The simple past tense of the verb “to be” i.e. હોવું (“hovuM”) in Gujarati is simple. There are very few suffixes.
Interestingly, the choice of suffix depends on gender of noun/pronoun rather than whether it is first person (I, we), second person (you) or third person ( he, she, etc.). These forms will follow ઓ-ઈ-ઉં-આ-ઈ-આં (o-I-uM-A-I-AM ) યો-ઈ-યું-યા-ઈ-યાં ( yo-I-yuM-yA-I-yAM ) rule
| English Pronoun | Gujarati Pronoun | Form of હોવું (“hovuM”)in Gujarati |
|---|---|---|
| Masculine Singular Pronouns: I, You, He, This, That | હું (huM), તું (tuM), આ/એ/તે (A/e/te) પુલ્લિંગ | હતો (hato ) |
| Feminine Singular Pronouns: I, You, She, This, That | હું (huM), તું (tuM), આ/એ/તે (A/e/te) સ્ત્રીલિંગ | હતી (hatI ) |
| Neuter Singular Pronouns. Generally only in third person It, This, That | આ/એ/તે (A/e/te) નપુસકલિંગ | હતું (hatuM ) |
| Masculine plural pronouns We, You(plural), They, Those, These | અમે (ame), આપણે (ApaNe), તમે (tame ) આ/તેઓ/ એ/તે (A/teo /e/te) પુલ્લિંગ | હતા (hatA) |
| First & Second person plural for Feminine and Polite form We, You(plural), | અમે(ame), આપણે (ApaNe), તમે (tame) સ્ત્રીલિંગ | હતાં (hatAM) |
| Third person plural for Feminine They/Those/These | આ/તેઓ/એ/તે (A/teo /e/te) સ્ત્રીલિંગ | હતી (hatI ) |
| Plurals in neuter gender Generally only in third person | આ/એ/તે (A/e/te) | હતાં (hatAM) |
Examples
(If a boy says) I was -> હું હતો ( huM hato )
(If a girl says) I was -> હું હતી (huM hatI )
(A group of boys will say) We were -> આપણે/અમે હતા (ApaNe/ame hatA )
(A group of girls will say) We were -> આપણે/અમે હતાં (ApaNe/ame hatAM )
He was there -> એ ત્યાં હતો (e tyAM hato )
She was there -> એ ત્યાં હતી (e tyAM hatI )
All people were there on ground ->સૌ લોકો મૈદાનમાં હતાં (sau loko maidAnamAM hatAM )
50 ladies were in the program -> કાર્યક્રમમાં પચાસ મહિલાઓ હતાં kAryakramamAM pachAs mahilAo hatAM )
My teacher(lady) was there -> મારાં શિક્ષિકા ત્યાં હતાં (mArAM shikShikA tyAM hatAM)
