All Tenses of some common Telugu verbs (Complete English version - Detailed)

This is not the homepage. The homepage for this website is here which contains links to all the posts on this website. To learn Telugu easily and fastly using this website, I advise you to go to that page and go through all the posts present there.

In this post, I'm listing all the possible uses of the verb (in terms of tenses) in our day to day conversations. If you feel I've missed something or want me to add something, please let me know, I'll add to this list. For people who already know Telugu, please let me know if I've made a mistake, I'll correct it.

Note: There is a similar post here that explains tenses in Telugu but contains some Telugu text. I fully encourage you to learn how to read Telugu text which should be very easy if your mother tongue is one of the Indian languages, so that, that post will also be of use to you. This post is completely in English and is in more detail (w.r.t. the explanation of tenses) though the number of verbs covered is less. I'll try to add more verbs to this page in due course of time.

First let's start with one verb say 'go' in very detailed manner.

1. Verb: go


1. Present tense (verb - go)
a. I (nEnu) : velthAnu
Usage: While referring to yourself: 'I go' - 'nEnu velthAnu'
b. We (mEmu) : velthAmu
Usage: While referring to ourselves: 'We go' - 'mEmu velthAmu'
c. Male/Female informal (You) (nuvvu) : vellu
Usage: While addressing (directly speaking to) male/female informally: 'You go' - 'nuvvu vellu (nuvvellu)'
c1. Male very informal (You) (nuvvu) : vellara (vellu + ra)
Usage: While addressing a male very informally: 'You go' - 'nuvvellara (nuvvu + vellara)'
c2. Female very informal (You) (nuvvu) : vellave (vellu + e)
Usage: While addressing a female/object very informally: 'You go' - 'nuvvellave (nuvvu + vellave)'
d. Plural OR male/female with respect (You) (mIru) : vellandi
Usage: While addressing a male/female respectfully OR addressing more than two persons: 'You go' - 'mIru vellandi'
e. Male informal (He) (vAdu/athadu) : velthAdu
Usage: While referring to a male informally: 'He goes' - 'vAdu velthAdu'
f. Female/Neutral informal (She, It) (Ame, adhi) : velthundhi
Usage: While referring to a gender-less object or while referring to a female informally: 'She/It goes' - 'Ame/adhi velthundhi'
g. Male/female with respect OR Plural (They) (vAru/vAllu) : velthAru
Usage: While referring to a male/female with respect OR more than two persons: 'He/She (respect) goes', 'They go', - 'vAru velthAru'.
Note: While vAru can be used to refer both 'Male/female with respect' and 'They', vAllu can only be used to refer 'They'.


2. Present continuous tense (verb + ing - going)
a. I - velthunnAnu
Usage: I am going - nEnu velthunnAnu
b. We - velthunnAmu
Usage: We are going - mEmu velthunnAmu
c. Male/Female informal (You) - velthunnAvu
Usage: You are going - nuvvu velthunnAvu (nuvvelthunnAvu)
d. Plural OR male/female with respect (You): velthunnAru
Usage: You are going - mIru velthunnAru (mIrelthunnAru)
e. Male informal (He): velthunnAdu
Usage: He is going - vAdu velthunnAdu
f. Female/Neutral informal (She, It): velthundhi
Usage: She/It is going - Ame/adhi velthundhi
g. Male/female with respect OR Plural (They): velthunnAru
Usage: They are going, He/She (respect) is going - vAru velthunnAru


3. Past tense (2nd form of verb - went)

*Note: The 'A' in these starred words should be pronounced like 'a' in 'bash' or 'bat' and NOT like 'a' in 'bar'.
a. I - vellAnu*
b. We - vellAmu*
c. Male/Female informal (You) - vellAvu*
d. Plural OR male/female with respect (You): vellAru*
e. Male informal (He): vellAdu*
f. Female/Neutral informal (She, It): vellindhi
g. Male/female with respect OR Plural (They): vellAru*


4. Past continuous tense (was/were + verb + ing - was/were going )

a. I - velthU unnAnu
b. We - velthU unnAmu
c. Male/Female informal (You) - velthU unnAvu
d. Plural OR male/female with respect (You): velthU unnAru
e. Male informal (He): velthU unnAdu
f. Female/Neutral informal (She, It): velthU undhi
g. Plural OR male/female with respect (They): velthU unnAru



