7.6 Grammar: Tense and Aspect
Tense
Instructor Video: Introduction to Tense and Aspect
Tense is the time of an action. In all languages, tense is categorized in to three types, namely: (a) present tense, (b) past tense, and (c) future tense.
In Urdu, tense is marked with auxiliary verbs and/or morphemes attached to the verb stem, as shown below.
| Past Tense | Present Tense | Future Tense |
| Auxiliary verbs: تھا، تھے، تھی، تھیں | Auxiliary verbs: ہوں، ہو، ہے، ہیں | Auxiliary verbs: ہوگا، ہوۓ، ہوگی، ہونگی |
|
“It was raining yesterday.” -کل بارش ہو رہی تھی “Last year, I was going to Pakistan.” -پچھلے سال، میں پاکستان گیا تھا |
“It is raining today.” -آج بارش ہو رہی ہے “I am going to Pakistan.” -میں پاکستان جا رہا ہوں |
“It will rain tomorrow.” -کل بارش ہوگی “I will go to Pakistan next year” -اگلے سال، میں پاکستان جاؤں گا |
Aspect
Aspect shows the manner of an action. Grammatical aspects are categorized into two types, namely: (a) imperfective aspect and (b) perfective aspect. Imperfective aspect shows that the action is not completed. Perfective aspect shows that the action is complete.
Imperfective aspect is further categorized into two types, namely: (a) habitual and (b) progressive/continuous.
All grammatical aspects in Urdu are marked as morphemes with verb stem, as shown below.
| Imperfective Aspect | Perfective Aspect | |
| Habitual | Progressive/Continuous | |
| Morphemes: -تا، -تی، -تے- | -رہا، -رہی، -رہے- | -آ، -ے، -ی، -یں- |
|
-میں کتابیں پڑھتا ہوں “I read books.” -سنا کرکٹ کھیلتی ہے “Sana plays cricket.” -لڑکے کمرے صاف کرتے ہیں “Boys clean rooms.” |
-میں کتاب پڑھ رہا ہوں “I am reading a book.” -سنا کرکٹ کھیل رہی ہے “Sana is playing cricket.” -لڑکے کمرے صاف کررہے ہیں “Boys are cleaning rooms.” |
-میں نے کتاب پڑھی “I read a book.” -سنا نے کرکٹ کھیلا “Sana played cricket.” -لڑکوں نے کمرے صاف کئے “Boys cleaned rooms.” |
Activity
Please read these sentences carefully and identify the tense and aspect.
!شکریہ
