Perfekt

Two ways of saying 'has happened'

Hindi builds the perfect twice over, and the two are not interchangeable.

1. Past participle + होना. The participle you met in the simple past, with है or था behind it:

• वह आया है। - He has come. (and is still here)
• वह आया था। - He had come.
• मैंने खाना खाया है। - I have eaten.

2. चुकना - to have finished doing. The bare stem, then चुका, then the auxiliary:

• मैं खा चुका हूँ। - I have already eaten.
• वह जा चुकी है। - She has already left.
• फ़िल्म शुरू हो चुकी थी। - The film had already started.

चुकना insists on completion. आया है reports a state that still holds; खा चुका हूँ says the eating is over and closed, and it is the natural answer to an offer of food.

The ने construction still applies

With a transitive verb the perfect keeps ने and the verb keeps agreeing with the object: मैंने चिट्ठी लिखी है - I have written the letter, with लिखी feminine because चिट्ठी is.