Welcome to this lesson on conjugating the Nepali verb “to play” (खेल्नु) in continuous tenses! In this lesson, we’ll break down how to use “to play” in the present, past, and future continuous tenses — step by step. By the end, you’ll be able to say things like “I am playing cricket,” “We were playing football,” or “They will be playing tomorrow” — all in proper Nepali!
The root verb is खेल्नु (khelnú), which means “to play.” To make continuous tense, we first convert it into the verbal stem, which is:
खेल्दै (kheldai) = playing
This verbal stem (खेल्दै) stays the same in all continuous tenses. The only thing that changes is the auxiliary verb (to be = हुनु), which varies based on the tense (present, past, or future) and the subject pronoun.
| Component | Details |
|---|---|
| Root Verb | खेल्नु (khelnú) = to play |
| Verbal Stem | खेल्दै (kheldai) = playing (used in all continuous tenses) |
| Auxiliary Verb | हुनु (hunú) = to be (changes with tense & subject) |
| Continuous Formula | खेल्दै + auxiliary verb = Continuous tense |
Use this tense to describe what someone is doing right now.
Sentence Structure: Subject + खेल्दै (kheldai) + छु, छ, छौ, छन्, etc.
| English | Romanized Nepali | Nepali Script |
|---|---|---|
| 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। |
Use this tense to talk about what someone was doing in the past.
Sentence Structure: Subject + खेल्दै (kheldai) + थिएँ, थियो, थिए, थियौं, etc.
| English | Romanized Nepali | Nepali Script |
|---|---|---|
| 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। |
Use this tense to say what someone will be doing in the future.
Sentence Structure: Subject + खेल्दै (kheldai) + हुनेछु, हुनेछ, हुनेछौं, हुनेछन्, हुनुहुनेछ, etc.
| English | Romanized Nepali | Nepali Script |
|---|---|---|
| I will be playing. | Ma kheldai hunechu. | म खेल्दै हुनेछु। |
| You (informal) will be playing. | Timi kheldai hunechau. | तिमी खेल्दै हुनेछौ। |
| You (formal) will be playing. | Tapai kheldai hunuhunecha. | तपाईं खेल्दै हुनुहुनेछ। |
| He will be playing (informal). | Uh kheldai hunecha. | ऊ खेल्दै हुनेछ। |
| She will be playing (informal). | Uni kheldai hunechin. | उनी खेल्दै हुनेछिन्। |
| He/She will be playing (formal). | Uha kheldai hunuhunecha. | उहाँ खेल्दै हुनुहुनेछ। |
| We will be playing. | Hami kheldai hunechau. | हामी खेल्दै हुनेछौं। |
| They will be playing. | Uniharu kheldai hunechan. | उनीहरू खेल्दै हुनेछन्। |
See how the three continuous tenses differ by comparing the same scenario in different time periods with sports examples.
| Tense | English | Romanized Nepali | Nepali Script |
|---|---|---|---|
| Present Continuous | I am playing football. | Ma football kheldai chu. | म फुटबल खेल्दै छु। |
| Present Continuous | 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। |
| Past Continuous | 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। |
| Future Continuous | We will be playing cricket. | Hami cricket kheldai hunechau. | हामी क्रिकेट खेल्दै हुनेछौँ। |
By mastering the verb “to play” (खेल्नु) in continuous tenses, you’ve learned a universal pattern that applies to virtually any action verb in Nepali. The key is remembering that खेल्दै (the verbal stem) remains constant, and only the auxiliary verb (हुनु = to be) changes based on tense and subject. This simple formula makes it easy to describe any ongoing activity in past, present, or future.
Use these auxiliary suffixes with खेल्दै to describe actions happening right now in the present moment.
Use these auxiliary suffixes with खेल्दै to describe actions that were ongoing at a specific time in the past.
Use these auxiliary suffixes with खेल्दै to describe actions that will be ongoing at a specific time in the future.
We also recommend the Ling App, the easy path to hard languages. Ling makes hard languages easy and joyful to learn. Ling does this by deeply understanding the cultures and languages our users explore. Click on the banner below to sign up for a Ling account now.
