Nepali Verbs - Conjugation in all forms/tenses (Part 2)

In part 1, we covered three basic verb tenses: Simple present, past, and future. But there are plenty more verb conjugations in the Nepali language. Let's look at some more now.

1. 
   

गर्ने थियो
garne thiyo
"would have done"

The conjugation for this verb tense is fairly simple.
You can take the simple form of the future tense (e.g. I will do "garnechu" - simplified = "garne") and add a form of the past tense of hunu, specifically the "thiyo" form.


For most conjugations, only the "thiyo" part changes, so you don't have to worry about changing the main verb aside from adding that future "-ne" at the end of the stem.

I = थिएँ thiye~ / neg: थिइनँ thiina~
we = थियौँ thiyau~ / neg: थिएनौं thienau~
you (timi) = थियौ thiyau / neg: थिएनौ thienau
he/she/it = थियो thiyo / neg: थिएन thiena
they = थिए thie / neg: थिएनन् thienan

ONE EXCEPTION is the second and third person formal conjugation (tapai/wahaa), where instead of "garne thiyo" it turns into "garnuhune thiyo/thiena." If you check out the part one of this series (link at the top) you can understand better why this change occurs. At any rate, it is very similar to the future tense, so if you've mastered that, you should have no problem with this one.


Examples:

यस्तो अवस्थामा तिमी के गर्ने थियौ?
"yesto avastama timi ke garne thiyau?"
Word-for-word translation:
This kind of situation (in), you what would have done?"
What would you have done in this situation?

तिमीले खाना पकाएको भए म खाने थिएँ.
"Timile khana pakaeko bhae ma khane thiye~"
Word-for-word translation:
You (le-particle indicates person doing an action) food had cooked if, I eat would have"
If you had cooked, I would have eaten.

 2. 

गरेको छ
gareko cha
"have/has done"

The crucial difference between this tense ("present perfect") and the following (#3, "past perfect") is that this one, "has/have done," has an effect on what you are saying now. So just like if you say in English, "I've eaten," it generally carries the meaning 'I've already eaten, so I'm not hungry/I don't have to eat now."

I = गरेको छु gareko chu / neg: गरेको छैनँ gareko chaina~
we = गरेको छौं gareko chau~ / neg: गरेको छैनौँ gareko chainau~
you (timi) = गरेको छौ gareko chau / neg: गरेको छैनौ gareko chainau
you (tapai) = गर्नुभएको छ garnubhaeko cha / neg: गर्नुभएको छैन garnubhaeko chaina
he/she/it = गरेको छ gareko cha / neg: गरेको छैन gareko chaina
they = गरेको छन् gareko chan / neg: गरेको छैनन् gareko chainan

Examples:

उहाँले हामीलाई मदत गर्नुभएको छ.
"Wahale haamilai madat garnubhaeko cha."
Word-for-word translation:
"He us (to/for) help has done."
He has helped us.

वह, हाम्रो लागि कस्तो मिठो खाना पकाउनुभएको छ!
"Wah, hamro lagi kasto mitho khana pakaunubhaeko cha!"
Word-for-word translation:
"Wow, for us how delicious food has cooked!"
Wow, what delicious food you(/he/she) have(/has) cooked for us!

हरेक पसल गएको छु, तर चाहिने समान पाएको छैनँ.
Harek pasal gaeko chu, tara chahine saman paaeko chaina~.
Word-for-word translation:
"Each one shop have gone, but needed item haven't received."
I've gone to every shop, but I haven't found what I need.

NOTE:
This tense (as well as the next one) can also be shortened to <verb stem>-eko (i.e, gareko) without the "cha" ending in everyday speech. You can figure out if it is Present Perfect or Past Perfect tense simply by context.

ex.:
A: "Khana khaaeko chau?" Have you eaten? (Seen here with proper ending.)
B: "Hajur, khaaeko." Yes, I've eaten. (Present Perfect is implied here, so you don't really need the ending "chu".)



   3.

गरेको थियो
gareko thiyo
"had done"

So here we have the opposite of the previous tense - this is something that had happened but doesn't really have an effect on the present. To use the previous example, "khana khaeko chu" means "I have eaten" = "I'm not hungry" or something to that effect.
But if you say "khana khaeko thiye~" = "I had eaten," it may refer to the time you had eaten yesterday, or early this morning, or three years ago - in any case, it doesn't have anything to do with whether or not you're hungry now or have eaten recently.
This tense is conjugated exactly like the previous one, except instead of the present tense of the verb "hunu" at the end ("chu," "cha," etc), we use the past tense ("thiye~," "thiyo," etc). This conjugation of "hunu" is the same as used in the "would have" tense.

I = गरेको थिएँ gareko thiye~ / neg: गरेको थिइनँ gareko thiina~
we = गरेको थियौँ gareko thiyau~ / neg: गरेको थिएनौं gareko thienau~
you (timi) = गरेको थियौ gareko thiyau / neg: गरेको थिएनौ gareko thienau
you (tapai) = गर्नुभएको थियो garnubhaeko thiyo / neg: गर्नुभएको थिएन garnubhaeko thiena
he/she/it = गरेको थियो gareko thiyo / neg: गरेको थिएन gareko thiena
they = गरेको थिए gareko thie / neg: गरेको थिएनन् gareko thienan

Examples:

"म जान्नँ" भनेको थिएँ, तर अहिले जाउँ कि भनेर विचार गर्दै छु.
Ma jaanna~ bhaneko thie~, tara ahile jaau~ ki bhanera vichaar gardai chu.
Word-for-word translation:
"'I won't go' had said, but now shall I go or... (that) I am considering"
I (had) said I wouldn't go, but now I'm considering going...

त्यसपछि  उनीहरु घर फर्केको थिए.
Tyespachi uniharu ghar pharkeko thie.
Word-for-word translation:
"After that they home had returned"
After that, they had returned home.

NOTE:
When a word ends in "aeko" or "aaeko" usually in spoken Nepali it's pronounced like "aah-ko."
e.g.:
gaeko => "gah-ko"
bhaeko => "bhah-ko"

but NOT
"gareko," "baseko," etc.




That's it for this article! But don't worry, I'll be adding [many] more articles about different verb tenses, including some unusual/informal ones as well.
I hope this article helps you as you learn the Nepali language!