A Door Into Hindi: Lesson 14

The present perfect tense is formed by using the perfect form of the verb followed by the present tense auxiliary verb (the simple present of the verb होना i.e,है, हैं, हो, हूँ)

Formula: Subject + perfect form of the verb + auxiliary verb (present).

Examples: मैं + गया + हूँ

A.               मैं बाज़ार गया हूँ।

I have gone to the bazaar.

तुम बाज़ार गये हो।

You have gone to the bazaar.

वह बाज़ार गाया है।

She has gone to the bazaar.

For negated sentences in the present perfect tense, the auxiliary verb may be dropped. This means that there is no difference between negated sentences in the perfect tense and negated sentences in the present perfect tense. Thus the following sentences can have two slightly different meanings depending on context:

A.  वह बाज़ार नहीं गई।

  She didn’t go to the bazaar. (Perfect)

B.                वह बाज़ार नहीं गई (है)।

She hasn’t gone to the bazaar. (Pres. Perf.)

Note the position of the nasalisation dot in the two examples below:

a.                  They ( fem. ) haven’t gone to the bazaar.

वे बाज़ार नहीं गई हैं।

वे बाज़ार नहीं गईं।

b.                 They ( fem. ) don’t go to the bazaar.

वे बाज़ार नहीं जाती हैं।

वे बाज़ार नहीं जातीं।

( likewise:नहीं जा रही हैं = नहीं जा रहीं)

In Hindi, the past auxiliary verbs do not have First, Second, or Third person forms. Instead, they are marked only for number and gender. For example:

masc.sing. था = was (masc.) राम बम्बई में था।

masc.pl.  थे = were (masc.) हम राली में थे।

fem.sing.  थी = was (fem.) मधुबाला बहुत अच्छी आभिनेत्री थी।

fem.pl.  थीं = were (fem.) मधुबाला की आँखें बहुत सुन्दर थीं।

See Snell's Teach Yourself Hindi (2000) Section 11.4 page 143