LESSON 5
zam
h¢r:
c
Lesson 5 continues in the same format as the
two previous lessons, in the form of a conversation.
The conversation here relates to different aspects
of daily routines and will introduce the student to
new words.
Much of the conversation continues to be
simple, most of it being in the present tense.
Some expressions of common use are introduced
and these will help the student form short sentences
to convey simple ideas. This will constitute the
very first step towards speaking Sanskrit.
zam (Tom) and
h¢r: (Hari) are friends. They have
studied together in the U.S.
h¢r: has returned home
to India and
zam visits him.
zam -
hlaE
ett
¢k| 4931129 ?
¢vßN¤
iÎfÞz®£s
va ?
Hello, is this 4931129 ?
Is it Vishnu Industries ?
d\rvaN£
ca¢lka -
Aam
(Telephone Operator) - Yes
zam -
tæO
h¢r:
A¢Þt
va ?
Is Hari there ?
(literally, is Hari in there ? )
d\
ca -
Aam
dda¢m
.
Literally
dda¢m means I will give.
What is meant is, I will connect him to you.
What the Operator says she will give is
the connection.
zam -
hE
hrE !
mam
Þmr¢s
va ?
Hey Hari ! Do you remember me ?
h¢r: -
ArE
k:
zam ?
k[t: ?
Óy¥yakI
t: ?
Hey, who ? Tom ? Where from ? New York ?
zam -
n
Aæ¬v
cE°W
t:
.
No, here only, at Chennai.
¢¹¢dn|
yavt
ÛyaparaTI|
AagtaE{¢Þm
.
I have come down for business.
(On a business trip)
h¢r: -
k[æO
tE
vas: ?
Where are you (put up) staying ?
zam -
haEzEl
caELa,
p#kaE¿s|Áya
p·¢v|SÏy¢Dk
¢æOStm (325)
Hotel Chola, Room Number 325
h¢r: -
Aï
smy:
A¢Þt
va ?
Do you have time today ?
zam -
Aam ,
ApraþE
tv
kayaIly|
AagÅCa¢m
.
Yes, I will come down to your
office later (in the day)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lesson-5 Part: 2
kayaIlyE (In the Office)
zam -
nmÞtE
mm
nam
zam
.
h¢r|
d#¾¤m
AagtaE{¢Þm
.
Greetings, my name is Tom. I have
come to see Hari.
d\
ca -
nmÞtE,
h¢r:
BvÓt|
p#t£XtE
.
Greetings, Hari is expecting you
d¢XNt:
gÏva
p#aÅyam
p#Tm|
p#kaE¿m
.
(Go) South and the first room on the East.
zam -
h¢r:
h¢r: -
zam ,
AagÅC,
AagÅC,
up¢vS
.
¢craytE
dSIn|,
¢km
¢pb¢s ?
kaP£|
ATva
cay|| ?
Tom, come, come, sit down. Heven't seen
you in a long time (Long time, no see !)
What will you drink, coffee or tea ?
zam -
n
¢km¢p
.
Nothing (Basically, No Thanks)
h¢r: -
k[S¢ln£
va
sarhq ?
Is Sarah well ?
¢bl
p·vx£Iy:
Þyat
Kl¤ ?
Bill should be (must be) five years old, no ?
zam -
Aa|,
sv©I
k[S¢ln:
.
Yes, all are well.
¢bl
paZSala|
gÅC¢t
.
Bill goes to school.
ka
tE
kTa ?
¢k|
tE
v¦äOm ?
What about you ?
(literally, what is your story ?)
h¢r: -
Ah|
AD¤na¢p
A¢vva¢ht:
.
I am still a bachelor.
AÞt¤,
yæOk[æOa¢p
gÅCav:
.
Alright, let us go somewhere.
AalpnaTIm
bh¤
A¢Þt
.
There is much to talk.
sm¤d#t£r|
gÅCav:
.
