Grammar Topics

» 2.1 Personal Pronouns

» 2.5 Present progressive

» 2.2 The Verb "to be" and auxiliary verbs

» 2.6 To want to

» 2.3 Verb infinitive and root » 2.7 Postpositions

» 2.4 Present imperfect tense

» 2.8 "To a place"
 

  2.4 Present Imperfect Tense  

The present imperfect tense is used for actions that are performed regularly or often, or for statements about an existing condition. It is also sometimes called the present habitual tense.

 

Examples: I go to school. They eat vegetables. She wants to buy a necklace.

 

Here is the formula. Remember to read the table from RIGHT to LEFT:

Auxiliary verb

Verb ending

تا/تے/تی

+ Verb Root

Subject

As you know, the verb root is the infinitive of the verb without the نا ending.

The verb ending agrees with the subject in number and gender as follows:

-تا is for masculine singular (m-s)

-تے is for masculine plural (m-p)

-تی is for feminine singular and plural (f-s/p)

The auxiliary verb is the same as the simple conjugation of the verb ہونا("to be") as given in the chart in 2.2. The auxiliary verb agrees with the subject.

Some Examples with the verb جانا ("to go") . Read the table from RIGHT to LEFT:

ہوں۔

جاتا

میں

I (m) go.

first person singular auxiliary verb

Verb Root + masculine singular ending

subject

(masculine)

 

ہوں۔

جاتی

میں

I (f) go.

first person singular auxiliary verb

Verb Root + feminine ending

subject

(feminine)

 


ہے۔

جاتی

وہ

She goes.

third person singular auxiliary verb

Verb Root + feminine ending

subject

(feminine)

 


ہیں۔

جاتے

ہم

We go.

first person plural auxiliary verb

Verb Root + masculine plural ending

subject

(masculine plural)

 


ہو۔

جاتے

تم

You (fam.) go.

second person plural (familiar) auxiliary verb

Verb Root + masculine plural ending

subject

(masculine)

 


ہیں۔

جاتے

آپ

You (pol.) go.

second person plural (polite) auxiliary verb

Verb Root + masculine plural ending

subject

(masculine)

 

Note: you can change any of the masculine examples above into feminine by using the feminine verb ending تیinstead of the masculine endings تا or تے .

Here is the present imperfect conjugation chart for the verb جانا "to go":

 

 

Feminine

Masculine

میں جاتی ہوں میں جاتا ہوں

I go.

I go.

تو جاتی ہے تو جاتا ہے

You (very fam.) go.

You (very fam.) go.

وہ جاتی ہے وہ جاتا ہے

She/That/It goes.

He/That/It goes.

یہ جاتی ہے یہ جاتا ہے

She/This/It goes.

He/This/It goes.

ہم جاتی ہیں ہم جاتے ہیں

We go.

We go.

تم جاتی ہو تم جاتے ہو

You (fam.) go.

You (fam.) go.

آپ جاتی ہیں آپ جاتے ہیں

You (pol.) go.

You (pol.) go.

وہ جاتی ہیں وہ جاتے ہیں

They/Those go.

They/Those go.

یہ جاتی ہیں یہ جاتے ہیں

They/These go.

They/These go.

Remember: You can use آپ and تم for one person or many.