Tenses are an essential part of any language, and mastering them is crucial for expressing actions in the correct time frame. In English, tenses help us convey whether an action is happening in the past, present, or future. To fully understand how tenses work, it’s important to practice with different types of sentences and scenarios.
In this blog post, we’ll go through a practice set that will help you translate tenses from Hindi to English. This exercise will help you gain a better understanding of how each tense is formed and used in everyday conversations.
Importance of Practicing Tenses
Tenses play a pivotal role in English because they allow you to express the timing of actions, whether they occurred in the past, are happening right now, or will happen in the future. Without tenses, it would be impossible to communicate when something happened, making conversations confusing.
In Hindi, verb conjugation changes based on time, gender, and number. English, however, relies more heavily on auxiliary verbs like “do,” “does,” “have,” and “will” to form the tense. Translating from Hindi to English requires understanding these structural differences and applying the correct tense form.
Let’s dive into some tense practice sets and improve your understanding of English tenses.
Tense Practice Set: Translate Hindi to English
In the following practice set, you will translate Hindi sentences into English. Each sentence is based on a specific tense, helping you practice both affirmative and negative forms.
Present Indefinite Tense
In the Present Indefinite Tense, we describe actions that are habitual or general facts.
Example in Hindi:
- मैं रोज़ स्कूल जाता हूँ।
Correct Translation:
- I go to school every day.
Now, practice with the following:
- वह हमेशा समय पर आता है।
- हम किताबें पढ़ते हैं।
- तुम खाना नहीं खाते हो।
Present Continuous Tense
The Present Continuous Tense is used for actions that are happening right now or actions that are ongoing.
Example in Hindi:
- मैं पढ़ रहा हूँ।
Correct Translation:
- I am studying.
Now, practice with the following:
- वह गाना गा रहा है।
- हम क्रिकेट खेल रहे हैं।
- तुम क्या कर रहे हो?
Present Perfect Tense
The Present Perfect Tense is used to describe actions that have been completed at an unspecified time but have relevance to the present.
Example in Hindi:
- मैंने अपना काम कर लिया है।
Correct Translation:
- I have finished my work.
Now, practice with the following:
- उसने अपना homework कर लिया है।
- हम पहले ही खाना खा चुके हैं।
- तुमने अपना बैग नहीं लिया है।
Past Indefinite Tense
The Past Indefinite Tense is used for actions that happened at a specific point in the past.
Example in Hindi:
- मैंने स्कूल में पढ़ाई की।
Correct Translation:
- I studied in school.
Now, practice with the following:
- उसने फिल्म देखी।
- वे बाजार गए थे।
- तुमने क्या किया?
Past Continuous Tense
The Past Continuous Tense describes actions that were happening at a specific time in the past.
Example in Hindi:
- मैं किताब पढ़ रहा था।
Correct Translation:
- I was reading a book.
Now, practice with the following:
- वह टीवी देख रहा था।
- हम गाना गा रहे थे।
- तुम क्या कर रहे थे?
Past Perfect Tense
The Past Perfect Tense is used to express an action that was completed before another action in the past.
Example in Hindi:
- मैंने काम खत्म कर लिया था।
Correct Translation:
- I had finished the work.
Now, practice with the following:
- वे स्कूल पहुंच चुके थे।
- उसने सब कुछ सिख लिया था।
- तुम आ चुके थे, जब हम पहुंचे।
Future Indefinite Tense
The Future Indefinite Tense is used to describe actions that will happen in the future.
Example in Hindi:
- मैं कल स्कूल जाऊँगा।
Correct Translation:
- I will go to school tomorrow.
Now, practice with the following:
- वह कल अपनी माँ से मिलेगा।
- हम छुट्टी पर जाएंगे।
- तुम क्या करोगे?
Future Continuous Tense
The Future Continuous Tense is used for actions that will be happening at a certain point in the future.
Example in Hindi:
- मैं कल इस समय पढ़ रहा होऊँगा।
Correct Translation:
- I will be studying at this time tomorrow.
Now, practice with the following:
- वह उस समय सो रहा होगा।
- हम फिल्म देख रहे होंगे।
- तुम क्या कर रहे होगे?
Future Perfect Tense
The Future Perfect Tense is used to describe actions that will be completed before a certain point in the future.
Example in Hindi:
- मैं दो घंटे में अपना काम खत्म कर लूँगा।
Correct Translation:
- I will have finished my work in two hours.
Now, practice with the following:
- वे इस साल तक घर बना लेंगे।
- वह अगले सप्ताह तक अपना प्रोजेक्ट खत्म कर लेगा।
- तुम अगले महीने तक यात्रा पूरी कर लोगे।
Future Perfect Continuous Tense
The Future Perfect Continuous Tense describes actions that will have been happening continuously up to a point in the future.
Example in Hindi:
- मैं अगले महीने तक दो साल से काम कर रहा होऊँगा।
Correct Translation:
- I will have been working for two years by next month.
Now, practice with the following:
- वह अगले साल तक पांच साल से पढ़ाई कर रहा होगा।
- हम एक साल तक इस परियोजना पर काम कर रहे होंगे।
- तुम अगले तीन महीनों में लगातार काम कर रहे होगे।
Practice Exercise Answers
Here are the answers to the practice exercise you did above:
- He always comes on time.
- We read books.
- You do not eat food.
- He is singing a song.
- We are playing cricket.
- What are you doing?
- He has finished his homework.
- We have eaten already.
- You have not taken your bag.
- He studied the film.
- They went to the market.
- What did you do?
- I was reading a book.
- He was watching TV.
- We were singing a song.
- What were you doing?
- I had finished the work.
- They had arrived at school.
- He had learned everything.
- You had arrived, when we came.
- I will go to school tomorrow.
- He will meet his mother tomorrow.
- We will go on holiday.
- What will you do?
- He will be sleeping at that time.
- We will be watching a movie.
- What will you be doing?
- I will have finished my work in two hours.
- They will have built the house by this year.
- He will have completed his project by next week.
- You will have completed your journey by next month.
- He will have been studying for five years by next year.
- We will have been working on this project for a year.
- You will have been working continuously for the next three months.
Practicing tense transformations between Hindi and English is an excellent way to master the tenses in both languages. Each tense has its own structure and usage rules, but with consistent practice, you can improve your fluency in expressing actions that occur in the past, present, or future.
The key to mastering English tenses is practice, so try creating your own sentences in each tense, and keep testing yourself with different practice sets. With time, you’ll find yourself more comfortable using tenses in daily conversations!