5. Future tense (will + verb - will go)

a. I - velthAnu
b. We - velthAmu
c. Male/Female informal (You) - velthAvu
d. Plural OR male/female with respect (You): velthAru
e. Male informal (He): velthAdu
f. Female/Neutral informal (She, It): velthundhi
g. Plural OR male/female with respect (They): velthAru


6. Future continuous tense (will be + verb + ing - will be going)

a. I - velthU untAnu
b. We - velthU untAmu
c. Male/Female informal (You) - velthU untAvu
d. Plural OR male/female with respect (You): velthU untAru
e. Male informal (He): velthU untAdu
f. Female/Neutral informal (She, It): velthU untundhi
g. Plural OR male/female with respect (They): velthU untAru


7. can (indicating capacity) + verb - can go

a. I - vellagalanu
b. We - vellagalamu
c. Male/Female informal (You) - vellagalavu
d. Plural OR male/female with respect (You): vellagalaru
e. Male informal (He): vellagaladu
f. Female/Neutral informal (She, It): vellagaladhu
g. Plural OR male/female with respect (They): vellagalaru


Other:
8. can(NOT indicating capacity)/might + verb: vellacchu
Usage: You/He can go: nuvvu/vAdu vellacchu
9. should + verb: vellAli
Usage: You/He should go: nuvvu/vAdu vellAli
10. should have + 3rd form of verb: velli undAlsindhi
Usage: You/He should have gone: nuvvu/vAdu vellundAlsindhi
11. might have + 3rd form of verb (gender insensitive): velli undacchu (vellundacchu)
Usage: You/He might have gone: nuvvu/vAdu vellundacchu
12. should have + 3rd form of verb + know?! : vellundacchugA (velli+undacchu+kadA(know))
Usage: You should have gone know?! = vellundacchugA?!. Note the simplification of 'kadA' (know) to simply 'gA'. This is widely used in spoken Telugu

NOTE:
1. In day to day conversations, the individual words will not be pronounced separately, but will be combined (and in the process some letters can be omitted also) and pronounced like in 'nuvvellu' which is actually a combination of two words 'nuvvu' and 'vellu'.
2. a) For sentences which have 'You(informal)' as subject, the verbs generally end in 'vu'. But in day to day conversations, the last 'u'(vowel) will be omitted. Ex: ekkadiki vellavu (where did you go)? = ekkadiki vellav? (applying principle 2) = ekkadikellav? (applying principle 1). b) In sentences with 'I' as subject, the verbs generally end in 'nu', but in day to day conversations (spoken Telugu), that last 'nu' won't be pronounced. For example to say 'I ate'(nEnu thinnAnu), say it has 'nEnu thinnA'. If you use these two rules (a,b) and other spoken Telugu rules (like 12 above) people will think that you are a native Telugu speaker!
3. Notice the similarity between 1a-5a, 1b-5b, 1e-5e, 1f-5f, 1g-5g. It's common in day to day conversations.
4. Notice the similarity between d-g in every set (2 to 7) except 1st. This is because in 1d (verb), if we use 'velthAru' instead of 'vellandi' it generally means 5d (i.e, will + verb). Ex1: vAlla tharuvAtha mIru velthAru : After them you will go. Ex2: vAlla tharuvAtha mIru vellandi: You go after them.
5. In many cases, in place of set 4, some times set 2 itself is used as you can see there is no much difference between them except for splitting set 1 verb forms in between and extending the sound of 'u' gives set 2.
6. Since writing this detail for every verb would be cumbersome, I will use the notation like 1e,8,3g, etc to refer to above and give only the corresponding verb forms.

