GRAMMAR / 14
म पहिले यहाँ काम गर्थें।
ma pahile yahā̃ kām garthẽ
I used to work here.
Pattern and choice
गर्थें versus गरेँ
म पहिले यहाँ बस्थें (I used to live here)
म पहिले यहाँ बस्थें (I used to live here) describes former habitual residence; म हिजो यहाँ बसेँ (I stayed/sat here yesterday) locates a completed stay/sitting event yesterday.
Contrast habitual गर्थें/बस्थें with simple past गरेँ/बसेँ.
Compare first-person गर्थें, we गर्थ्यौं, and respectful गर्नुहुन्थ्यो.
Nasalization can also be written as in गर्थेँ.
The ending -थ्यो is not invariant across all persons.
Compare म गर्दिनथें (I did not use to do it) / हामी गर्दैनथ्यौं (we did not use to do it) and respectful गर्नुहुन्थेन.
Simple past गरेनँ denies a completed event, unlike a former habitual negative.
पढ्थें describes former reading habits; पढ्दै थिएँ (I was reading) describes reading in progress at a past point.
Backgrounds such as पहिले/सानो छँदा (when young/a child) support habitual readings, but the predicate still matters.
यहाँ विद्यालय थियो (there was a school here) describes a past state of existence. उहाँ यहाँ आउनुहुन्थ्यो (he/she used to come here, respectful) describes repeated visits.
A past-state translation does not by itself select habitual action morphology.
| Person | Form and reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| I | म पहिले यहाँ काम गर्थें। ma pahile yahā̃ kām garthẽ | I used to work here. |
| we | हामी पहिले यहाँ काम गर्थ्यौं। hāmī pahile yahā̃ kām garthyaũ | We used to work here. |
| you | तपाईं पहिले यहाँ काम गर्नुहुन्थ्यो। tapāĩ pahile yahā̃ kām garnuhunthyo | You used to work here. |
| you plural | तपाईंहरू पहिले यहाँ काम गर्नुहुन्थ्यो। tapāĩharū pahile yahā̃ kām garnuhunthyo | You used to work here. |
| he/she | उहाँ पहिले यहाँ काम गर्नुहुन्थ्यो। uhā̃ pahile yahā̃ kām garnuhunthyo | She used to work here. |
| they | उहाँहरू पहिले यहाँ काम गर्नुहुन्थ्यो। uhā̃harū pahile yahā̃ kām garnuhunthyo | They used to work here. |
Do not automatically copy the ले marking of a single completed transitive event into a habitual past pattern.
MAKE IT YOURS
म पहिले यहाँ काम गर्थें।
ma pahile yahā̃ kām garthẽ
| Word or form | Reading | Meaning in this sentence |
|---|---|---|
| म | ma | I |
| पहिले | pahile | before; first |
| यहाँ | yahā̃ | here |
| काम | kām | work |
| गर्थें | garthẽ | used to do |
तपाईं पहिले व्यायाम गर्नुहुन्थ्यो?
tapāĩ pahile vyāyām garnuhunthyo?
| Word or form | Reading | Meaning in this sentence |
|---|---|---|
| तपाईं | tapāĩ | you (respectful) |
| पहिले | pahile | before; first |
| व्यायाम | vyāyām | exercise |
| गर्नुहुन्थ्यो | garnuhunthyo | used to do (respectful) |
म पहिले चाँडै उठ्थें।
ma pahile cā̃ḍai uṭhthẽ
| Word or form | Reading | Meaning in this sentence |
|---|---|---|
| म | ma | I |
| पहिले | pahile | before; first |
| चाँडै | cā̃ḍai | early |
| उठ्थें | uṭhthẽ | used to get up |