(let us) go to the beach.
tæO
gÏva
s|BaxN|
k[vI:
.
Reaching there we shall chat.
sm¤d#t£rE - At the beach
h¢r: -
AæO
val¤kaya|
up¢vSav:
.
(let us) sit here on the sands.
zam -
Þmr¢s
va
AÞmak|
mya¢m
sm¤d#tz
dSInm ?
Do you remember our visit to Miami Beach ?
(literally, our sight of Miami Beach)
Ah|
cE°W
sm¤d#tz|
rØytr|
mÓyE
.
I think Chennai beach is more beautiful.
h¢r: -
BartE
t¤
cE°W
sm¤d#tz|
ev
rØytm|
i¢t
Áyatm
.
It is well known that Chennai beach is the
most beautiful in India.
zam -
pÜy,
trÄña:
vElamEÏy
p#¢tgÅC¢Ót
.
Look, the waves reach the shore and return.
pÜy,
b¤dqb¤da:
trÄñEx¤
n¦Ïy¢Ót
.
Look, the bubbles dance in the waves.
h¢r: -
zam
s¥ya©Idy:
AæO
mnaEhr:
At:
dSIn£y:
.
Tom, sunrise here is very beautiful, therefore
worth seeing.
g¦h|
gÅCav:
.
raæO¬
mdqg¦hE
ev
BaEjnm
.
Let us go home. Dinner is at my home only.
(meaning, at night, we eat in my house)
zam -
ta¢hI
gÅCav:
.
If so, let us go.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lesson-5 Part:3
mhapNmÒyE - At the Supermarket
h¢r: -
Ah|
t¤
¢nra¢mx|
Kada¢m
.
I eat only vegetarian food.
Aa¢mx|
iÅC¢s
va ?
Do you like non-vegetarian (food) ?
zam -
n,
yt
Ïv|
Kad¢s
tEn
Alm
.
No, whatever you eat is alright with me.
(literally, I will eat whatever you eat)
sEvk: -
BaE,
¢k|
va
AavÜykm ?
Sir, may I help you ?
(literally, what would you like ? )
h¢r: -
mac£
s¥p
pE¢zka
¹y|,
Two packets of tomato soup,
Aal¤k|
ek|
¢klaE,
a kilo of potatoes,
h¢rt|
ADI
¢klaE,
vt¤Ilk|
ADI
¢klaE,
cabbage, half a kilo, green peas, half a kilo,
kkIz£
ek|,
¢k¢·t
plaÎf¤ ,
a cucumber, a few onions,
X£r|
ek|
Þp¥t|,
d¢D
ADI
¢klaE,
a pack of milk, half a kilo curds,
Pla¢n
ddat¤ ,
kdl£,
narÄñm ,
give fruits as well, banana, oranges,
sEÛy|,
A°as£Plm
.
apples and pineapple.
h¢r: -
k]pa,
AahÏy
k¢t
ãÔyka¢N ?
Please, how much altogether ?
sEvk: -
A¾
x¢¾
âÔyka¢N
ev
pᢾO|St
pEsa:
.
Sixty eight rupees and thirty five paise.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lesson - 5 : Grammar
In Sanskrit, the comparative and superlative are formed
by adding the suffixes
tr and
tm to the generic form of
the positive. We had an example of this in our previous
lesson (Lesson 4). Let us review it here.
gmnagmn|
k¾|
Bv¢t
gmnagmn|
k¾tr|
Bv¢t
There are two examples in this lesson too.
cE°W
sm¤d#tz: (
mya¢m
sm¤d#tz:)
t:
rØytr|
A¢Þt
mÓyE
.
BartE
cE°W
sm¤d#tz:
rØytm:
i¢t
Áyat:
.
While the first one is comparitive, the
second is superlative.