2. Verb: Come

	1.Present come	2.Present continuous coming	3.Past came	4.Past continuous was/were coming	5.Future will come	6.Future continuous will be coming	7.can come	8 - 11 (Note: 8 - 11 verbs can be used for all subjects (I,You,He,etc)
a. I (nEnu)	vasthAnu	vasthunnAnu	vacchAnu*	vasthU unnAnu	vasthAnu	vasthU untAnu	rAgalanu	8. can come: rAvacchu
b. We (mEmu)	vasthAmu	vasthunnAmu	vacchAmu*	vasthU unnAmu	vasthAmu	vasthU untAmu	rAgalamu	9. should come: rAvAli
c. You (Single) (nuvvu)	rA,rAra,rAve	vasthunnAvu	vacchAvu*	vasthU unnAvu	vasthAvu	vasthU untAvu	rAgalavu	10. should have come: vacchi undAlsindhi OR rAvAlsindhi
d. You (Plural) (mIru)	randi	vasthunnAru	vacchAru*	vasthU unnAru	vasthAru	vasthU untAru	rAgalaru	11. might have come: vacchi undacchu
e. He (vAdu / athadu)	vasthAdu	vasthunnAdu	vacchAdu*	vasthU unnAdu	vasthAdu	vasthU untAdu	rAgaladu	12.You should have come know?!: vacchundacchugA
f. She/It (Ame / adhi)	vasthundhi	vasthundhi	vacchindhi	vasthU undhi	vasthundhi	vasthU untundhi	rAgaladhu
g. They (vAllu / vAru)	vasthAru	vasthunnAru	vacchAru*	vasthU unnAru	vasthAru	vasthU untAru	rAgalaru

* -  The 'A' in these starred words should be pronounced like 'a' in 'bash' or 'bat' and NOT like 'a' in 'bar'


More verbs will be added in due course of time OR upon request by readers

Read more...

Verbs of Telugu Language in Informal, Colloquial, Normal Day-to-Day Conversations - All Persons, All Tenses

I advise you to go through this post also compulsorily. It explains in detail all the different forms a verb can take w.r.t all subjects(persons) in English. The current post also does a similar job but not in very great detail as like the other one.

In this page, I am writing six columns ( Verb(English) - Present(You-singular) - Simple Present(He)/Simple Future(He) - Simple Past(He) - Simple Present(She,It)/Simple Future(She,It) - Simple Past(She,It) ) to illustrate verbs in the Telugu Language. Try to formulate the remaining forms from the illustration given below

Please note that the form of verbs in the first and second columns(scroll down to find the six columns of the table) is such that they are addressed to a second person singular(YOU), that is these can be used directly in sentences that have You(singular) as the main Subject.

With slight modifications to them they can be used in sentences that have I, We, You(plural), She, It, They as the main Subject and also for different tenses as illustrated below.

I REQUEST you all to follow the "Guidelines for pronouncing the transliterated text" that are present at the beginning of this post to AVOID MISPRONUNCIATION

Illustration: For example, let us take the verb 'eat'

1) The form that can be used in a sentence that has You(singular) as main Subject - thinu - తిను.

Simple Present: You(Singular) eat - nuvvu thinu - నువ్వు తిను.

Present Continuous: You(Singular) are eating - nuvvu thintunnAvu - నువ్వు తింటున్నావు.

Simple Past: You(Singular) ate - nuvvu thinnAvu - నువ్వు తిన్నావు.

Simple Future: You(Singular) will eat - nuvvu thintAvu - నువ్వు తింటావు.

2)The form that can be used in a sentence that has I(singular) as main Subject:

I eat - nEnu thintAnu - నేను తింటాను.

I am eating - nEnu thintunnAnu - నేను తింటున్నాను.

I ate - nEnu thinnAnu - నేను తిన్నాను.

I will eat - nEnu thintAnu - నేను తింటాను.

3)The form that can be used in a sentence that has We as main Subject:

We eat - mEmu thintAmu - మేము తింటాము.

We are eating - mEmu thintunnAmu - మేము తింటున్నాము.

We ate - mEmu thinnAmu - మేము తిన్నాము.

We will eat - mEmu thintAmu - మేము తింటాము - mEmu thintAmu.

4)The form that can be used in a sentence that has You(Plural) as main Subject:

You(Plural) eat - mIru thinandi - మీరు తినండి.

You(Plural) are eating - mIru thintunnAru - మీరు తింటున్నారు.

