Of all the topics in Marathi grammar, tenses (काळ) are among the most essential. Tense tells us when an action takes place — in the present, past, or future. Without a correct understanding of tense, every sentence you form risks conveying the wrong time frame, even if every other element is perfect. Tense is the bridge between the world of time and the world of language.
This lesson builds directly on the Verbs lesson, which introduced you to the धातू (verb root) and the basic conjugation pattern. Here we go further: we explore all three major Marathi tenses — present (वर्तमानकाळ), past (भूतकाळ), and future (भविष्यकाळ) — and each of their sub-types, complete with tables, worked examples, and practice questions. We also look at how tense interacts with active and passive voice and how to use these forms in natural sentence formation.
Use the Tense Practice tool to drill any conjugation pattern interactively, and the Verb Conjugation tool to generate the full tense table for any Marathi verb of your choice.
What Is Tense? — काळ म्हणजे काय?
The Marathi word काळ means both "time" and "tense." Grammatical tense is the way a language marks the time of an action relative to the moment of speaking. Marathi recognises three main tenses, each further divided into four aspects, giving twelve distinct tense-aspect combinations in traditional grammar. In everyday speech, about six to eight of these are most common.
Aspect (अर्थ) tells us whether an action is simple / habitual (साधा), continuous / progressive (अपूर्ण), perfect / completed (पूर्ण), or perfect-continuous (पूर्ण + अपूर्ण). Every combination of tense and aspect produces a different verb form.
Overview of Marathi Tenses
| Tense | Marathi name | Aspects | Example (करणे — to do) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Present | वर्तमानकाळ | Simple, Continuous, Perfect, Perfect Continuous | करतो / करत आहे / केले आहे / करत आला आहे |
| Past | भूतकाळ | Simple, Continuous, Perfect, Perfect Continuous | केले / करत होता / केले होते / करत आला होता |
| Future | भविष्यकाळ | Simple, Continuous, Perfect, Perfect Continuous | करेल / करत असेल / केलेले असेल / करत आलेले असेल |
वर्तमानकाळ — Present Tense
The present tense describes actions that are happening now, habitually, or in a general truth. There are four aspects of the present tense in Marathi.
Simple Present — साधा वर्तमानकाळ
The simple present expresses habitual actions, general truths, and scheduled events. It is formed by adding the aspect marker -त to the dhatu, followed by the agreement suffix.
| Subject | Masculine | Feminine | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| मी | करतो | करते | I do |
| तू | करतोस | करतेस | you do (informal) |
| तो | करतो | — | he does |
| ती | — | करते | she does |
| ते (neut.) | करते | — | it does |
| आम्ही | करतो | करतो | we do |
| तुम्ही | करता | करता | you do (formal/pl.) |
| ते / त्या | करतात | करतात | they do |
सूर्य पूर्वेकडे उगवतो.
The sun rises in the east. (General truth; simple present, masculine singular agreement with सूर्य.)
Present Continuous — अपूर्ण वर्तमानकाळ
The present continuous expresses an action that is in progress at the moment of speaking. It is formed with the aspect marker -त + auxiliary आहे / आहेस / आहात / आहोत / आहेत.
Formula: dhatu + -त + आहे (appropriate form)
मी आत्ता जेवण करत आहे.
I am eating right now. (Present continuous; the action is in progress at the moment of speaking.)
Present Perfect — पूर्ण वर्तमानकाळ
The present perfect expresses an action that is completed but whose result is relevant to the present. It is formed using the past participle form of the verb + auxiliary आहे.
For intransitive verbs: verb past participle + आहे. For transitive verbs: the past participle agrees with the object + आहे.
तो गावाहून आला आहे.
He has come from the village. (Present perfect, intransitive; आला agrees with तो, masculine singular.)
तिने पत्र लिहिले आहे.
She has written a letter. (Present perfect, transitive; लिहिले agrees with object पत्र, neuter singular.)
भूतकाळ — Past Tense
The past tense describes actions that were completed before the moment of speaking, or that were ongoing in the past. The ergative construction (agent in -ने, verb agreeing with object) for transitive verbs is critical here — review it in the Verbs lesson if needed.
Simple Past — साधा भूतकाळ
This tense describes a completed action in the past with no reference to its duration or result.