Depending on the gender of the noun, the adjective
in the comparitive and superlative form will take
the corresponding gender ending.
e,g. from the root word
rm we have the adjectives
rØy: (m)
rØya (f)
rØym (n)
rØy:
pz: beautiful cloth
rØya
nar£ beautiful lady
rØym
¢cæOm beautiful painting
Now let us look at the comparitive.
rØytr:
pz: more beautiful cloth
rØytra
nar£ more beautiful lady
rØytr|
¢cæOm more beautiful painting
The superlative.
rØytm:
pz: most beautiful cloth
rØytma
nar£ most beautiful lady
rØytm|
¢cæOm most beautiful painting
Now let us look at another example.
u°t:
pvIt: a tall mountain
s/:
u°t:
pvIt: The Sahya is a tall mountain
(The range known as the Western Ghats in India)
¢vÓÒy:
A°ttr:
pvIt:
.
s/at
¢vÓÒy:
u°ttr:
pvIt:
.
The Vindhyas are taller.
Vindhyas are taller than the Sahyas
¢hmaly:
u°ttm:
pvIt:
.
¢hmaly:
¢vÓÒyat
u°ttr:
.
¢hmaly:
¢vÓÒyat1
A¢p
u°ttr:
.
¢hmaly:
¢vÓÒyat
ev|
s/at
u°ttm:
.
The Himalayas are the tallest mountains.
(Note that we are rferring to the Himalyas in
singular as is the practice in India)
The Himalayas are taller than the Vindhyas.
The Himalayas are taller than both the Vindhyas
and Sahyas.
Here is an example using a feminine noun.
AyaEÒya
¢vSala
. Ayodhya is big.
maya
¢vSaltra
. Maya (Hardwar) is bigger.
kaS£
¢vSaltma
. Kasi (Varanasi) is the biggest.
maya
AyaEÒyaya:
¢vSalty Maya is larger than Ayodhya
kaS£
mayaya:
¢vSalty Kasi is larger than Maya
kaS£
mayay:
A¢p
¢vSala Kasi is even larger than Maya
kaS£
AyaEÒyaya:
ev|
mayaya:
¢vSaltma
.
Kasi is larger than both Ayodhya and Maya.
The final example in neuter.
gâfp¤raN|
b¦ht
p¤Þtkm
.
Garudapuranam is a big book.
ramayNm
b¦httr| (
p¤Þtkm)
.
Ramayanam is bigger (a bigger book)
mhaBart|
b¦httm| (
p¤Þtkm)
.
Mahabharatam is biggest.
ramayNm
gâfp¤raNat
b¦httrm
.
Ramayanam is bigger than Garudapuranam.
mhaBart|
ramayNat
A¢p
b¦ht
.
Mahabharatam is even bigger than Ramayanam.
mhaBart|
ramayNat
ev|
gâfp¤raNat
b¦httmm
.
MahaBharatam is bigger than both Ramayanam
and Garudapuranam.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
In Lesson 3, we saw how a simple sentence could be made.
A simple sentence will have three parts : a subject, a verb
and an object. Let us look at some aspects of gender as
applicable to objects.
A simple rule may be remembered for deriving the object
from a noun which is masculine and ends with
A. Such nouns
are known as
AkaraÓt:
p¤¢ÚlÄñ: .
Here are some of them.
bal:
nr:
gj:
maDv:
When they become the object in a sentence, they
change to (in singular) :
bal|
nr|
gj|
maDv| respectively
Let us look at a few sentences now.
AÒyapk:
bal|
paZy¢t
.
The teacher teaches the boy.
vanr:
nr|
pÜy¢t
.
The monkey sees the man.
[
nr: ,
vanr: Do you see a connection ,
linguistic or otherwise ? ]
When the dual form is used (
¢¹vcn|) the nouns become :
bal¬
nr¬
gj¬
maDv¬ respectively.
AÒyapk:
bal¬
paZy¢t
.
The teacher teaches two (both) boys.
When used in plural, the nouns take the form :
balan
nran
gjan
maDvan respectively.
