali, there are themes, and you can often make a good guess what a number will be, but you’re not always guaranteed to be right. The best presentation of them that I’ve seen is from the blog Learning Nepali. The Latin writing system isn’t a standardised one, but it gives you an idea of how the system is based on the smaller number coming first, and the tens number following (one-and-thirty, two-and-thirty) and some undercounting (one-from-eighty) with a later of sound change added on top to make it nice and difficult [original here].
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Past tense is one of the three tenses in Nepali, used to denote or express actions that happened or occurred in the past. It can also be used to denote a state that existed. Nepali also uses this tense to describe a past habitual action, and to express one’s unawareness of a scenario. In Nepali, the past tense is called भूत काल (bhūt kāl). For example, statements below in English all denote actions that happened or states that existed (verbs in italics):
Johnate the cake. Marywas going to an adventure. Iwas a doctor.
In addition, Nepali also uses two additional aspects to denote either unawareness or past habituality:
Johnwasa doctor, I didn’t know that. [In Nepali, this phrase is conjugated into the verb itself] Johnused to be a doctor.
Thus, the past tense is used to denote a sense of the ‘past’ time. There are five aspects of past tense:
Past indefinite tense
Past progressive tense
Past perfect tense
Past unknown tense
Past habitual 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 irregularand thus does not follow the conjugation rules given below (except for past habitual tense). Thus, you should not try to conjugate this verb. Another verb, जानु (jānu) or ‘to go’, also behaves slightly differently in past aspects (other than past progressive and past habitual). The root ग (ga) should be used instead of जा (jā) for the indefinite, perfect and unknown aspects.
Other verbs are regular and you can apply the rules below for all the other verbs. High honour forms may take different conjugations.
PAST INDEFINITE TENSE
Thepast indefinite tense, also known as simple past tense, is a tense used to describe actions in past time that happened at a specific time. In Nepali, it is called सामान्य भूत काल (sāmānya bhūt kāl). For example in English, a statement in past indefinite tense would be: Johnate 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 or an -i sound, e.g. बिर्स (birsa), discard that sound as well. E.g. बिर्स (birsa) > बिर्स् (birs). Otherwise, skip this step. Example: आउ(āu) > आ (ā)
Add the required suffix (or ending) to the modified root obtained in step 1. depending on the grammatical person. Remember that adding a vowel to a consonant sound creates a syllable. Example: न् (n) + ए (e) = ने (ne)
Thepast progressive tense, also known as past continuous tense, is a tense used to describe actions in past time that was happening as of then. In Nepali, it is called अपूर्ण भूत काल (apūrṇabhūtkāl). For example in English, a statement in past progressive tense would be: Johnwas 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 ( ).
Now add थि (thi).
Concatenate the required ending to the modified root obtained in step 4 depending on the grammatical person. These suffixes are identicalto the ones in past indefinite tense. Note that these suffixes or endings are really just different forms of the verb ‘thiyo’.
The below are demonstrations on how you can carry this out.
रोक्नु (roknu) = रोक् (rok) + दै (dai) + [space] + थियो (thiyo) = रोक्दै थियो (rokdai thiyo) खानु (khānu) = खाँ (khām̐) + दै (dai) + [space] + थियो (thiyo) = खाँदै थियो (khām̐dai thiyo)
You/He/She/They(high respect): तपाईँ (tapāīm̐) and उहाँ (uhām̐), leave the verb intact, then add -हुँदै थियो (-hum̐dai thiyo) [EXCEPTION]
रोक्नु (roknu) = रोक्नु (roknu) + हुँदै थियो (hum̐dai thiyo) = रोक्नुहुँदै थियो (roknuhum̐dai thiyo) खानु (khānu) = रोक्नु (roknu) + हुँदै थियो (hum̐dai thiyo) = खानुहुँदै थियो (khānuhum̐dai thiyo)
PAST PERFECT TENSE
Thepast perfect tense is a tense used to describe actions completed prior to some past point of time specified or implied. In Nepali, it is called पूर्ण भूत काल (pūrṇa bhūtkāl). For example in English, a statement in past perfect tense would be: Johnhad 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 identical to the ones in past progressive tense, along with the थि (thi). Note that these suffixes or endings are really just different forms of the verb ‘thiyo’.
रोक्नु (roknu) = रोक् (rok) + एको (eko) + [space] + थियो (thiyo) = रोकेको थियो (rokeko thiyo) खानु (khānu) = खा (khā) + एको (eko) + [space] + थियो (thiyo) = खाएको थियो (khāekothiyo)
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 थियो (thiyo) [EXCEPTION]
Thepast unknown tense is a tense used to describe actions which occurred in the past but the event remains unknown prior to the speaker’s awareness. In Nepali, it is called अज्ञात भूत काल (ajñāt bhūtkāl) [pronounced agyāt]. For example in English, a statement in past unknown tense would be: Johnate the cake, it seems.
If you notice a pattern, the conjugations are mostly the same as for present indefinite tense, except you need to add an ए (e) before it.
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 or an -i sound, e.g. बिर्स (birsa), discard that sound as well. E.g. बिर्स (birsa) > बिर्स् (birs). If the root ends in a consonant or syllable sound, skip this step. For example: आउ (āu) = आ (ā)
Add the required ending to the modified root obtained in step 1 depending on the grammatical person. Remember to change the vowel sound as well, if necessary.
Thepast habitual tense is a tense used to describe actions that used to occur or happen in the past repeatedly or as a habit, but may not now. In Nepali, it is called अभ्यस्त भूत काल (abhyasta bhūtkāl). For example in English, a statement in past unknown tense would be: Johnused to eat the cake.
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.
Thepast tense is used to denote or express actions that happened or occurred in the past.
There are five aspects: indefinite,progressive,perfect, unknown andhabitual.
Therootcan be extracted by removing the -nufrom the lemma.
To this root, we add various suffixesaccording to the grammatical person.
The high respect form are exceptionsas in, they do not usually follow the standard method. Also, the verbs hunu(to be) and jānu (to go) conjugate differently, as in they use different roots for certain aspects.
Thepast indefinite tense, also known as simple past tense, is a tense used to describe actions in past time that happened at a specific time.
Thepast progressive tense, also known as past continuous tense, is a tense used to describe actions in past time that was happening as of then.
Thepast perfect tense is a tense used to describe actions completed prior to some past point of time specified or implied.
Thepast unknown tense is a tense used to describe actions which occurred in the past but the event remains unknown prior to the speaker’s awareness.
Thepast habitual tense is a tense used to describe actions that used to occur or happen in the past repeatedly or as a habit, but may not now.
