-تا / -تی / -تے + تھا

Past Habits

Level 2

Describe what someone used to do regularly, rather than one completed event.

How It Works

For a past routine, combine a verb stem, the habitual ending and the past copula: بول + تی + تھی gives بولتی تھی. A time phrase such as پہلے can place the routine earlier.

The subject controls these endings even when the verb has an object. In مریم اخبار پڑھتی تھی, مریم selects feminine agreement; masculine اخبار does not. Do not add نے for this habitual pattern.

Keep the past copula in a negative sentence: وہ یہاں نہیں رہتا تھا. Removing تھا would lose the explicit past-time marking.

Examples (4)

  1. مریم اخبار پڑھتی تھی۔

    Maryam used to read the newspaper.

    The feminine subject controls پڑھتی تھی.

  2. پہلے میں یہاں رہتا تھا۔

    I used to live here.

    The speaker uses masculine agreement.

  3. ہم شام کو باغ میں چلتے تھے۔

    We used to walk in the garden in the evening.

    The group uses masculine plural agreement.

  4. وہ لڑکیاں اردو بولتی تھیں۔

    Those girls used to speak Urdu.

    بولتی stays feminine; تھیں marks the plural.

How It Connects

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

-تا / -تی / -تے + تھاLevel 2Past Habits

Learn This First

Retain the habitual participle while changing the time reference. Use an appropriate past auxiliary.