The past tense is used to talk about things that happened or existed before now.
Past tense form of the verb “to be” is given below:
| Subject | Masculine suffix | Feminine suffix |
|---|---|---|
| मैं | था – thaa | थी – thee |
| तू | था – thaa | थी – thee |
| तुम | थे – the | थी – thee |
| यह, वह | था – thaa | थी – thee |
| हम, आप, ये, वे | थे – the | थीं – theen |
Note:
We use the above for “was/were” and also as past tense indicators.
All masculine plural verbs end in the.
All feminine singular verbs end in thee.
All feminine plural verbs end in theen.
Examples: gareeb = poor
I was poor – मैं गरीब था – main gareeb tha – said by a male
I was poor – मैं गरीब थी – main gareeb thee – said by a female
You were poor – तू गरीब था – tu gareeb tha – said to a male
You were poor – तू गरीब थी – tu gareeb thee – said to a female
You were poor – तुम गरीब थे – tum gareeb the – said to a male
You were poor – तुम गरीब थी – tum gareeb thee – said to a female
You were poor – आप गरीब थे – aap gareeb the – said to a male or a group of males (this sentence can be used in both singular and plural meaning). The same sentence can also be said to a group of males and females.
You were poor – आप गरीब थी – aap gareeb thee – said to a female or a group of females (this sentence can be used in both singular and plural meaning).
We were poor – हम गरीब थे – hum gareeb the – said by a group of males. The same sentence can also be said by a group of males and females.
We were poor – हम गरीब थीं – hum gareeb theen – said by a group of females
They were poor – ये/वे गरीब थे – ye/ve gareeb gareeb the – said to a group of males. The same sentence can also be said to a group of males and females.
They were poor – ये/वे गरीब थीं – ye/ve gareeb theen – said to a group of females