Tulu Lesson 30: Past Continuous Tense

namaskAra! Welcome back!

Today we are going to learn another tense, i.e. Past Continuous tense. Please review Present Continuous tense before we proceed.

Look at the following sentence:

I was going

As you see, this structure is similar to what we have in present continuous tense “I am going” (Simple past of auxiliary verb ‘be’ + main verb + ing)

So, let’s take a very quick review of present continuous tense in Tulu first.

Root verb + ondu (Present Adverbial Participle) + Simple Present tense of ‘ul’ (To be) 

pOvondu + ullae = pOvondullae – I am going

Now, delete the ‘ullae’ and add simple past tense of ‘uppuni/ippuni’ (To be) instead.

Here are the verb conjugations of the verb ‘uppuni/ippuni’ in simple past tense.

yAn ittae – I was

I itta – You were

Aye/imbe itte – He was

Al/mOlu ittal – She was

au/undu itt’ND – It was

nama/enkulu itta – We were

Ir/nikulu ittar – You were

akulu/mokulu/Ar/mEr itter – They were

undekulu/aikulu itta – They were

Present Adverbial Participle + simple past tense of ‘uppuni/ippuni’

pOvondu + ittae = pOvondittae  – I was going (Kannada: nAnu hOgtA idde)

yAn pOvondittae – I was going

I pOvonditta – You were going

Aye/imbe pOvonditte – He was going

Al/mOlu pOvondittal – She was going

au/undu pOvonditt’ND – It was going

nama/enkulu pOvonditta – We were going

Ir/nikulu pOvondittar – You were going

akulu/mokulu/Ar/mEr pOvonditter – They were going

undekulu/aikulu pOvonditta – They were going

Examples:

Tulu: yAn uNondittae

English: I was eating lunch/dinner

Kannada: nAnu UTa mADtA idde

Tulu: I gobbonditta

English: You were playing

Kannada: nInu ADtA idde

Tulu: Ir dAda maltondittar?

English: What were you doing?

Kannada: nIvu Enu mADtA iddiri?

Tulu: Aye ODe pOvonditte?

English: Where was he going to?

Kannada: avanu ellige hOgtA idda?

Tulu: Ar nikk kAtonditter

English: He/She was waiting for you

Kannada: avaru ninage kAytA iddaru

Tulu: Al pada paNondittal

English: She was singing

Kannada: avaLu hADtA iddaLu

Tulu: jOkulu Odonditta

English: Children were reading

Kannada: makkaLu OduttA iddaru

Tulu: pakkilu bAnoDu rAvonditta

English: Birds were flying in the sky

Kannada: hakkigaLu AkAshadalli hArtA iddavu

Tulu: akulu tulu kaltonditter

English: They were learning Tulu
Kannada: avaru tuLu kaliyuttA iddaru

Tulu: A UruDu mAterla kushiT oTTugu bad’konditter

English: In that village, everyone was living together happily

Kannada: A Uralli ellAru santhOshadinda oTTige vAsa mADtA iddaru

Tulu: paDDaiD sUrye kantonditte

English: Sun was setting down in the west

Kannada: pashchimadalli sUrya muLugutidda

Tulu: jOru barsa baronditt’ND

English: It was raining heavily

Kannada: jOrAgi maLe bartA ittu

Tulu: amma ninan nADonditter

English: Mother was searching for you

Kannada: amma ninnannu huDukuttA iddaru

Negative forms:

Negative forms in past continuous tense can be formed by using the negative form of the auxiliary verb ‘uppuni/ippuni’ in simple past tense.

yAn ittijae – I was not

I ittija – You were not

Aye/imbe ittije – He was not

Al/mOlu ittijal – She was not

au/undu ittiji – It was not

nama/enkulu ittija – We were not

Ir/nikulu ittijar – You were not

akulu/mokulu/Ar/mEr ittijer – They were not

undekulu/aikulu ittija – They were not

Present Adverbial Participle + negative form of ‘uppuni/ippuni’ in simple past tense

pOvondu + ittijae = pOvondittijae – I was not going (Kannada: nAnu hOgtA iralilla)

yAn pOvondittijae – I was not going

I pOvondittija – You were not going

Aye/imbe pOvondittije – He was not going

Al/mOlu pOvondittijal – She was not going

au/undu pOvondittiji – It was not going

nama/enkulu pOvondittija – We were not going

Ir/nikulu pOvondittijar – You were not going

akulu/mokulu/Ar/mEr pOvondittijer – They were not going

undekulu/aikulu pOvondittija – They were not going

Examples:

Tulu: akulu eNDa pAterondittijer

English: They were not speaking with me

Kannada: avaru nannalli mAtADtA iralilla

Tulu: Ar tuluTu katae bareyondittijer

English: He/She was not writing stories in Tulu

Kannada: avaru tuLuvalli kathe bareyuttA iralilla

Tulu: barsa barondittiji

English: It was not raining

Kannada: maLe bartA iralilla

Tulu:  Aye ODegla pOvondittije

English: He was not going to anywhere

Kannada: avanu elligU hOgtA iralilla

Tulu: dumbu yAn chA parondittijae

English: I was not drinking tea before

Kannada: modalu nAnu chaha kuDitA iralilla

Interrogative forms:

Tulu: I enk kAtondittana?

English: Were you waiting for me?

Kannada: nInu nanage kAytA iddeya?

Tulu: Al Odondittala?

English: Was she reading?

Kannada: avaLu OdtA iddaLa?

Tulu: Aye gobbondittijena?

English: Wasn’t he playing?

Kannada: avanu ADtA iralilva?

Tulu: akulu barondittijera?

English: Weren’t they coming?

Kannada: avaru bartA iralilva?

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See you next week!

solmelu!