Course
Unit 11 · Intermediate
Talking about the past
Tell people what you did and where you went — the simple past tense and the polite -nubhayo form you'll be asked questions in.
In this unit you'll learn to
- Form the simple past of common verbs
- Say where you went and what you saw
- Use the polite past -nubhayo with tapai
- Ask and answer "how was it?" with kasto laagyo
Listen along
Past tense intro — gareko, khaeko (lesson 11)
Public-domain audio — FSI Nepali Basic Course (via Live Lingua).
How was your day?
Gita
आज कहाँ जानुभयो?
Aaja kahaa jaanubhayo?
Where did you go today?
Tom
म भक्तपुर गएँ।
Ma Bhaktapur gae.
I went to Bhaktapur.
Gita
कस्तो लाग्यो?
Kasto laagyo?
How was it?
Tom
धेरै राम्रो लाग्यो।
Dherai raamro laagyo.
I liked it very much.
Gita
के के हेर्नुभयो?
Ke ke hernubhayo?
What all did you see?
Tom
दरबार स्क्वायर र मन्दिरहरू।
Darbaar square ra mandirharu.
Durbar Square and the temples.
Vocabulary
- आज aaja
- today
- हिजो hijo
- yesterday
- गएँ gae
- I went
- गयो gayo
- he / it went
- भयो bhayo
- became / happened / was
- लाग्यो laagyo
- felt / seemed (it struck)
- हेर्नु hernu
- to see / watch
- गर्नु garnu
- to do
- राम्रो raamro
- good / nice
- कस्तो kasto
- how / what kind
Grammar
The simple past
Nepali marks the past on the verb. For "I", many verbs end in -e: jaanu (go) → gae (I went), khaanu (eat) → khaae (I ate), hernu (see) → here (I saw).
For "he / she / it" the usual ending is -yo: gayo (went), bhayo (happened / was), aayo (came).
The polite past with -nubhayo
With tapai, the respectful past ending is -nubhayo: jaanubhayo (you went), hernubhayo (you saw), garnubhayo (you did). It's how people will ask you about your day: Tapai kahaa jaanubhayo? ("Where did you go?").
"How was it?" — kasto laagyo
A phrase you'll use daily: Kasto laagyo? = "How was it? / How did you find it?" Answer with an adjective + laagyo: Raamro laagyo ("I liked it"), Mitho laagyo ("it tasted good"), Naraamro laagyo ("I didn't like it").
Practice
1. Ask "Where did you go today?" politely.
Show answer
आज कहाँ जानुभयो? (Aaja kahaa jaanubhayo?)
2. Say "I went to Pokhara."
Show answer
म पोखरा गएँ। (Ma Pokhara gae.)
3. Ask "How was it?"
Show answer
कस्तो लाग्यो? (Kasto laagyo?)
4. Say "It happened yesterday."
Show answer
हिजो भयो। (Hijo bhayo.)