Intransitive: Verb agrees with the subject.
Transitive: Subject takes -ने/-नी, verb agrees with the object.
| Verb | Type | Past sentence | Agreement target |
|---|---|---|---|
| जाणे | Intransitive | राम गेला. / सीता गेली. | Subject (masc./fem.) |
| येणे | Intransitive | मुले आली. | Subject (neut. pl.) |
| खाणे | Transitive | रामने भाकरी खाल्ली. | Object भाकरी (fem.) |
| वाचणे | Transitive | तिने पुस्तक वाचले. | Object पुस्तक (neut.) |
| बोलणे | Intransitive | तुम्ही बोललात. | Subject तुम्ही |
Tip
The quickest way to determine agreement in a past-tense sentence: ask "Does this verb have a direct object?" If yes (transitive), the verb agrees with the object and the subject gets -ने. If no (intransitive), the verb agrees with the subject. Use the Verb Conjugation tool to check past-tense forms for any verb.
Past Continuous — अपूर्ण भूतकाळ
The past continuous describes an action that was in progress at a specific point in the past. It is formed with -त होता / होती / होते / होत्या / होतात.
Formula: dhatu + -त + होता/होती/होते (agreement)
ती आंघोळ करत होती.
She was bathing. (Past continuous; होती agrees with the feminine subject ती.)
Past Perfect — पूर्ण भूतकाळ
The past perfect describes an action that was completed before another past action. It is formed with the past participle + होते / होता / होती.
मी येण्याआधी तो निघून गेला होता.
He had already left before I arrived. (Past perfect for the earlier action.)
तिने स्वयंपाक केला होता.
She had cooked. (Transitive past perfect; केला — wait, the object is implied "food", neuter, so correct: स्वयंपाक is masculine, so केला होता is correct here.)
भविष्यकाळ — Future Tense
The future tense describes actions that will happen after the moment of speaking. Marathi future tense is formed by adding specific suffixes to the dhatu. Unlike past tense, the future tense does NOT use the ergative construction — the subject is always in the nominative case.
Simple Future — साधा भविष्यकाळ
The simple future is formed by adding suffixes to the dhatu that encode both future tense and the person/number/gender agreement. The key suffixes are shown below for करणे:
| Subject | Masculine | Feminine | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| मी | करेन | करेन | I will do |
| तू | करशील | करशील | you will do |
| तो | करेल | — | he will do |
| ती | — | करेल | she will do |
| आम्ही | करू | करू | we will do |
| तुम्ही | कराल | कराल | you will do (formal) |
| ते / त्या | करतील | करतील | they will do |
आम्ही उद्या मुंबईला जाऊ.
We will go to Mumbai tomorrow. (Simple future, first-person plural; no ergative, no gender distinction needed for this person-number combination.)
Future Continuous — अपूर्ण भविष्यकाळ
The future continuous describes an action that will be in progress at a specific future time. It is formed with -त असेल / असशील / असतील.
संध्याकाळी सात वाजता ती जेवण करत असेल.
She will be eating at 7 o'clock in the evening. (Future continuous; action in progress at a future moment.)
Future Perfect — पूर्ण भविष्यकाळ
The future perfect describes an action that will have been completed before a specific future moment. It is formed with past participle + असेल / असशील / असतील.
तू येण्यापूर्वी मी काम संपवले असेल.
I will have finished the work before you arrive. (Future perfect; the completion will precede another future event.)
Comprehensive Tense Summary Table
The following table condenses all twelve tense-aspect combinations for the verb जाणे (to go), using the masculine singular third-person subject तो (he) as the reference form.
| Tense | Aspect | Form (तो — he) | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| वर्तमानकाळ (Present) | Simple | जातो | he goes |
| Continuous | जात आहे | he is going | |
| Perfect | गेला आहे | he has gone | |
| Perfect Continuous | जात आला आहे | he has been going | |
| भूतकाळ (Past) | Simple | गेला | he went |
| Continuous | जात होता | he was going | |
| Perfect | गेला होता | he had gone | |
| Perfect Continuous | जात आला होता | he had been going | |
| भविष्यकाळ (Future) | Simple | जाईल | he will go |
| Continuous | जात असेल | he will be going | |
| Perfect | गेलेले असेल | he will have gone | |
| Perfect Continuous | जात आलेला असेल | he will have been going |
Expert insight
In traditional Marathi grammar exams, the twelve tense-aspect combinations are expected. In spoken Marathi and modern writing, the four simple tenses (simple present, simple past, simple future, and present continuous) cover about 80% of usage. The perfect and perfect-continuous aspects are more common in literary Marathi and formal writing. Focus on the core four for conversational fluency, then add the perfect aspects for examination success and literary reading.
