Update: 2016-08-25 11:35 PM -0400

TIL

Verbs

by U Kyaw Tun, M.S. (I.P.S.T., U.S.A.). Not for sale. Prepared for students of TIL Computing and Language Center, Yangon, MYANMAR. See referencesused.
note for HTML editing

based on An Elementary Pali Course, by Ven. Narada Thera
See other sources.

This covers Lessons 1 - 5.

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Word order

Word order in Pali is SOV (Subject-Object-Verb), whereas in English it is SVO. This must be borne in mind in translation, e.g.:

Sūdo adanam pacati. -- Pali SOV
*The cook rice is cooking. -- direct translation (* indicates incorrect usage)
The cook is cooking rice. -- English SVO

Sūdā ghate dhovanti. -- Pali SOV
* The cooks pots are washing. -- direct translation (* indicates incorrect usage)
The cooks are washing pots. -- English SVO.

Notice the absence of article (corresponding to the English <the> is missing in Pali.
Verbs are often used alone without the corresponding pronouns since the pronoun is implied by the termination.

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Conjugation

There are seven conjugations in Pali which differ according to the conjugational signs.

 

Present Tense -- Active Voice

 

1st person 2nd person 3rd person
sing. [-mi] / plu. [-ma] sing. [-si] / plu. [-tha] sing. [-ti] / plu. [-anti]
• The vowel preceding [-mi] and [-ma] is always lengthened. • English <you> is the usual form of the second person. <Thou> is used in translation for archaic or poetic reasons only.  
illustration:[paca] <to cook>    
sing. [pacati] / plu. [pacanti] sing. [pacasi] / plu. [pacatha] sing. [pacāmi] / plu. [paāma]
[aham pacāmi]
<I cook, I am cooking>		 [tvam pacasi] (sing)
<you cook, you are cooking>		 [so pacati]
<he cooks, he is cooking>
[sā pacati]
<she cooks, she is cooking>
[mayam pacāma]
<we cook, we are cooking>		 [tumhe pacatha] (plu)
<you cook, you are cooking>		 [te pacanti]
<they cook, they are cooking>

illustration: [su] <to hear>		    
sing. [sunāti] / plu. [sunanti] sing. [sunāsi] / plu. [sunātha] sing. [sunāmi] / plu. [sunāma]

illustration: [disa]		    
sing. [deseti] / plu. [desenti] sing. [desesi] / plu. [desetha] sing. [desemi] / plu. [desema]

 

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Prefixes

Many verb roots take on prefixes. [ā- , nī- , pa- , etc.] are prefixes [upasagga] ? which when attached to verbs and nouns, modify their original sense. In these illustrations the verb root (bold letters) and 3rd person-singular (within [ ]) are given: (staging area)
ka | kha | ga | gha || ca | cha | ja | jha
ṭa | ṭha | ḍa | ḍha  || ta | tha | da | dha
pa | pha | ba | bha || ya | ra | la | va | sa
ha |


ka

kamu -- lesson 03
  nikamu [nikkhamati] <to depart, to go away>

ki [kināti] <to buy> -- lesson 03
  viki [vikkināti] <to sell>

kīla [kīlati] <to play> -- lesson 04


hka

khāda [khādati] <to eat, to chew> -- lesson 05


ga

gamu [gacchati] <to go> -- lesson 02
  āgamu [āgacchati] <to come>

gaha [ganhāti] <to take, to receive, to seize> -- lesson 03
  saṃgaha [sańganhāti] <to treat, to compile>
  ugaha [ugganhāti] <to learn>


ca
[ca] in E-Pali and Myanmar have different pronunciations,
but they occupy the same position in the abugida matrix.

cara -- lesson 04
  vicara [vicarati] <to wander, to go about>

 

 

ta

 


tha

thā [tiṭṭhanti] <to stand> -- lesson 06


da

disa [deseti] <to preach> -- lesson 02

dā [deti] <to give> -- lesson 02


dha

dhāva [dhāvati] <to run> -- lesson 01

dhova [dhovati] <to wash> -- lesson 01


pa

pata [patati] <to fall> -- lesson 03

pada -- lesson 04
  upada [uppajjati] <to be born>

passa [passati] <to see> -- lesson 04
  disa -- passa is a substitute for disa

pūja [pūjeti] <offers> -- lesson 05

pesa [peseti] <to send> -- lesson 02


pha

 


ba

 


bha

bhuja [bhuńjati] <to eat, to partake> -- lesson 05

 


ya

 


ra

rakkha [rakkhati] <to protect> -- lesson 01

ruha [ruhati] <to grow> -- lesson 03
  āruha [āruhati] <to ascend, to climb>
  avaruha [oruhati] <to descend>


la

labha [labhati] <to get, to receive> -- lesson 02

likha [likhati] <to write> -- lesson 05


va
[va] in E-Pali and Myanmar have different pronunciations, but they occupy the same position in the abugida matrix.

vada [vadati] <to speak, to declare> -- lesson 01

vanda [vandati] <to salute> -- lesson 01

vasa [vasati] -- <to dwell> -- lesson 04

vapa [vapati] <to sow> -- lesson 05


sa
[sa] in E-Pali and Myanmar have different pronunciations,
but they occupy the same position in the abugida matrix.

sada
  nisada [nisīdati] <sits> -- lesson 05

su [sunāti] <to hear> -- lesson 03

supa [supati] <to sleep> -- lesson 04


ha

hara [harati] <to carry> -- lesson 02
  āhara [āharati] <to bring>
  nīhara [nīharati] <to remove>
  pahara [paharati] <to strike>

hū [honti] <to be> -- lesson 06

 

 

Staging area Lesson 06
back 

 

Lesson 06        
Root Meaning 3rd per.
pres. pl.		 Infinitive Ind. Past Part.*
disa to preach desenti desetuµ desetvŒ
disa to see passanti passituµ disvŒ, passitvŒ
gaha to take gaöhanti gaöhituµ gaöhitvŒ, gahetvŒ
gamu to go gacchanti gantuµ gantvŒ
gamu with Œ to come Œgacchanti Œgantuµ ŒgantvŒ, Œgamma
hč to be honti hotuµ hutvŒ
isu to wish icchanti icchituµ icchitvŒ
kara to do karonti kŒtuµ katvŒ
lapa with saµ to converse sallapanti sallapituµ sallapitvŒ
–Œ (jŒna) to know jŒnanti –Œtuµ, jŒnituµ –atvŒ, jŒnitvŒ
nahŒ to bathe nahŒyanti nahŒyituµ nahŒyitvŒ, nahŒtvŒ
pŒ to drink pibanti, pivanti pŒtuµ, pibituµ p“tvŒ, pibitvŒ
ruha with Œ to ascend Œruhanti Œruhituµ ŒruhitvŒ, Œruyha
ŹhŒ to stand tiŹŹhanti ŹhŒtuµ ŹhatvŒ

 

Note to myself:
Lesson 01 verbs -- present tense/active voice -- included
Lesson 02 verbs -- present tense/active voice -- not included
Lesson 03 verb -- present tense/active voice -- included
Lesson 04 verb -- present tense/active voice (summary of above 3) -- included
Lesson 05 verb section not present
Lesson 06 verb section not present
Lesson 07 verb section not present
Lesson 08 verb section not present

 

 

 

 

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