-ए रहा

Had Done: -ए रहा

Level 3Sounds Like ē rahā

The -ए form with रहा says something had already happened before another moment.

How It Works

The -ए form is the "done" form: खाए, लिखे, देखे, किहे. With अहै it says what has happened. With रहा it moves one step back: what had already happened.

WhoForm
हमखाए रहेन
तुमखाए रहेव
ऊ (man)खाए रहा
ऊ (woman)खाए रही
ऊ (several, or respect)खाए रहे (a respected woman: खाए रहीं)

With verbs that have no object, the past form takes the helper: ऊ पहुँचि गई रही (she had arrived), ऊ लोग आए रहे (they had come).

Use it for background events, and keep the main news of a sentence in the plain past. Time words such as पहिले (before) or तब तक (by then) usually go with it.

Examples (4)

  1. ऊ पहिले खाना खाए रहा।

    He had already eaten.

    खाए रहा puts the eating before another past moment.

  2. हम पहिले चीठी लिखे रहेन।

    I had written the letter before.

    रहेन is the हम helper.

  3. जब हम पहुँचेन, तब ट्रेन चलि गई रही।

    When I arrived, the train had already left.

    गई रही shows the train left earlier; the train is feminine.

  4. ऊ लोग पहिले आए रहे।

    They had come earlier.

    आए रहे is the plural pair.

Common Mistakes

  • अहै makes the sentence about now, not about an earlier moment.

    जब हम पहुँचेन, तब ट्रेन चलि गई अहै।
    जब हम पहुँचेन, तब ट्रेन चलि गई रही।

    With अहै the train has left now; रही says it had left before the speaker arrived.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

-ए रहाLevel 3Had Done: -ए रहा

Learn This First

Had done is the -ए form with a past helper.

Words in This Pattern

रहीरहेरहेन