How Tense Interacts with Voice
Every tense has both active (कर्तरी) and passive (कर्मणी) voice forms. In the passive, the object becomes the subject and the verb form changes. The passive in Marathi is formed using the past passive participle + the appropriate form of जाणे (to go, functioning as the passive auxiliary).
Active: त्याने पत्र लिहिले. (He wrote a letter.) — Past, transitive, active.
Passive: त्याच्याकडून पत्र लिहिले गेले. (A letter was written by him.) — Past passive.
Study the complete passive system in the Active and Passive Voice lesson.
Worked Examples Across All Three Tenses
मुले रोज शाळेत जातात.
Children go to school every day. (Simple present, habitual; third-person plural subject.)
आईने स्वयंपाक केला होता.
Mother had cooked. (Past perfect, transitive; आईने is agent; केला agrees with implied masculine object स्वयंपाक.)
ते उद्या येतील.
They will come tomorrow. (Simple future, intransitive, third-person plural.)
मी तेव्हा पुस्तक वाचत होतो.
I was reading a book at that time. (Past continuous, transitive; note that the past continuous does NOT trigger the ergative construction — the agent stays in the nominative.)
A Common Confusion: Ergative in Continuous Tenses
An important rule: the ergative construction (subject takes -ने) applies only to the simple past and past perfect of transitive verbs. In the past continuous, present perfect continuous, and all future tenses, the subject remains in the nominative — no -ने.
Common mistake
Do not apply the ergative suffix -ने to subjects in continuous or future tenses. Saying मीने जेवण करत होतो is wrong — the correct form is मी जेवण करत होतो (I was eating). The ergative applies only in the simple past and past perfect of transitive verbs: मी + ने = मी (no change for first person); तो + ने = त्याने.
Practice Questions
Q1. Identify the tense and aspect: ती गाणे गात होती.
Show answer
This is the past continuous (अपूर्ण भूतकाळ). The marker -त shows the continuous aspect, and the auxiliary होती (feminine singular of the past auxiliary) places it in the past. The action was in progress in the past.
Q2. Convert to simple past: ती बाजारात जाते. (She goes to the market.)
Show answer
ती बाजारात गेली. The verb जाणे is intransitive, so in the simple past the verb agrees with the subject ती (feminine singular) — giving गेली. No ergative construction is needed.
Q3. Correct the error: त्याने उद्या शाळेत जाईल.
Show answer
तो उद्या शाळेत जाईल. The future tense of an intransitive verb does not use the ergative suffix -ने. The subject must be in the nominative: तो, not त्याने.
Q4. Write the simple future of बोलणे for तुम्ही.
Show answer
तुम्ही बोलाल. The dhatu is बोल्. For second-person plural (तुम्ही), the simple future suffix is -आल: बोल् + आल = बोलाल. This form is the same for both masculine and feminine subjects with तुम्ही.
Common Mistakes Summary
- Using the ergative (-ने) in non-simple-past tenses — it applies only to simple past and past perfect of transitive verbs.
- Making the verb agree with the subject instead of the object in the transitive simple past.
- Confusing the simple past with the present perfect — गेला (went / simple past) is different from गेला आहे (has gone / present perfect).
- Forgetting gender agreement of the auxiliary verb in continuous tenses: होता (masculine), होती (feminine), होते (neuter).
- Using the same future form for all persons — each person has its own suffix (-एन, -शील, -एल, -ऊ, -आल, -तील).