AÒyapk:
balan
paZy¢t
.
The teacher teaches the boys.
vanr:
nran
pÜy¢t
.
The monkey sees the men. (many)
What we have introduced here is the "case"
as is known in the English Language. Simply
case relates to how a noun is transformed when
different types of references are made to the noun.
In all our lessons till now, we have mainly used
the nominative case, which is what applies to the
subject of a simple sentence. When a noun or pronoun
is used as the subject of a verb, it is said to be in the
nominative case.
The Nominative is the first of the eight cases
in Sanskrit. Case is known as
¢vB¢³: and these
are refered to by their numbering order. The
Nominative being the first, is referred to as the
p#Tma
¢vB¢³:
We note that the subject of a sentence will always be
in the Nominative case when the sentence is in Active
voice. The subject may be in Singular, Plural or Dual.
Im the English language, when a noun or a pronoun is
used as the object of a verb, it is said to be in the
Accusative case. The Direct object of a sentence should
always be in the Accusative case.
In the English language, one observes that the form
of the noun is the same for the Nominative and the
Accusative. This is not so in Sanskrit. The noun assumes
different endings depending on the number and case. It
is usual in Sanskrit to present the information in the
form of a table, where the rows correspond to cases and
columns correspond to the Number. The variations are
called declensions of the noun.
Case Singular Dual Dual
Nominative
bal:
bal¬
bala:
Accusative
bal|
bal¬
balan
Being the second, the Accusative case is called
¢¹t£ya
¢vB¢³:
Discussion of the different cases is really not part of this
lesson. We simply set out to form a simple sentence
consisting of a subject, a verb and an object and found
that we can derive the object form of a noun from
the subject form i.e., the Accusative case form
from the Nominative case form. Full discussion of
cases will be taken up in a subsequent lesson.
Before we close, we should also mention the Vocative
case where a person is addressed.
hE
hrE is how
h¢r: in the Nominative case is changed
to from the Vocative case. This is similar to English,
where one might say say Oh Harry ! The Vocative case
is the last case in Sanskrit, but is refered to as
s|baEDnp#Tma
¢vB¢³: and not as
A¾m:
¢vB¢³:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
A
Lesson 5 - Grammar
--------------------
We have seen in the earlier sections that the Nominative
and Accusative forms of nouns will be found in sentences
containing a subject, verb and direct object.
Let us look at the declensions of a couple of nouns.
Singular Dual Plural
Nominative
gj:
gj¬
gja:
Accusative
gj|
gj¬
gjan
Nominative
CaæO:
CaæO¬
CaæOa:
Accusative
CaæO|
CaæO¬
CaæOan
In general, masculine nouns ending in
A decline
in the same fashion.
Consider some feminine nouns now.
Singular Dual Plural
Nominative
mala
malE
mala:
Accusative
mala|
malE
mala:
Nominative
kTa
kTE
kTa:
Accusative
kTa|
kTE
kTa:
Again the declensions shown are typical for most
feminine nouns ending in
Aa
Here are the declensions for nouns in Neuter.
Singular Dual Plural
Nominative
jl|
jlE
jla¢n
Accusative
jl|
jlE
jla¢n
Nominative
vn|
vnE
vna¢n
Accusative
vn|
vnE
vna¢n
The fact that the declensions for the Nominative and
Accusative are identical need not confuse the student
who might be expecting some variations in the
declensions.
Again the declensions are typical for neuter nouns
ending with
A|
We must remember that verbs must be conjugated in
accordance with the number and person of the noun
used in the subject. We have already introduced this
concept earlier, but a short revision is useful.
We add suffixes to the root form of the verb to derive
the different conjugations. Consider the verb
pZq which
is in its root form. It means to study. In present tense
pZq conjugates as :
Singular Dual Plural
III Person
pZ¢t
pZt:
pZ¢Ót
II Person
pZ¢s
pZT:
pZT
I Person
pZa¢m
pZav:
pZam:
It will be useful for the student to remember the
following suffix rules presented in table form.
