Verb Conjugation Simple Present Tense

Recall our lesson on Nepali pronouns. How one addresses someone else is rooted in hierarchies of respect and purity. For each pronoun, there are corresponding verb conjugations. For learners whose first-language is English, this will come as a new, but important concept. Below we will explore simple present tense for the most common Nepali pronouns and a practice activity.

Pronouns & Respect Level:

म (ma)       I
तपाईँ (tapāīm̐)      You (high respect)
तिमी (timī)       You (medium respect)
हामी (hāmī)      We
उहाँ/उहाँहरु (uha/waha) /(uhaharu/wahaharu)   He/She/They (high respect) (singular vs plural)
ऊ (u)         He/ She (neutral respect)
उनी (uni)       He/ She (medium respect)
उनीहरू (uni-haru)     They (medium respect)

Positive Simple Present Tense Conjugation बोल्नु  (to speak) 

For every pronoun (except तपाईँ & उहाँ)  in positive present tense we remove नु to get the root बोल of which we conjugate. For तपाईँ & उहाँ we keep the basic form of the verb intact and add हुन्छ.

Negative Simple Present Tense Conjugation खेल्नु (to play) 

If the root  of the verb ends in a syllable or a vowel sound, add ँ (nasal)  to the last syllable. If the root ends in a consonant, skip this step. Example: खानु—> खा (khā) + ँ (m̐) = खाँ (khām̐) + suffix.

*Be mindful of the difference between I don’t and He/She doesn’t (दिनँ vs दैन)

Let’s Practice!

Translate the sentence into Nepali using devanagari script and the correct conjugations.