Present The present tense is formed by adding -i, -o, -e, or -en to the stem: Person Ending 1 -i 2f -o 3f -e 2+3 r -en Example: She (f) plays ball -- se bol khele (she ball plays) There is also a vowel mutation in the first person except in the a/e case, where 'a' is used in all persons. The first five examples are consonat stems (ending in a consonat). The last four are vowel stems. Person 1 2f 3f 2+3 r Person 1 2f 3f 2+3 r kora (to do) ami kori tumi koro se kore apni/tini koren khaoya (to eat) ami khai tumi khao se khay apni/tini khan dekha (to see) ami dekhi tumi dekho se dekhe apni/tini dekhen dhoya (to wash) ami dhui tumi dhoo se dhoy apni/tini dhon shona (to hear) ami shuni tumi shono se shone apni/tini shonen hooya (to become) ami hoi tumi hoo se hoy apni/tini hon lekha (to write) ami likhi tumi lekho se lekhe apni/tini lekhen deoya (to give) ami dii tumi dao se dey apni/tini den rakha (to keep) ami rakhi tumi rakho se rakhe apni/tini rakhen

Present & Past Continuous The continuous tenses are used for actions taking place at the present or actions that went on for an amount of time in the past. They correspond to the English -ing forms: I am running (present continuous), he was swimming (past continuous). The present continuous is formed from the stem by adding: Person Present Continuous endings 1 -chi / -cchi 2f -cho / -ccho 3f -che / -cche 2+3 r -chen / -cchen The past continuous is formed from the stem by adding: Person Past Continuous endings 1 -chilam / -cchilam 2f -chile / -cchile 3f -chilo / -cchilo 2+3 r -chilen / -cchilen

Future The future tense is formed by adding -bo, -be, or -ben to the stem and changing the vowel of the stem as was done in the first person in the present tense (to the second vowel in the vowel pairs). There are no vowel mutations within the future tense. Person kora (to do) 1 ami korbo 2f tumi korbe 3f se korbe 2+3 r apni/tini korben

Verb Future kora korbo I shall do dekha dekhbo I shall see shona shunbo I shall hear lekha likhbo I shall write rakha rakhbo I shall keep khaoya khabo I shall eat dhoya dhobo I shall wash hooya hobo I shall become deoya debo I shall give Past Participle The past participle is a frequently used form in Bengali. It is formed almost like the infinitive, but without the 't'. Examples: kora kore having done dekha dekhe having seen shona shune having heard lekha likhe having written rakha rekhe having kept khaoya dhoya hooya deoya kheye having kept dhuye having washed hoye having become diye having given

The past participle is used in different ways than in English, for example to connect two sentences where 'and', 'when' or 'after' would be used in English. Past The past tense is used for recent past actions. It is formed from the stem (but using the second of the mutation vowels) by adding the following endings: Person Past 1 -lam 2f -le 3f -lo 2+3 r -len