Conjugation of “to play” in continuous tense

Welcome to this lesson on conjugating the Nepali verb “to play” (खेल्नु) in continuous tenses! In this video, we’ll break down how to use “to play” in the present, past, and future continuous tenses — step by step.

By the end of this video, you’ll be able to say things like:
“I am playing cricket,”
“We were playing football,”
or “They will be playing tomorrow” — all in Nepali!

We’ll break it down step-by-step with examples, pronunciation, and tips to make it easy and fun.

Let’s get started!

Root Verb ‘To Play”

The root verb is खेल्नु, which means “to play.”

To make continuous tense, we first convert it into the verbal stem, which is:

खेल्दै = playing

This form stays the same in all continuous tenses.
Only the auxiliary verb (to be = हुनु) changes with tense and subject.

 Present Continuous Tense (Apurna Bartaman Kaal)

Use this tense to describe what someone is doing right now.

 Sentence Structure:

Subject + root verb (खेल्दै) + छु, छ, छौ, छन् , etc.

Subject + root verb (kheldai) + chu, cha, chau, chan, etc.

Conjugation Table

English	Romanized Nepali	Nepali
I am playing	Ma kheldai chu	म खेल्दै छु
You(informal) are playing	Timi kheldai chau	तिमी खेल्दै छौ
You (formal) are playing	Tapai kheldai hunuhuncha	तपाईं खेल्दै हुनुहुन्छ
He is playing (informal)	Uh kheldai cha	ऊ खेल्दै छ
She is playing (informal)	Uni kheldai chin	उनी खेल्दै छिन्
He / She is playing (formal)	Uha kheldai hunuhuncha	उहाँ खेल्दै हुनुहुन्छ
We are playing	Hami kheldai chau	हामी खेल्दै छौं
They are playing	Uniharu kheldai chan	उनीहरू खेल्दै छन्

 Past Continuous Tense (Apurna Bhoot Kaal)

Use this tense to talk about what someone was doing in the past.

 Sentence Structure:

Subject + root verb (खेल्दै) +थिएँ, थियो, थिए, थियौं etc

Subject + root verb (kheldai) + thiye, thiyou, thiyo, etc.

Conjugation Table

English	Romanized Nepali	Nepali
I was playing	Ma kheldai thiye	म खेल्दै थिएँ
You(informal) were playing	Timi kheldai thiyou	तिमी खेल्दै थियौ
You (formal) were playing	Tapai kheldai hunuhunthiyo	तपाईं खेल्दै हुनुहुन्थ्यो
He was playing (informal)	Uh kheldai thiyo	ऊ खेल्दै थियो
She was playing (informal)	Uni kheldai thi-in	उनी खेल्दै थिइन्
He / She was playing (formal)	Uha kheldai hunuhunthiyo	उहाँ खेल्दै हुनुहुन्थ्यो
We were playing	Hami kheldai thiyou	हामी खेल्दै थियौं
They were playing	Uniharu kheldai thiye	उनीहरू खेल्दै थिए

 Future Continuous Tense (Apurna Bhabishya Kaal)

Use this tense to say what someone will be doing in the future.

 Sentence Structure:

Subject + root verb (खेल्दै) +हुनेछु, हुनेछ, हुनेछौं, हुनेछन्, हुनुहुनेछ, etc

Subject + root verb (kheldai) + hunechu, hunecha, hunechan, hunuhunecha, etc.

Conjugation Table

English	Romanized Nepali	Nepali
I will be playing	Ma kheldai thiye	म खेल्दै हुनेछु
You(informal) will be playing	Timi kheldai thiyou	तिमी खेल्दै हुनेछौ
You (formal) will be playing	Tapai kheldai hunuhunthiyo	तपाईं खेल्दै हुनुहुनेछ
He will be playing (informal)	Uh kheldai thiyo	ऊ खेल्दै हुनेछ
She will be playing (informal)	Uni kheldai thi-in	उनी खेल्दै हुनेछिन्
He / She will be playing (formal)	Uha kheldai hunuhunthiyo	उहाँ खेल्दै हुनुहुनेछ
We will be playing	Hami kheldai thiyou	हामी खेल्दै हुनेछौं
They will be playing	Uniharu kheldai thiye	उनीहरू खेल्दै हुनेछन्

Comparison

Tense	English	Romanized Nepali	Nepali
Present Continuous	I am playing football.	Ma football kheldai chu.	म फुटबल खेल्दै छु।
	We are playing cricket.	Hami cricket kheldai chau.	हामी क्रिकेट खेल्दै छौँ।
Past Continuous	I was playing football.	Ma football kheldai thiye.	म फुटबल खेल्दै थिए।
	We were playing cricket.	Hami cricket kheldai thiyou.	हामी क्रिकेट खेल्दै थियौँ।
Future Continuous	I will be playing football.	Ma football kheldai hunechu.	म फुटबल खेल्दै हुनेछु।
	We will be playing cricket.	Hami football kheldai hunechau.	हामी क्रिकेट खेल्दै हुनेछौँ।

 Quick Recap:

✅ Present Continuous: छु, छ, छौ, छौं, छन्
✅ Past Continuous: थिएँ, थियौ, थियो, थिए, थियौं
✅ Future Continuous: हुनेछु, हुनेछ, हुनेछौं, हुनेछन्, हुनुहुनेछ

Remember – the key is to use खेल्दै plus the correct form of the auxiliary verb based on the subject and tense.