-तो / -ते / -तात

Everyday Habits

Level 1Sounds Like tō / -tē / -tāta

The ending shows whether a man or a woman acts: मी चालतो is a man speaking, and मी चालते is a woman speaking.

How It Works

PersonManWoman
मीचालतोचालते
तूचालतोसचालतेस
तो / तीतो चालतोती चालते
आम्हीचालतो
तुम्हीचालता
ते (more than one)चालतात

The verb matches the person who does the action. A neuter singular noun uses -ते: मूल खेळते.

Words like रोज (every day), नेहमी (always) and दररोज often go with this form, and so does a time word such as सकाळी (in the morning): मी सकाळी चहा पितो.

To find the stem, take -णे off the dictionary form. करणे gives कर-, खाणे gives खा-, पिणे gives पि-. Then add the ending: खातो, पितो, जातो.

The same form also tells what is always true: सूर्य पूर्वेला उगवतो (the sun rises in the east).

Examples (5)

  1. मी रोज चालतो.

    I walk every day. A man is speaking.

    -तो shows a man is speaking.

  2. मी रोज पोहे खाते.

    I eat poha every day. A woman is speaking.

    -ते shows a woman is speaking.

  3. तू रोज चहा पितोस.

    You drink tea every day. A man is being spoken to.

    -तोस goes with तू and a man.

  4. ती रोज शाळेत जाते.

    She goes to school every day.

    -ते goes with ती.

  5. मुले रोज खेळतात.

    The children play every day.

    -तात goes with more than one person.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the wrong gender ending for ती.

    ती रोज चालतो.
    ती रोज चालते.

    The verb matches the doer, so ती takes -ते.

  • Leaving the singular ending on a plural doer.

    मुले रोज खेळते.
    मुले रोज खेळतात.

    मुले means more than one child, so the verb ends in -तात.

How It Connects

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

-तो / -ते / -तातLevel 1Everyday Habits

Learn This First

The simple present adds -तो, -ते or -तात to the verb stem and agrees with who does it.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.

And 2 more in the full list.