5.5 Verb “To be” in the Past Tense
Instructor Video: Verb “to be” in the Past
In the previous chapter, we learned that the verb “to be” ہونا in Urdu has four different forms in present tense. We also learned the uses of those four forms. See the table below for a quick review.
| Forms of Verb “to be” ہونا | Uses |
| ہوں | with میں (I). |
| ہو | with تم (familiar you). |
| ہے | with تو (informal you), یہ (This, s/he), وہ (That, s/he), and singular subjects. |
| ہیں | with ہم (we), آپ (formal you), یہ (These, They), وہ (Those, They), and with plural and honorific subjects. |
Today, we are going to learn about the past tense forms of the verb “to be” in Urdu. There are four forms of the verb “to be” in the past form. Please see the table below for forms and their uses.
| Forms of Verb “to be” ہونا | Uses |
| تھا | with masculine singular subjects. |
| تھی | with feminine singular subjects. |
| تھے | with masculine plural and honorific subjects. |
| تھیں | with feminine plural and honorific subjects. |
Examples:
اس کمرے میں ایک لڑکا تھا- “There was a boy in this room.”
اس کمرے میں ایک کرسی تھی- “There was a chair in this room.”
اس کمرے میں دو دروازے تھے- “There were two doors in this room.”
اس کمرے میں بہت کتابیں تھیں- “There were many books in this room.”
احمد سکول میں تھا- “Ahmad was in school.”
میرے دوست بازار میں تھے- “My friends were in the market.”
سلمہ کہاں تھی؟ “Where was Salma?”
میری بہنیں باغ میں تھیں- “My sisters were in the garden.”
Activity
Please choose the correct past form of the verb “to be” to fill in the blanks.
!شکریہ