You(Plural) ate - mIru thinnAru -మీరు తిన్నారు.

You(Plural) will eat - mIru thintAru -మీరు తింటారు.

5) The form that can be used in a sentence that has He as main Subject:

He eats - vAdu/athadu thintAdu - వాడు/అతడు తింటాడు.

He is eating - vAdu/athadu thintunnAdu - వాడు/అతడు తింటున్నాడు.

He ate - vAdu/athadu thinnAdu - వాడు/అతడు తిన్నాడు.

He will eat - vAdu/athadu thintAdu - వాడు/అతడు తింటాడు.

Note that Simple Present and Simple Future have same forms. This is true only in colloquial or informal or normal day-to-day life conversations. In formal or ancient scripts, they are different!
Like this you will find in other cases also...try to follow it.


6) The form that can be used in a sentence that has She as main Subject:

She eats - Ame/thanu thintundhi - ఆమె/తను తింటుంది.

She is eating - Ame/thanu thintunnadhi - ఆమె/తను తింటుంది/తింటున్నది.

She ate - Ame/thanu thinnadhi - ఆమె/తను తిన్నది.

She will eat - Ame/thanu thintundhi - ఆమె/తను తింటుంది.

7) The form that can be used in a sentence that has It as main Subject:

It eats - adhi thintundhi - అది తింటుంది.

It is eating - adhi thintundhi/thintunnadhi - అది తింటుంది/తింటున్నది.

It ate - adhi thindhi/thinnadhi - అది తింది/తిన్నది.

It will eat - adhi thintundhi - అది తింటుంది.

8) The form that can be used in a sentence that has They as main Subject:

They eat - vAru/vAllu thintAru - వారు/వాళ్ళు తింటారు.

They are eating - vAru/vAllu thintunnAru - వారు/వాళ్ళు తింటున్నారు.

They ate - vAru/vAllu thinnAru - వారు/వాళ్ళు తిన్నారు.

They will eat - vAru/vAllu thintAru - వారు/వాళ్ళు తింటారు.


Below are 6 columns to illustrate some forms of verbs in terms of person and tense. Try to formulate all the remaining forms by studying the above example about the verb - eat.

Tip:   Press 'Ctrl' + '+' to increase the font size so that you can read the Telugu text without difficulty. To decrease it press 'Ctrl' + '-'. To bring it back to original/normal size press 'Ctrl' + '0'

The references to certain words are mentioned at the bottom of the table. Please go through the corresponding reference when you encounter it.

