Habitual, Progressive, and Perfective Present Tense

Hello and welcome back!

In our last post, we learned about simple present tense. Today I wanted to share with you some detailed aspects on the present tense that will be useful for high school students and college students. 

Tense and aspect are major grammatical categories of the verbal system in Hindi. There are three grammatical aspects: habitual, progressive, and perfective. Each of them is expressed by marking the verbal stems. 

Present tense can denote:

1) The Actual Present: (The action going on at the present moment)

e.g. He is sleeping. - वह सोता है (vah sotha hai)

2) The Habitual Present: Present habitual forms are used to express habitual actions or the state of affairs viewed from the perspective of the present.

    Examples:

•  वह क्या नौकरी करता है? What work does he do? 
• मैं चार बजे जागता हूँ | I get up at 4 o’clock.
• मैं पांच बजे चाय पीता हूँ | I drink tea at 5 o’clock.
• मैं आठ बजे स्कूल जाता हूँ | I go to school at 8 o’clock. 
• सीता किताबें पढ़ती है | Sita reads books.
• राहुल गिटार बजाता है | Rahul plays guitar.
• ऋतिक सिग्रेट पीता है | Rithik smokes cigarettes.

When narrating a story, background information is generally expressed using habitual (imperfective aspect) construction. Whereas, the foreground information is expressed using perfective aspect. Habitual construction (background information) in the story below is highlighted.

Example:

• एक जंगल में एक शेर रहता था| उसी जंगल में, एक चूहा भी रहता था | एक दिन शेर चूहे से कहता कि मैं तुम्हें खा जाऊँगा | चूहा कहता है “मुझे मत खाइए|” एक दिन शिकारी शेर को जाल में फसाता है तब चूहा जाल काटता है| इस तरह चूहा शेर की मदद करता है |(“A lion lived in a forest. In the same forest, a mouse also lived. One day the lion says to the rats that I will eat you. The Rat says “please don’t eat me.” One day the hunter traps the lion into the net then the rat bites the net. This is how the rat helps the lion.”)

3) The Imminent Future or Present Progressive: Progressive aspect is used to indicate actions or states of affairs of a continuous nature or extended through time.

Examples:

•  I am going ahead, you take the baby and come. - मैं आगे जा रहा हूँ, तुम बच्चे को लेकर आओ (Mein aage jaa raha hoon, tum bache ko le kar aao)
• मैं अभी आती हूँ | I will come right away.
• चलिए, एक फ़िल्म देखते हैं | Let’s watch a film.
• रोओ मत, माँ अभी तुम्हें खाना देती है | Don’t cry, mother will give you food right away.

4) The Historic Present: The actual incident happened in the past, but how it is viewed in the present.

In English grammar, the "historical present" is the use of a verb phrase in the present tense to refer to an event that took place in the past. In narratives, the historical present may be used to create an effect of immediacy. Also called the "historic present, dramatic present, and narrative present."

In Hindi grammar also, the context is the same. This historic present tense is also found in news bulletins. If you introduce things that are past as present and now taking place, you will make your story no longer a narration but an actuality. Avoid the use of the historical present unless the narrative is sufficiently vivid to make the use spontaneous. The historical present is one of the boldest of figures and, as is the case with all figures, its overuse makes a style cheap and ridiculous.

e.g. What did we learn from the war........ - हमने युध से क्या सीखा की...(Hamne yudh se kya seekha ki...........)

Examples of present tense:

I go to school everyday.	में रोज स्कूल जाता हूँ	Mein roj school jata hoon
When does Ram come here?	राम कब यहाँ आता है?	Ram kab yahan aatha hai?
I read Hindi.	में हिन्दी पड़ता(म.)/पड़ती(फ.) हूँ	Mein Hindi padtha(m.)/padthi(f.) hoon.
We learn Hindi.	हम हिन्दी सीकते हैं	Hum Hindi seekthe hain.
Where do you live?	तुम कहाँ रहते हो? (इनफॉर्मल) आप कहाँ रहते है? (फॉर्मल)	Tum kahan rahate ho? (informal) Aap kahan rahte hai? (formal)
Does she sing?	क्या वह गाती है	Kya vah gaathi hai?
What work do they do?	वे क्या काम करते है	Veh kya kaam karthe hai?
I do not sing.	में नहीं गाता(म.)/गाती(फ.)	Mein nahin gaatha(m.)/gaathi(f.)
When do you play?	आप कब खेलते है?(फॉर्मल) तुम कब खेलते हो? (इनफॉर्मल	Aap kab khelthe hai?(formal) Tum kab khelte ho? (informal)
I do not drink tea.	में चाय नहीं पीती	Mein chai nahin peethi.
Who bring milk?	कौन दूध लाता है?	Kaun doodh latha hai?
Please drink water.	आप पानी पीजिए	Aap paani peejiye.
They live in a village.	वे गाँव में रहते हैं	Ve gaanv mein rahte hain.
Do you stay here?	क्या आप यहाँ रहते है?(फॉर्मल) क्या तुम यहाँ रहते हो? (इनफॉर्मल)	Kya aap yahan rahte hai?(formal) Kya tum yahan rahte ho? (informal)
How many boys study in this class?	इस कक्षा में कितने लड़के पड़ते हैं?	Is kaksha mein kitne ladke padthe hain?
What does your elder son do nowadays?	आपका बड़ा बेटा आजकल क्या करता है?	Aapka bada beta aajkal kya kartha hai?
Sarala sings well.	सरला अच्छी गाती है	Sarala achchi gaathi hai.
I go home by bus.	में बस से घर जाता हूँ	Mein bus se ghar jaatha hoon.

Test Your Understanding:

1) Watch a short film and write the story in Hindi. After writing, please post it here and ask any native speaker or admin for the feedback. [Hint: narration od stories is done in habitual present]

2) Write your daily routine of this year. After writing your daily routine compare it will last year. [Hint: Please use present habitual for current daily routine, and use past habitual for last year]

If you've liked this post, kindly share this with your friends and family. And as usual, if you have any questions, post them in the comments below 👇

 

Hey, before I say bye to you until we meet next, send us more examples that you learned in school and we shall update this post for better learning. 

 

Phir milte hain!