رہا / رہی / رہے + تھا
An Action in Progress in the Past
Place the reader inside an action that was underway.
How It Works
Build the progressive with the bare stem: لکھ + رہی + تھی gives لکھ رہی تھی. Do not put the habitual ending تی on لکھ as well.
The progressive does not tell you that the action finished. مریم خط لکھ رہی تھی describes Maryam while she was writing; it does not promise that the letter was completed.
This construction keeps ordinary subject agreement with transitive verbs. There is no نے on the subject simply because the action took place in the past.
Examples (4)
- مریم خط لکھ رہی تھی۔
Maryam was writing a letter.
The writer controls رہی تھی.
- بچے ہنس رہے تھے۔
The children were laughing.
The group takes رہے تھے.
- وہ دونوں عورتیں بات کر رہی تھیں۔
Those two women were talking.
رہی تھیں shows feminine plural agreement.
- میں تمہارا انتظار کر رہا تھا۔
I was waiting for you.
The speaker uses masculine singular رہا تھا.
How It Connects
Learn This First
Retain the progressive construction while changing its time reference. Choose the agreeing past auxiliary.
Related Patterns
Words in This Pattern
Practice رہا / رہی / رہے + تھا in Bubblegum
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