These apply in the present tense.
Singular Dual Plural
III P root+
A+
¢t root+
A+
t: root+
A+
A¢Ót
II P root+
A+
¢s root+
A+
T: root+
A+
T
I P root+
Aa+
¢m root+
Aa+
v: root+
Aa+
m:
Observations
In Sanskrit when conjugations of verbs are shown, the third
person conjugations are shown first followed by second person
and then first person, an indirect reminder that the I (ego !)
should find the last place in the world !
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lesson-5 Exercise I
The exercises in this section are meant to familiarize
the student with the usage of nouns in different persons
and number (Singular, Plural or Dual).
A Brief Review - Formation of simple sentences.
In forming simple sentences the noun and the verb used
should correctly reflect the Number and Person in
respect of the subject. Look at:
nr:
kayaIly|
gÅC¢t
.
Man goes to the workplace (office)
This when changed to plural becomes
nra:
kayaIly|
gÅC¢Ót
.
Men go to the workplace
The verb is conjugated in accordance with the form of
the noun. The forms in which the verb
As is used was
discussed in lesson and also the different forms of
the personal pronouns. In this lesson we have also seen
declension of
AkaraÓt
p¤¢l|Äñ words in the nominative
case.
Singular dual Plural
Nominative
nr:
nr¬
nra:
The verb
gÅC¢t corresponds to the third person
singular (
ekvcnm
p#Tmp¤âx:). The basic rule for
forming such verb forms was also discussed in an
earlier lesson and the suffixes to be added to the
root form of the verb shown.
Singular dual Plural
Suffix for
Present tense
in third
person
¢t
t:
A¢Ót
first
person
Aa¢m
Aav:
Aam:
ex: 3rd
person
pZ¢t
pZt:
pZ¢Ót
first
person
pZa¢m
pZav:
pZam:
Now for the exercises. Change the following
sentences in third person singular to third
person plural.
1.
nr:
g#am|
gÅC¢t.
The man goes to the village.
2.
CaæO:
paZ|
pZ¢t.
The student studies the lesson.
3.
kak:
Pl|
Kad¢t.
The crow eats the fruit.
4.
gj:
jl|
¢pb¢t.
The elephant drinks water.
5.
vanr:
væO
up¢vS¢t.
The monkey sits there.
Change the following sentences in third person
plural to third person dual.
Example :
jna:
cl¢cæO|
pÜy¢Ót.
People watch the movie.
jn¬
cl¢cæO|
pÜyt:.
1.
my¤ra:
tæO
n¦Ïy¢Ót.
Peacocks dance there.
2.
Aáa:
mÓd[raya|
¢t¾¢Ót.
Horses stand in the stable.
3.
bala:
X£r|
¢pB¢Ót.
Boys drink milk.
4.
jnka:
p¤æOan
paExy¢Ót.
Fathers bring up sons
5.
y¤vka:
Pla¢n
Aany¢Ót.
Youths bring fruits.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lesson - 5 Exercise - II
The personal pronoun
Ah| declines as :
Singular Dual Plural
Ah|
Aava|
vy|
Change the following sentences in first person singular
to first person Dual as well as first person Plural.
Example :
Ah|
karq
vahn|
cla¢m
Aava|
kArq
vahn|
clav:
vy|
karq
vahn|
clam:
1.
Ah|
sÄñ£t|
pZa¢m
2.
Ah|
kaP£|
¢pba¢m
3.
Ah|
sm¤d#t£r|
gÅCa¢m
4.
Ah|
¢nd#a|
kraE¢m
5.
