The present tenses
What you do and what you are doing now: હું રમું છું and હું રમી રહ્યો છું, with છું, છે and છીએ for every person.
Learn
The present tenses, explained point by point
Everything the GCSE specification expects you to be able to do, and how to actually do it - the same lesson a signed-in student studies from.
Find the stem of a verb
A verb in the dictionary ends in -વું: રમવું to play, લખવું to write, વાંચવું to read. Take off -વું to find the stem, રમ-, લખ-, વાંચ-, and add the ending that shows who is doing the action.
Form the present tense with an ending and છું, છે, છીએ or છો
The present is the stem with its own ending, then a form of to be: હું રમું છું I play, તું રમે છે you play, તે રમે છે he or she plays, અમે રમીએ છીએ we play, તમે રમો છો you play, તેઓ રમે છે they play. Both parts change with the person, so learn them as pairs.
Use one present for what you do and what you are doing
હું વાંચું છું can mean I read or I am reading. A time phrase turns it into a habit: હું દરરોજ શાળાએ ચાલીને જાઉં છું I walk to school every day.
Use the present continuous for what is happening right now
Put the stem with -ી, then રહ્યો and છું: હું ટીવી જોઈ રહ્યો છું I am watching TV. રહ્યો matches the person doing it, so a girl says જોઈ રહી છું, and a group જોઈ રહ્યા છીએ.
Learn the verbs whose stem ends in a vowel
A stem ending in a vowel joins the endings with ઉ, ય and ઈ: હું ખાઉં છું, તે ખાય છે, અમે ખાઈએ છીએ. જવું to go and લેવું to take follow their own pattern: હું જાઉં છું, તે જાય છે; હું લઉં છું, તે લે છે.
Use હોવું, to be, on its own
The same helper is the whole verb when you say what someone is: હું વિદ્યાર્થી છું I am a student, તે ખુશ છે she is happy, અમે તૈયાર છીએ we are ready.
Say what you like with મને ગમે છે
In Gujarati the thing you like does the liking: મને ક્રિકેટ ગમે છે I like cricket, word for word cricket pleases me. The person takes -ને: તેને સંગીત ગમે છે he likes music, અમને ગુજરાતી ખાવાનું ગમે છે we like Gujarati food.
The present tenses key terms
The words the specification and the mark schemes use, each defined the way an examiner wants it.
- Infinitive
- The form of a verb in the dictionary, ending in -વું: રમવું to play, જવું to go.
- Stem
- The verb without its -વું, which the endings are added to: રમ- from રમવું.
- Helper verb
- A form of હોવું, to be, that follows the main verb in the present: છું, છે, છીએ, છો.
- Present continuous
- The form for an action happening now: હું લખી રહ્યો છું I am writing.
- Person
- Who does the action: I, you, he or she, we, they. Gujarati verbs change their ending for each one.
- ગમવું
- To be liked, used for to like: મને ગમે છે I like it. The person who likes takes -ને.
Common mistakes in The present tenses
The slips that cost marks year after year, and what to do instead.
Leaving out the helper, as in હું શાળાએ જાઉં for I go to school.
A present statement needs છું, છે, છીએ or છો: હું શાળાએ જાઉં છું. Without it, હું જાઉં? asks a question: shall I go?
Giving the verb another person's ending, as in હું રમે છું.
Each person has its own ending and helper: હું રમું છું, તે રમે છે, અમે રમીએ છીએ. Check the two match.
Saying I like cricket as હું ક્રિકેટ ગમું છું.
The thing liked is the subject, and the person takes -ને: મને ક્રિકેટ ગમે છે.
A girl writing હું વાંચી રહ્યો છું about herself.
રહ્યો is for a boy or a man. A girl writes હું વાંચી રહી છું, and a group અમે વાંચી રહ્યા છીએ.
Practice
Try a The present tenses question
A GCSE-style original question from this topic. Have a go before you open the working - deciding on an answer first is what makes the working stick.
Complete the sentence: નાનું બાળક બગીચામાં રમી ___ છે.
- રહ્યો
- રહ્યું
- રહી
- રહ્યા
Show the answer and the working
Answer: રહ્યું
બાળક, a child, is neuter, and so is its adjective નાનું. The continuous word agrees: નાનું બાળક બગીચામાં રમી રહ્યું છે, the little child is playing in the park.
- નાનું ends in -ું, so બાળક is neuter.
- The continuous word agrees with it: રહ્યું.
- So નાનું બાળક બગીચામાં રમી રહ્યું છે: the little child is playing in the park.