Past Habitual

The past habitual combines the past tense and habitual aspect. It is formed as imperfective participle + past tense form of होना.

It can often be translated in English as “used to…” as in “used to do”, “used to eat”, “used to go”, etc.

Pronoun Masculine Form Feminine Form
मैं करता था करती थी
हम करते थे करती थीं
आप करते थे करती थीं
तुम करते थे करती थीं
तू करता था करती थी
यह/वह करता था करती थी
ये/वे करते थे करती थीं

14 replies on “Past Habitual”

hello admin this website is really very helpfull for me…
however i feel cnfusion in sentenses like ”to be + v3 form”
pls right down 2 or 3 examples and its meaning in hindi..
i ll be very gratefull to u ..
thanx

I’m glad that this website is helpful to you. Here are a few examples:

मैं रोज़ सुबह छः बजे उठ जाता था, लेकिन आजकल मैं आठ बजे उठता हूं – “I used to get up every day at 6 o’clock in the morning, but nowadays I get up at 8 o’clock”

मैं भारत में दस सालों तक काम करता था – “I worked in India for 10 years”

It can be translated with “used to” (“used to get up”), or with a past tense verb (“worked”). We wouldn’t use a past tense verb here (काम किया) because we aren’t talking about a single action that the man performed, but a series of actions, etc. Does that make sense?

Namaste, Bahut badhiyaa. Kripayaa unhe mera Pranaam pahoochaanaa. Waise aap kahaanse ho ? Aap kaa kya vyavsaay hai ?
Kripayaa sampark may rahiye.
dhanaywaad,
fir milenge,

How do you negate the present habitual? For example, how do you say ‘I do not go to school’? Is it मै स्कुल नहीं जाता हू्ँ या मै स्कुल जाता नहीं?

Good question. Both are basically correct; Hindi speakers almost always omit the verb होना in negative sentences, e.g. “मै स्कुल नहीं जाता”. Word order is somewhat flexible; in order to emphasize the negation, नहीं is often placed at the end of the sentence, just like your second example: “मै स्कुल जाता नहीं”. नहीं is generally used with the indicative mood; न is generally used with the subjunctive mood, and मत with the imperative mood. With a little experience, you’ll easily be able to determine which word to use. Let me know if you have any more questions. Thanks for your comment.

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