Ah|
p¤Þtk|
¢lKa¢m
The verb
pZq conjugates as :
II person
pZ¢s
pZT:
pZT
(Singular) (Dual) (Plural)
The personal pronoun "you" declines as :
Singular Dual Plural
Ïv|
y¤va|
y¥y|
Now change the following sentences in second person
singular to second person plural. The verbs conjugate
in the same manner as indicated for
pZq
Example :
Ïv|
s|Þk]t|
pZ¢s
y¥y|
s|Þk]t|
pZT
1.
Ïv|
k[æO
vs¢s
2.
Ïv|
¢kmTI|
hs¢s
3.
Ïv|
ngrE
j£v¢s
4.
Ïv|
¢vdES|
gÅC¢s
5.
Ïv|
Pl|
Kad¢s
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lesson - 5 Exercise III
Examine the chart form given below. The word in the inner
square is the subject of a sentence to be formed by selecting
an object from the middle square and a verb from the outer
square. Make as many meaningful sentences as possible.
.------------------------------------------------.
.
pZ¢t
gÅC¢t
.
.
.--------------------------
.
.
.
.
s|Þk]t|
dEvaly|
.
.
.
.
paZ:
.--------.
g¦h|
.
.
.
.
.
s:
.
.
.
.
.
Pl|
.---------.
jl|
.
.
.
.
p¤Þtk|
kayaIly|
.
.
.
.--------------------------
.
.
.
pÜy¢s
Kad¢t
¢pb¢t
.
.------------------------------------------------.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here are some simple questions based on the lesson.
Try and answer them. An example is given.
Example:
h¢r:
tæO
A¢Þt
va ?
Aa|
h¢r:
AæO
A¢Þt
.
Note however, this is not the same answer
given by the telephone operator. So, answers
to the questions are not to be found in the
sentences of the lesson. The questions are similar
to those found in the lesson but are presented
in a general manner.
1.
¢pta
tæO
A¢Þt
va ?
Aa| ----------
2.
p¤Þtk|
tæO
A¢Þt
va ?
n-----------
3.
hE
calIs ,
ma|
Þmr¢s
va ?
Aa|,-------------
4.
hE
k[mar ,
SÄðr
Þmr¢s
va ?
Aa|,-------------
5.
hE
zam ,
p¤Þtk|
pZ¢s
va ? ----------------
6.
hE
hrE ,
pæO|
¢lK¢s
va ? -----------------
7.
hE
gaE¢vÓd ,
AaEdn|
Kad¢s
va ? -----------------
8.
hE
zam ,
sEÚl¥lar
d\rvaÎya|
Bax¢s
va ? ------------
Here are some direct questions.
1.
ArE,
¢v¢Úly|,
k[t: ? Ans:
Ah|
fEÚl£t:
.
2.
k[æO
tE
vas: ? Ans:
cE°W
ngrE
mE
vas:
.
Here the student is introduced to the
tE and
mE
combination.
tE and
mE go together.
tE - your,
mE - my,
so use
mE in the answer.
3.
k[æO
tE
BaEjnm ?
CaæOavasE _________
CaæOavas: - student hostel;
a place where students live.
Note how the word is coined from
CaæO: and
vas:
4.
k[æO
tE
p¤Þtk| ?
This question may be answered with a single
word,
p#kaE¾E.
p#kaE¾m means room. One word answers are perfectly
appropriate. Now try and answer the questions below.
5.
k[æO
tE
vahnm ?
6.
Aï
smy:
A¢Þt
va ?
7.
Aï
jl¢ÅcæO|
A¢Þt
va ?
8.
Aï
pr£Xa
A¢Þt
va ?
Here are some more questions, good for daily use!
1.
¢k|
¢pb¢s
?
kaP£|
ATva
cay|
?
kaP£| - coffee
cay| - tea
you can answer this as
cay|
ev - only tea
2.
¢k|
Kad¢s ?
kdl£
ATva
sEÛyPl| ?
3.
¢k|
c¥x¢s ?
Plrs|
ATva
X£rm
?
4.
¢k|
pÜy¢s ?
majaIr|
ATva
S¤nk: ?