Tenses of some common verbs in Telugu

Verb (English)	Present (You-singular)	Simple Present(He) /Simple Future(He)	Simple Past(He)	Simple Present (She,It) /Simple Future (She,It)	Simple Past (She,It)
do	చెయ్యి cheyyi	చేస్తాడు chEsthAdu	చేశాడు  chESAdu[0]	చేస్తుంది chEsthundhi	చేసింది chEsindhi
write	రాయి rAyi	రాస్తాడు rAsthAdu	రాశాడు  rASAdu[0]	రాస్తుంది rAsthundhi	రాసింది rAsindhi
lay down	పడుకో padukO	పడుకుంటాడు padukuntAdu	పడుకున్నాడు padukunnAdu	పడుకుంటుంది padukuntundhi	పడుకుంది padukundhi
study	చదువు chadhuvu	చదువుతాడు chadhuvuthAdu	చదివాడు chadhiVAdu[0]	చదువుతుంది chadhuvuthundhi	చదివింది chadhivindhi
learn	నేర్చుకో nErchukO	నేర్చుకుంటాడు nErchukuntAdu	నేర్చుకున్నాడు nErchukunnAdu	నేర్చుకుంటుంది nErchukuntundhi	నేర్చుకుంది nErchukundhi
sleep	నిద్ర పో nidhra pO	నిద్ర పోతాడు nidhra pOthAdu	నిద్ర పొయ్యాడు nidhra pOyyAdu	నిద్ర పోతుంది nidhra pOthundhi	నిద్ర పోయింది nidhra pOyindhi
get up	లే lE	లేస్తాడు lEsthAdu	లేచాడు lE-chA-du[1]	లేస్తుంది lEsthundhi	లేచింది lEchindhi
sit	కూర్చో kUrchO	కూర్చుంటాడు kUrchuntAdu	కూర్చున్నాడు kUrchunnAdu	కూర్చుంటుంది kUrchuntundhi	కూర్చుంది kUrchundhi
open	తెరువు theruvu	తెరుస్తాడు therusthAdu	తెరిచాడు theri-chA-du[1]	తెరుస్తుంది therusthundhi	తెరిచింది therichindhi
be there	ఉండు undu	ఉంటాడు untAdu	ఉన్నాడు unnAdu	ఉంటుంది untundhi	ఉన్నది/ ఉంది unnadhi/ undhi
make happen	జరిపించు jaripinchu	జరిపిస్తాడు jaripisthAdu	జరిపించాడు jaripin-chA-du[1]	జరిపిస్తుంది jaripisthundhi	జరిపించింది jaripinchindhi
walk	నడువు naduvu	నడుస్తాడు nadusthAdu	నడిచాడు nadi-chA-du[1]	నడుస్తుంది nadusthundhi	నడిచింది nadichindhi
run	పరిగెత్తు parigetthu	పరిగెత్తుతాడు parigetthuthAdu	పరిగెత్తాడు pariget-thA-du[5]	పరిగెత్తుతుంది parigetthuthundhi	పరిగెత్తింది parigetthindhi
climb	ఎక్కు ekku	ఎక్కుతాడు ekkuthAdu	ఎక్కాడు ek-kA-du[2]	ఎక్కుతుంది ekkuthundhi	ఎక్కింది ekkindhi
listen	విను vinu	వింటాడు vintAdu	విన్నాడు vinnAdu	వింటుంది vintundhi	విన్నది/ వింది vinnadhi/ vindhi
speak	మాట్లాడు mAtlAdu	మాట్లాడతాడు mAtlAdathAdu	మాట్లాడాడు mAtlA-dA-du[3]	మాట్లాడుతుంది mAtlAduthundhi	మాట్లాడింది mAtlAdindhi
say/tell	చెప్పు cheppu	చెప్తాడు chepthAdu	చెప్పాడు chep-pA-du[4]	చెప్తుంది chepthundhi	చెప్పింది cheppindhi
see	చూడు chUdu	చూస్తాడు chUsthAdu	చూశాడు  chUSAdu[0]	చూస్తుంది chUsthundhi	చూసింది chUsindhi
play	ఆడు Adu	ఆడతాడు AdathAdu	ఆడాడు A-dA-du[3]	ఆడుతుంది Aduthundhi	ఆడింది Adindhi
sing	పాడు pAdu	పాడతాడు pAdathAdu	పాడాడు pA-dA-du[3]	పాడుతుంది pAduthundhi	పాడింది pAdindhi
fall	పడు padu	పడతాడు padathAdu	పడ్డాడు paddAdu	పడుతుంది paduthundhi	పడింది padindhi

More will be added later on...

References:
[0] - 'SA' in these words has to be pronounced as 'sa' in 'sad' or 'sap', etc. Distinguish this from 'sA' which will be pronounced as 'sa' in 'sauce'. The difference between the two is case of letter 's'. Similarly 'VA' should be pronounced as 'va' in 'van',etc and NOT like 'va' in 'vault' or 'wha' in 'what'. These two are already explained in "Guidelines for pronouncing the transliterated text". I'm just repeating here.
[1] - Same thing applies to 'chA' in these words. Pronounce the hyphenated 'chA' in these words as 'cha' in 'chat', 'charm', etc
[2] - Pronounce hyphenated 'kA' in these words as 'ca' in 'cat', 'cater', etc and NOT like 'ca' in 'cart'
[3] - Pronounce hyphenated 'dA' in these words as 'da' in 'damp', 'dangle', etc and NOT like 'da' in 'dark'
[4] - Pronounce hyphenated 'pA' in these words as 'pa' in 'parrot', 'pack', etc and NOT like 'pa' in 'pass'
[5] - Pronounce hyphenated 'thA' in these words as 'tha' in 'thank' and NOT like 'tha' in 'thali'

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