Tense Markers — A Systematic View
One of the most elegant aspects of Marathi tense grammar is that each tense and aspect combination uses a specific, predictable suffix pattern. Understanding these markers at a systematic level is far more powerful than memorising individual conjugation tables. The following table isolates the key tense markers:
| Aspect / Marker | Tense signal | Example (dhatu: कर्) | English aspect |
|---|---|---|---|
| dhatu + -त + agr. suffix | Simple present | करतो | habitual / simple |
| dhatu + -त + आहे | Present continuous | करत आहे | in progress now |
| Past participle + आहे | Present perfect | केले आहे | completed, relevant now |
| Past participle (standalone) | Simple past | केले | completed in past |
| dhatu + -त + होते | Past continuous | करत होते | in progress in past |
| Past participle + होते | Past perfect | केले होते | completed before past |
| dhatu + future suffix | Simple future | करेल | will happen |
| dhatu + -त + असेल | Future continuous | करत असेल | will be in progress |
| Past participle + असेल | Future perfect | केलेले असेल | will have been completed |
The pattern is consistent: आहे = present reference, होते = past reference, असेल = future reference. Once you recognise these auxiliary forms, you can decode any Marathi tense on sight.
Tense in Subordinate Clauses
When Marathi sentences contain subordinate clauses, tense sequence rules apply. The verb in the subordinate clause is usually in the same tense as the main clause, or in a tense logically prior to it. This is called काळाचा अनुक्रम (sequence of tenses).
त्याने सांगितले की तो येईल.
He said that he would come. (Main clause: simple past; subordinate clause: future relative to the past = येईल.)
जेव्हा ती आली, तेव्हा मी निघालो होतो.
When she came, I had already left. (Past perfect for the prior action, simple past for the later action.)
These nuanced tense sequences appear frequently in direct and indirect speech transformations, which are a standard topic in competitive-exam grammar.
Tense in Questions and Negative Sentences
The tense form does not change when a Marathi statement is converted into a question or a negative sentence. The interrogative or negative marker is added without altering the verb's tense form:
- Statement: तो उद्या येईल. (He will come tomorrow.)
- Question: तो उद्या येईल का? (Will he come tomorrow?) — particle का added at end.
- Negative: तो उद्या येणार नाही. (He will not come tomorrow.) — future participle + नाही.
तुम्ही काल शाळेत गेलात का?
Did you go to school yesterday? (Simple past question; the verb form गेलात is unchanged from the statement form — only का is appended.)
Competitive Exam Focus: Tense Transformation Exercises
In Maharashtra's state-board and competitive examinations (MPSC, TET, CTET), tense transformation is one of the most frequently tested skills. You will be asked to convert a sentence from one tense to another while maintaining correct agreement, ergative marking, and meaning.
Here is a step-by-step method for tense transformation:
- Identify the original tense and aspect of the sentence.
- Note whether the verb is transitive or intransitive.
- Change the verb to the target tense form using the appropriate dhatu + suffix combination.
- Adjust the subject case: remove -ने if moving from a transitive past to any other tense, or add it if moving into a transitive simple past.
- Adjust agreement: if moving to a tense where the verb agrees with the subject (not the object), check gender and number of the subject.
The Tense Practice tool generates transformation exercises automatically and checks your answers instantly. Use it as part of your exam preparation routine.
Tips for Mastery
- Learn tenses in pairs: simple vs. continuous, simple vs. perfect. Seeing the contrast helps more than memorising lists.
- Use the Tense Practice tool every day — ten minutes of targeted drill builds conjugation fluency faster than any other method.
- Read Marathi news headlines and identify the tense of each headline verb. News is written in a consistent formal register that uses all tenses clearly.
- Write a short diary entry in Marathi using at least three different tenses, then check it with the Verb Conjugation tool.
- Link your tense study to the Active and Passive Voice lesson — the passive is really just a restatement of the same tense in a different construction.
Summary
Marathi has three tenses — present (वर्तमानकाळ), past (भूतकाळ), and future (भविष्यकाळ) — each with four aspects: simple, continuous, perfect, and perfect-continuous. The most critical rule is the ergative construction in the transitive simple past and past perfect: the subject takes -ने and the verb agrees with the object. In all other tenses, the subject is in the nominative and the verb agrees with the subject. Systematic practice using the comprehensive table above, the Tense Practice tool, and the worked examples in this lesson will make Marathi tenses second nature.
Continue your study with the Active and Passive Voice lesson to see how these tense constructions are transformed, and revisit Sentence Formation to practise building complete, grammatically accurate Marathi sentences using all that you have learned.
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