Today, I will tell about past tense in Hindi, how it is defined and how to make it from the present tense.

Past tense is called भूतकाल (bhootkaal) in Hindi which is constructed from bhoot (past) and kaal (age). In Hindi, the past tense is classified into 6 groups.

Let’s convert a sentence in the present tense (मैं मिठाई खा रहा हूँ – Main mithai kha raha hoon – I am eating sweets) to 6 different past tenses.

 1. सामान्य भूत (Samaany Bhoot  – Past Indefinite Tense)
The past indefinite tense describes the completion of an action that took place in the past.
Example: मैंने मिठाई खाई। (Maine mithai khaai – I ate sweets.)

2. आसन्न भूत (Aasann Bhoot – Recent Past Tense)
The recent Past tense describes the completion of an action that took place over a period of time in the past.
Example: मैंने मिठाई खाई है। (Maine mithai khaai hai – I have eaten sweets.)

3. पूर्ण भूत (Purn Bhoot – Past Perfect Tense)
The past perfect tense is used to indicate that an action occurred before another action in the past.
Example: मैंने मिठाई खाई थी। (Maine mithai khaai thi -I had eaten sweets.)

4. अपूर्ण भूत (Apurn Bhoot – Past Continuous Tense)
The past continuous tense is used to indicate an ongoing action occurring in the past.
Example: मैं मिठाई खा रहा था। (Main mithai khaa raha tha -I had been eating sweet.)

5. संदिग्ध भूत (Sandigghd Bhoot – Doubtful Past Tense or Presumptive Perfect)
The doubtful past tense or presumptive perfect is used to indicate an action which might have or might have not occurred in the past.
Example: मैंने मिठाई खाई होगी। (Maine mithai khaai hogi – I might have eaten sweets.)

6. हेतुहेतुमद भूत (Hetuhetumand Bhoot – Conditional Past Tense)
The conditional past tense is used to indicate occurrence of an action if certain condition would have met in the past.
Example: अगर मैं भूका होता तो मैंने मिठाई खाई होती। (Agar main bhooka hota to meine mithai khaai hoti – If I had hunger I would have eaten sweets)

7. अभ्यस्त भूत (Abhyast Bhoot – Habitual Past Tense)
The habitual past tense is used to indicate regular occurrence of an certain action in the past.
Example: मैं मिठाई खाया करता था। (Main mithai khaaya karta tha) or मैं मिठाई ख़ाता था। (Main mithai khaata tha) (I used to eat sweets.)