Hindi Language Blog

When an action performed by the doer only affects himself/herself, the verb is called an intransitive verb. In the sentence, “Tom sang a song,” sang is an intransitive verb because Tom and no one else is singing a song.

Let’s use the verb “to come” (आ) as an example.

I came (masculine) – मैं आया

I came (feminine) – मैं आई

We came (masculine) – हम आए

We came (feminine) – हम आईं

You came (masculine) – आप आए

You came (feminine) – आप आईं

You all came (masculine) – आप आए

You all came (feminine) – आप आईं

He came – वह आया

She came – वह आई

They came (masculine) – वे आए

They came (feminine) – वे आईं

There are also transitive verbs that end in a consonant in the simple past tense. For these verbs, the suffix आ is attached to the stem of the verb.

I wrote – मैंने लिखा

We wrote – हमने लिखा

You wrote – आपने लिखा

He wrote – उसने लिखा

She wrote – उसने लिखा

They wrote – उन्होंने लिखा

Here is another example:

I said – मैंने कहा

We said – हमने कहा

You said – आपने कहा

He said – उसने कहा

She said – उसने कहा

They said – उन्होंने कहा

The verbs in this post end in a vowel in the stem of the verb. When the stem ends in a vowel, the suffix या is attached to the stem of the verb.

This is the stem of the verb to drink: पी

I drank water – मैंने पानी पीया

We drank water – हमने पानी पीया

You drank water – आपने पानी पीया

He drank water – उसने पानी पीया

She drank water – उसने पानी पीया

They drank water – उन्होंने पानी पीया

Couple of clarifications:

1) water = पानी, पी = verb stem (to drink), या = suffix

If the past indefinite perfect tense is still shaky, check back at the previous post. It may clarify some issues.