Verbs in Fiji Hindi clearly distinguish the language from Standard Hindi. Verbs are a koine of all major Eastern Hindi dialects, namely, Awadhi, Bhojpuri and Magahi and also borrows from Urdu.

The tense structure of verbs is demonstrated below, using khelo (to play) as an example and it is also compare to Standard Hindi.

Tense Fiji Hindi English Standard Hindi
Simple Present Ham kheli
Ham log kheli
Tum khelo
Tum log khelo
Uu khele
Uu log khele
I play
We play
You play
You play
He/She plays
They play
Maen kheltaa huun
Ham khelte haen
Aap khelte haen
Aap khelte haen
Wah kheltaa hae
Weh khelte haen
Present progressive
(continuous)
Ham kheltaa hae
Ham log kheltaa hae
Tum kheltaa hae
Tum log kheltaa hae
Uu khele hae
Uu log khele hae
I am playing
We are playing
You are playing
You are playing
He/She is playing
They are playing
Maen khel rahaa huun
Ham khel rahe haen
Aap khel rake haen
Aap khel rahe haen
Wah khel rahaa/rahii hae
Weh khel rahe haen
Present perfect Ham khelaa hae
Ham log khelaa hae
Tum khelaa hae
Tum log khelaa hae
Uu khelis hae
Uu logan khelin hae
I have played
We have played
You have played
You have played
He/She has played
They have played
Maen khelaa hae
Ham khelaa haen
Aap/Tum khelaa haen
Aap/Tum khelaa haen
Wah khel rahaa/rahii hae
Weh khel rahe haen
Present perfect progressive
(continuous)
Ham khelte hae
Ham log khelte hae
Tum khelte hae
Tum log khelte hae
Uu khelte hae
Uu logan khelte hae
I have been playing
We have been playing
You (singular) have been playing
You (plural) have been playing
He/She has been playing
They have been playing
Example
Simple past Ham khelaa
Ham log khelaa
Tum khelaa
Tum log khelaa
Uu khelis
Uu logan khelin
I played
We played
You (singular) played
You (plural) played
He/She played
They played
Example
Past progressive
(continuous)
Ham kheltaa rahaa
Ham log kheltaa rahaa
Tum kheltaa rahaa
Tum log kheltaa rahaa
Uu khelat rahis
Uu logan khelat rahin
I was playing
We were playing
You (singular) were playing
You (plural) were playing
He/She was playing
They were playing
Example
Past perfect Ham khelaa rahaa
Ham log khelaa rahaa
Tum khelaa rahaa
Tum log khelaa rahaa
Uu khele rahis
Uu logan khele rahin
I had played
We had played
You (singular) had played
You (plural) had played
He/She had played
They had played
Example
Past perfect progressive
(continuous)
Ham kheltaa rahaa
Ham log kheltaa rahaa
Tum kheltaa rahaa
Tum log kheltaa rahaa
Uu khelat rahis
Uu logan khelat rahin
I had ben playing
We had been playing
You (singular) had been playing
You (plural) had been playing
He/She had been playing
They had been playing
Example
Simple future Ham khelegaa
Ham log khelegaa
Tum khelegaa
Tum log khelegaa
Uu kheli
Uu logan kheli
I will play
We will play
You (singular) will play
You (plural) will play
He/She will play
They will play
Example
Future progressive
continuous
Ham khelte rahegaa
Ham log khelte rahegaa
Tum khelte rahegaa
Tum khelte rahegaa
Uu khelte rahii
Uu logan khelte rahii
I will be playing
We will be playing
You (singular) will be playing
You (plural) will be playing
He/She will be playing
They will be playing
Example
Future perfect Ham khel lia hogaa
Ham log khel lia hogaa
Tum khel lia hogaa
Tum khel lia hogaa
Uu khel lie hoi
Uu logan khel lia hoi
I will have played
We will have played
You (singular) will have played
You (plural) will have played
He/She will have played
They will have played
Example
Future perfect progressive
continuous)
Ham kheltaa hogaa
Ham log kheltaa hogaa
Tum kheltaa hogaa
Tum kheltaa hogaa
Uu khelte hoi
Uu logan khelte hoi
I will have been playing
We will have been playing
You (singular) will have been playing
You (plural) will have been playing
He/She will have been playing
They will have been playing
Example
Example Example Example Example

Exception edit

  • Verbs with "ao" and "io" diphthong endings (e.g. khao, pio, bahao) or those made up of two letters, ie a consonat and "o" (e.g. bo) or a digraph and "o" (e.g. dho), have "-ya" ending for first and second person past tense. Examples:
Ham khaya (I ate)
Tum khaya (You ate)
Ham piya (I drank)
Tum piya (You drank)
Ham boya (I planted)
Yum boya (You planted)
Ham dhoya (I carried)
Tum dhoya (You carried)
  • Verbs with "eo" diphthing ending, have "-iya" ending for first and second person past tense. Example:
Ham liya (I took)
Tum liya (You took)
  • The verb jao (go) chnages to ga in past tense, examples:
Ham gaya (I went)
Uu gais (He/She went)
  • There is a tendency to remove consonant clusters. For example , the present continuous of badlo (change) is badaltaa (am changing)