-एँ / -यौ / -यो

The Simple Past

Level 2Sounds Like ēm̐, -yau ra -yō

The ending shows who did it: -एँ for I, -यौ for you, -यो for he.

How It Works

The simple past tells what happened and is over. Take the stem of the verb and add the ending for the doer.

Doerखानु (eat)पढ्नु (read)
मखाएँपढेँ
हामीखायौँपढ्यौँ
तिमीखायौपढ्यौ
ऊ (man or boy)खायोपढ्यो
उनी (man), उनीहरूखाएपढे
तपाईं, उहाँखानुभयोपढ्नुभयो

When the verb takes an object, the doer takes ले: मैले भात खाएँ. A woman as ऊ gets -ई (खाई), and a woman as उनी gets -इन् (खाइन्). These have their own entry.

The ending belongs to the doer, not to the thing eaten or read. Say उसले दुईवटा किताब पढ्यो; the verb does not turn plural because of the books.

Examples (5)

  1. मैले भात खाएँ।

    I ate rice.

    -एँ goes with मैले.

  2. उसले किताब पढ्यो।

    He read a book.

    -यो goes with उसले.

  3. तिमीले के भन्यौ?

    What did you say?

    -यौ goes with तिमीले.

  4. हामीले चिया पियौँ।

    We drank tea.

    हामीले takes -यौँ.

  5. मैले पत्र लेखेँ।

    I wrote a letter.

    A consonant stem gives लेखेँ.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the I ending with he.

    उसले भात खाएँ।
    उसले भात खायो।

    The ending follows the doer: -एँ is only for म.

  • Using the plain ending for तपाईं.

    तपाईंले भात खायो?
    तपाईंले भात खानुभयो?

    तपाईं needs the respectful -नुभयो.

How It Connects

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

-एँ / -यौ / -योLevel 2The Simple Past

Learn This First

The simple past adds -एँ, -यौ and -यो to the stem and the doer takes ले.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.