Language/Telugu/Grammar/Past-Tense

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Telugu → Grammar → 0 to A1 Course → Verbs and Tenses → Past Tense

As a Telugu teacher with over 20 years of experience, I am excited to teach you about the past tense in Telugu. This lesson will help you talk about actions and events that happened in the past. Let's get started!

Don't hesitate to look into these other pages after completing this lesson: Verbs & Complex Sentence Structure.

Forming the Past Tense

In Telugu, the past tense is formed by adding a suffix to the verb stem. The suffix for past tense is "-unnānu" for masculine and "-innānu" for feminine.

Let's see some examples:

Telugu	Pronunciation	English
వచ్చు (vacchu)	va-chu	come
వచ్చున్నాను (vachchunnaanu)	va-chu-nnaa-nu	came (masculine)
వచ్చిన్నాళ్ళు (vachchinnaallu)	va-chi-nnaal-lu	came (feminine)

As you can see in the table, we take the verb stem "vacchu" which means "come". Then we add the appropriate suffix for masculine or feminine to indicate the past tense.

Now let's try some more examples:

• "padha" (to read)

   * masculine: "padhinnaanu"
   * feminine: "padhinaallu"

• "gurthu cheyali" (to remember)

   * masculine: "gurthu cheyinnaanu"
   * feminine: "gurthu cheyinaallu"

Remember, when using the past tense, you need to use the appropriate suffix based on the gender of the subject.

Using the Past Tense

Now that we know how to form the past tense in Telugu, let's see how to use it in sentences.

In Telugu, just like in English, the past tense is used to talk about actions or events that happened in the past. Here are some examples:

• నేను హోటల్ లో ఊరుకోవాలను (nenu hotel lo ooru kovaalanu) - I wanted to stay at a hotel.
• మీరు యూఎస్ లో ఎక్కడ ఉన్నారు? (meeru US lo ekkada unnaru?) - Where were you in the US?
• నాన్న విద్యార్థిగా సింగపూర్ లో పఠించే సమయం వచ్చింది (naan-na vidyarthi-gaa singapore lo pathinchae samayam vachchindi) - I studied in Singapore as a student.

In all of these examples, the past tense is used to talk about actions or events that happened in the past. Note that the suffix "-unnaanu" or "-innaallu" is added to the verb stem to indicate past tense.

Irregular Past Tense Verbs

In Telugu, some verbs have irregular past tense forms that do not follow the usual "-unnaanu" or "-innaallu" suffixes. Let's see a few examples:

• "అర్చియేదు" (archiyedhu) -> "అర్చిచ్చాను" (archichchaanu) - to worship
• "చదవడం" (chadavadam) -> "చదవినాను" (chadavinaanu) - to read
• "పోయింది" (poyindhi) -> "పోయాను" (poyaanu) - to go

As you can see in the examples above, the past tense forms of these verbs do not follow the usual "-unnaanu" or "-innaallu" suffixes. It is important to memorize these irregular forms when learning Telugu.

Common Phrases with Past Tense

Here are some common Telugu phrases using the past tense:

• నాకు తినిటిని చాలా ఇష్టం ఉంది (naaku tinithini chaala ishtam undi) - I really liked what I ate.
• నేను చాలా పని చేశాను (nenu chaala pani chesaanu) - I worked really hard.
• నేను ఇక్కడ ఉంటున్నాను మరియు మీరు ఎక్కడ ఉన్నారు? (nenu ikkada unnaanu mariyu meeru ekkada unnaru?) - I am here now, where are you?

These are some examples of how the past tense is used in common phrases in Telugu. Notice how the past tense is used to talk about things that happened in the past.

Practice Exercises

Here are some exercises to help you practice using past tense in Telugu:

• Translate the following sentences to Telugu:

   * I played cricket yesterday.
   * She cooked biryani for dinner.
   * We went to the beach last weekend.

• Use the appropriate past tense form to write a sentence with the verb "చదవడం" (chadavadam), which means "to read".

Conclusion

Congratulations! You have learned how to form and use the past tense in Telugu. Practice using past tense in your conversations and writing to continue improving your Telugu language skills.

Having concluded this lesson, consider checking out these related pages: Basic Sentence Structure & Plurals.

Table of Contents - Telugu Course - 0 to A1

• Course Presentation

  ---

Introduction to Telugu Script

• Telugu Alphabet
• Vowel Signs

  ---

Basic Vocabulary

• Greetings and Introductions
• Numbers and Colors
• Days of the Week and Months

  ---

Basic Sentence Structure

• Subject, Object, and Verb
• Question Formation

  ---

Everyday Vocabulary

• Family and Relationships
• Food and Drink
• Travel and Transportation

  ---

Nouns and Pronouns

• Noun Gender and Number
• Personal Pronouns
• Possessive Pronouns

  ---

Hobbies and Activities

• Sports and Exercise
• Entertainment and Media
• Arts and Crafts

  ---

Verbs and Tenses

• Present Tense
• Past Tense
• Future Tense

  ---

Telugu Culture and Traditions

• Festivals and Celebrations
• Food and Cuisine
• Arts and Entertainment

Other Lessons

• Possessive Pronouns
• Gender
• Nouns
• Future Tense
• 0 to A1 Course
• Adverbs
• Prepositions
• Conditional Mood
• Negation

Sources

• How to form past tense in Telugu language? Can you explain with ...
• Telugu language - Wikipedia

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