ले

Marking the Doer with ले

Level 2Sounds Like lē

ले joins the doer of a past action that has an object.

How It Works

ले is a short ending that joins the word before it, like रामले and आमाले. Use it for the person who does an action that has an object, once the action is in the simple past: मैले चिया पिएँ.

The verb agrees with the doer, at the level of respect you give that person. राम spoken of plainly gets खायो, सरिता with middle respect gets खाइन्, and a respected आमा gets खानुभयो. The object does not change the verb. Learners who know Hindi should watch this point, because in the Hindi past with ने the verb often agrees with the object instead.

DoerSentence
रामलेरामले भात खायो।
सरितालेसरिताले भात खाइन्।
आमालेआमाले भात खानुभयो।
हामीलेहामीले भात खायौँ।

In the simple past, verbs that take no object, such as जानु and आउनु, do not take ले: राम घर गयो. Later entries cover ले with pronouns, with tools and the full rule.

Examples (5)

  1. मैले चिया पिएँ।

    I drank tea.

    मैले is the doer, and पिएँ agrees with म.

  2. उनले चिया पिइन्।

    She drank tea.

    The verb ends in -इन् because the doer is a woman spoken of with middle respect, उनी.

  3. रामले भात खायो।

    Ram ate rice.

    खायो agrees with राम, not with भात.

  4. आमाले तरकारी किन्नुभयो।

    Mother bought vegetables.

    आमा is respected, so the verb has -नुभयो.

  5. हामीले फिल्म हेर्‍यौँ।

    We watched a film.

    हेर्‍यौँ goes with हामीले.

Common Mistakes

  • Leaving ले off the doer of a past transitive verb.

    म भात खाएँ।
    मैले भात खाएँ।

    A transitive verb in the simple past needs ले on the doer.

  • Putting ले on the doer of जानु.

    रामले घर गयो।
    राम घर गयो।

    जानु takes no object, so the doer stays plain.

How It Connects

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लेLevel 2Marking the Doer with ले

Learn This First

ले marks the doer of a past action.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.